BROOX's 2DR Shadow Black Squatchy Boy

[broox]

I bought my first off-road vehicle about 4 years ago - a 2020 Jeep JL Rubicon, and loved it... I spent a few years building it up and getting into off-roading, overlanding, etc. Here are a few photos of that rig...

As soon as I saw the new Bronco announced, I knew that I wanted one. After waiting a bit for the aftermarket to catch up and for y'all to shake out some of the early issues with Ford, I jumped at putting an order in as soon as the banks opened this March. Given the supply chain issues for the rest of the rollout, I thought a late March order would be a guarantee for a 2024 model year. Boy was I wrong!

• March 27: Ordered
• April 6: Scheduled to build the week of May 15th
• May 10: In production
• May 18: Built
• May 23: At my dealership
• May 27: Traded the Jeep in and brought it home exactly 2 months after ordering.

I apparently "lucked out, " but holy cow, that happened way faster than I was prepared for! If you're interested, I wrote a big ol blog on my thoughts and comparisons between my JL Rubicon and the Bronco so far. I'd love to hear some of y'alls thoughts - especially if you came from Jeep, are considering a Jeep, or just wanna compare.

As for my bronco. I ordered a 2 door, 2.7L, Badlands, Sasquatch, Lux in shadow black. It has all the goodies that my Rubicon had and much more.

I plan to use my Bronco primarily for scooting around town topless in the summer, tromping around in the winter snow, hauling my tiny camper, and wheeling whenever I can. Finding places to get off-road isn't that easy living in the midwest, especially in Iowa... but I try to take every opportunity that I get. That said, I'm excited to build this rig up and hope it continues to be as awesome as its seemed in the first few hundred miles.

Build + Plans

• Full XPEL Stealth PPF wrap - done
• Ceramic tinted front windows (30%) - done
• Steps and rock sliders from Metal Tech - done
• Hard top lift from Top Lift Pro - in use
• Sun shade from Spiderwebshades - done
• Rain Gear cover - in use
• Pocket fog light array from Baja Designs - done
• Ditch lights from Baja Designs - done
• Stubby antenna from Built Right Industries - done
• Rear seat delete + flat platform for the pup - done
• Tailgate reinforcement from IAG - done
• Tailgate molle from Addictive Desert Designs - done
• Vorsteiner Off-Road (Venomrex) VR-601BL wheels - done
• BF Goodrich KO2 (315 70/R17. c-load, s-speed) - done
• Mabett glove box/center console/door handle organization - done
• GPCA D-rings for the hard top bolts - done
• Archetype Racing SLAP/BPM dash mount with RAM mount BALLS - done
• Midland MXT275 GMRS radio + MXTA25 ghost antenna - done
• Broncbuster Leveling Lift Perch Collars - done
• Forscan tunes - done
  • Added Sport GOAT mode
  • Disable double honk when leaving cabin
  • Disable "doo doo doo" triple ding startup chime
  • Disable seatbelt minder chimes
• DC to DC charger for the camper - done
• Winch - as soon as I can find a mount for the modular front bumper that I like
• Black out emblems?
  • I've deleted the front fender stickers and the chrome rear Bronco emblem
  • I have the gloss black Bronco emblem and blacked out Ford decal, but haven't put them on yet. I can't decide if I want to...
  • and the white BRONCO lettering on the grille has also grown on me

Wishlist

• ADV Fiberglass fender flares and hood
• Raptor Grille
• Morimoto headlights
• Baja Designs light array on the bumper or roof - I would almost never use it, but they sure look awesome

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[Ford Motor Company]

I bought my first off-road vehicle about 4 years ago - a 2020 Jeep JL Rubicon, and loved it... I spent a few years building it up and getting into off-roading, overlanding, etc. Here are a few photos of that rig...

As soon as I saw the new Bronco announced, I knew that I wanted one. After waiting a bit for the aftermarket to catch up and for y'all to shake out some of the early issues with Ford, I jumped at putting an order in as soon as the banks opened this March. Given the supply chain issues for the rest of the rollout, I thought a late March order would be a guarantee for a 2024 model year. Boy was I wrong!

• March 27: Ordered
• April 6: Scheduled to build the week of May 15th
• May 10: In production
• May 18: Built
• May 23: At my dealership
• May 27: Traded the Jeep in and brought it home exactly 2 months after ordering.

I apparently "lucked out, " but holy cow, that happened way faster than I was prepared for! If you're interested, I wrote a big ol blog on my thoughts and comparisons between my JL Rubicon and the Bronco so far. I'd love to hear some of y'alls thoughts - especially if you came from Jeep, are considering a Jeep, or just wanna compare.

