Bronco Achilles Heel - Hardtop build quality

[Coldsmoke]

i appreciate that you’re taking the plunge. It’s an expensive test to see if you can eliminate the wind noise and, hopefully, across multiple temperature zones (soggy and cold PNW with occasional very cold days; deep freeze midwest; baking hot Arizona and Texas; soggy and humid and sunbaked Florida and Louisiana). Getting any exterior product to work across all those variables is a complex engineering task and one that Ford’s supplier didn’t do well. When I traded my WT last month it was noisy AF. I’m wondering whether I’ll remove the roof at all on my Braptor, in hopes of limiting the opportunities for the roof seals to not line up properly when i put them back on. Moving from the WT to the Braptor made me realize how noisy my WT had become, from misaligned windows to creaky roof panels, it was a endless chatter going on down the road. The Braptor is lux car quiet by comparison. But given that it’s the same roof as on the WT, i expect it to get to the same noisy place in time.

if you see good results, and Ford makes limited improvements, i think many of us will swallow the cost of that ADV one-piece roof.

Understood. I am basing my expensive decision on some communication with Advanced Fiberglass Concepts. They took decibel readings with their one piece at 82mph with a 20mph headwind they reported 70 decibels. I am not sure how scientific that is, but using the decibel meter on my Apple Watch I hit 75 decibels around 60mph with limited outside wind. Again, not scientific but info worth considering for comparative purposes.
I can say that I absolutely know there are air leaks in the OEM top and I have tried multiple times to resolve them. Around town, it's no big deal. But when I head out for long trips which involve hours on interstates it gets a bit annoying, especially the whistling. Anyway, it makes logical sense that fewer pieces-parts would lead to fewer opportunities for air leaks. Advanced concepts interior sound deadening liner looks a bit more substantial as well.
I'll take one for the team and give it a whirl to see how it works. Hey, one benefit: it's black, not grey! Probably order end of next month as I am trying to built up funds so I don't need to finance it.

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[Coldsmoke]

Are you talking about the almost $10,000 top that is on their site or is there something else being released?

The $10k top is carbon fiber. Pretty cool, but big bucks. They also have two fiberglass versions (one piece & three piece) in both black and white available for around $6k

 

[John Auer]

I wish I could have ordered a one piece top right from Ford.

 

[BroncoBenster]

New to this Forum. I was excited to get my Bronco (definitely worth the wait), but my main concern (i.e. build/design/QC inline with sticker price) with getting a hard-top bronco reared its ugly head. I looked the vehicle over thoroughly when I took ownership. Happened to catch bird eye view of my Bronco and saw the discolored roof panel. Under closer inspection, also identified the infamous scaling.........

I held out and bought a 2022 model to try and avoid the roof problems. I thought Ford committed to replacement/fix and this would not impact 2022 build year, but I was mistaken. To Ford's credit, they quickly responded to my message post yesterday on this forum and opened a case number. For anyone having similar issues, I had to go through dealer's collision center to file a claim. I will post on how things progress. Curious if anyone else had a similar experience.

UPDATE: After waiting over two weeks I had to try another dealer's collison center. First dealer's collision group took pics and told me collision manager would need to review and approve once he was back from vacation. After three follow-up calls, I was told dealer was not filing any warranty claims for foreseeable future, and I was SOL (in so many words)....

Took my Bronco to second dealer and I was sent the attached bulletin which was released (conveniently) on January 18. They are now telling me that they di not believe the faded panel is warrantable and will only file a claim if Ford commits to replacing the panel so the dealer will not have to foot the cost. I have a case open with Ford's customer care team, but they are telling me that can not do anything until dealer files claim, and Ford will then make a decision.......hard top owners take note.....more to come.......

 

[Yarder]

2023 tops are not perfect at least on ours... Scuffs, adhesive over-run and very poor alignment.

We'll see what the dealer has to say.

 

[BroncoBenster]

Ford in 2020: The painted modular top for our higher trims will have pop out windows and hatches and more!! It’s all amazing!! Stay pumped!

Ford in 2021: If you change your order to a soft top or our crappy MIC top we can offer you 200,000 pass points or, if you prefer, you can wait for the delayed mod top and we can offer you price protection!! Stay pumped!!

Ford in 2022: We can offer you price protection through 2023 due to the imaginary mod top not being ready!! Stay pumped!!

Ford in 2023: All those who waited for the mod top….we don’t know what you are talking about..talk to your dealer.

You will receive no points for switching to a MIC or softie.

You will not receive price protection after ‘23 in order to wait for a mod top.

You need to order your mod-top less Bronco by Nov of ‘21 or we will drop your reservation.

If you want a mod top you can move to a mid trim big bend and stand in that Q3/Q4 line over there.

If you have any problems or concerns please contact your dealer…whom we are not communicating any mod top information with either.

That gap is also present on my 22 2-door roof. The dealership said it's "as designed" but that's BS. It's a garbage seal. Mine has a larger gap than yours. I stuffed it with a small piece of foam weatherstripping and it helped, but it's not the only source of wind noise. No matter what I do, my roof sounds like a window is cracked at highway speeds.

there is a gap to let panel "channels" drain.....

 

[carrellslake]

there is a gap to let panel "channels" drain.....

This gap is present on both sides of my roof, and is absolutely a manufacturing defect.

 

[BroncoBenster]

This gap is present on both sides of my roof, and is absolutely a manufacturing defect.

I hear you and agree that it is not an optimal design and looks like garbage.

 

[BroncoBenster]

UPDATE: After waiting over two weeks I had to try another dealer's collison center. First dealer's collision group took pics and told me collision manager would need to review and approve once he was back from vacation. After three follow-up calls, I was told dealer was not filing any warranty claims for foreseeable future, and I was SOL (in so many words)....

Took my Bronco to second dealer and I was sent the attached bulletin which was released (conveniently) on January 18. They are now telling me that they di not believe the faded panel is warrantable and will only file a claim if Ford commits to replacing the panel so the dealer will not have to foot the cost. I have a case open with Ford's customer care team, but they are telling me that can not do anything until dealer files claim, and Ford will then make a decision.......hard top owners take note.....more to come.......

One additional note, the OEM front right panel to purchase out of pocket is nearly $2000.....

 

[BroncoBenster]

2023 tops are not perfect at least on ours... Scuffs, adhesive over-run and very poor alignment.

We'll see what the dealer has to say.

Any luck with dealer?

 

[BroncoBenster]

Anyone have any luck or have any suggestions with escalating warranty claims at Ford? Dealing with Ford customer care team and local Ford dealers has been frustrating to say the least. I have been to two dealers and now considering a third because they care more about their bottom line that putting the customer first. I was ignorant thinking Ford has any sway over the dealers. Given the franchise model the dealers dictate what occurs with warranty claims. I love that Ford releases a service bulletin which undermines my (and any other hard top owner's) ability to warranty a defective part. The dealers either will not file or will not take the risk to perform the work (we are talking 10min of labor time) and file since there are no guarantees Ford will warranty the work. Apparently there is no way to file a warranty claim prior to performing the work. Feels like a lie considering the service department does this all the time....or again, could be my ignorance. WTH

 

[Yarder]

Any luck with dealer?

Nothing yet, I'm having a hard time even getting a call back from their service people... It's going in next monday for some other issues, hopefully it gets at least looked at then.

 

[GRENDIZER]

Ford in 2020: The painted modular top for our higher trims will have pop out windows and hatches and more!! It’s all amazing!! Stay pumped!

Ford in 2021: If you change your order to a soft top or our crappy MIC top we can offer you 200,000 pass points or, if you prefer, you can wait for the delayed mod top and we can offer you price protection!! Stay pumped!!

Ford in 2022: We can offer you price protection through 2023 due to the imaginary mod top not being ready!! Stay pumped!!

Ford in 2023: All those who waited for the mod top….we don’t know what you are talking about..talk to your dealer.

You will receive no points for switching to a MIC or softie.

You will not receive price protection after ‘23 in order to wait for a mod top.

You need to order your mod-top less Bronco by Nov of ‘21 or we will drop your reservation.

If you want a mod top you can move to a mid trim big bend and stand in that Q3/Q4 line over there.

If you have any problems or concerns please contact your dealer…whom we are not communicating any mod top information with either.

Truer words have never been spoken

 

[jason9m9]

Took my hard top off for the first time today and thought I’ve been pleasantly surprised with the quality thus far of my unit. It’s pretty quiet snd I haven’t seen any honeycombing or cracks yet. I did notice when I got it back on that the passenger side interior panel (4door) sticks out a bit more than on the driver side? Not sure if I’m just being a little extra OCD since it was the first time I took it off and put it back on. Just want to see if that’s been pretty typical for people with these hard tops or if I latched something wrong, I tried to shuffle it around a bit to get a better fitment but it really only seems to slot in this one way?

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