As for my bronco. I ordered a 2 door, 2.7L, Badlands, Sasquatch, Lux in shadow black. It has all the goodies that my Rubicon had and much more.

I plan to use my Bronco primarily for scooting around town topless in the summer, tromping around in the winter snow, hauling my tiny camper, and wheeling whenever I can. Finding places to get off-road isn't that easy living in the midwest, especially in Iowa... but I try to take every opportunity that I get. That said, I'm excited to build this rig up and hope it continues to be as awesome as its seemed in the first few hundred miles.

Build plans

• Full XPEL Stealth PPF
• Ceramic tinted front windows (30%)
• Steps and rock sliders from Metal Tech
• Hard top lift from top lift pro - had one for my Jeep and absolutely loved it
• Sun shade from Spiderwebshades
• Pocket fog light array from Baja Designs
• Ditch lights from Baja Designs
• Stubby antenna from Built Right Industries
• Black out emblems
• Leveling kit - with maybe a 1" lift
• Wheels/tires - if I can ever decide on some
• Rear seat delete + flat platform for the pup
• Tailgate reinforcement with some modularity to mount other accessories
• Tailgate/cargo molle / storage for fire extinguisher, first aid, recovery stuffs
• Winch - as soon as I can find a mount for the modular front bumper that I like
• Rear bumper
• Forscan tunes
• DC to DC charger for the camper

Wishlist

• ADV Fiberglass fender flares and hood
• Raptor Grille
• Morimoto headlights
• Baja Designs light array on the bumper or roof - I would almost never use it, but they sure look awesome

Congrats, Derek! That is a stunning Bronco!

 

[Bikeric]

Welcome to the Bronco family!! Now go knock the shine off those tires!!

 

[jaxonm]

How in the hell?

Ordered ours in March of 22, scheduled about the same time as yours, in production on 5/26 and its still on a train! And, we had to take off the Sas to get it.

Congrats, you really did luck out.

 

[broox]

After the amount of pinstripes that my friends and I (in my Jeep) endured on a recent trip to the Ozark National Forest... I bit the bullet and went for mod number one. A full @XPEL Stealth Satin PPF wrap.



I absolutely love the satin black look and peace of mind that it'll give.

 

[broox]

Mod #2: Moved my @Baja Designs squadron sport ditch lights over from my Jeep. I had a hell of a time removing a seized stainless screw from one of the aluminum body mounts, but eventually got it. I then cleaned the threads out with a tap, replaced all of the SS screws, and made sure to use anti-seize this time around.

Mod #3: Replaced the whip antenna with the perfect-fit stubby from @BuiltRight Industries. I also added a bit of anti-seize on it because I'm just paranoid at this point, hah. Although... I doubt this one would be an issue since both threads appear to be aluminum.

 

[broox]

Mod #4 - Frame mounted slider steps from @Metal-tech 4x4.

They arrived in separate boxes, which were a bit beat up, but the sliders were packaged really well and survived with no scuffs. At nearly 60lbs a piece, these things are stout!

The design of these sliders really reveals the pinch seam, which I don't love, but that seems to be the case with most frame mounted slider steps on the Bronco platform. The pinch seam on my vehicle is like the only glossy bit of paint showing after the XPEL Stealth wrap... So, I took a rattle can of matte black spray paint to my 3 week old vehicle.

Install was a bit tricky with only 1 person, but definitely doable with 5-gallon buckets, jack stands, and a floor jack. Getting the U-bolt in place around the gas tank was probably the trickiest part. My gas tank is pretty close to the frame, so the passenger side U-bolt is actually touching the top edge of the gas tank, which I don't love, at all... so I need to try to figure something out there.

Other than that, my only complaints with these are: I wish they sat up just a touch higher and I wish they had a bit more poke to protect against door dings and offer a slightly wider step. But they look nice, are super stout, provide a decent step for getting in/out, and should give some great protection on the trail.

Oh, I should also mention... I was between these and the @RCI Offroad sliders, but the lead time was much greater and they were nearly unresponsive to my calls and emails. @Metal-tech 4x4 was super quick to respond to all of my messages and had a crazy fast turnaround. So, I went with them!

 

[Bikeric]

Mod #4 - Frame mounted slider steps from @Metal-tech 4x4.

They arrived in separate boxes, which were a bit beat up, but the sliders were packaged really well and survived with no scuffs. At nearly 60lbs a piece, these things are stout!

My gas tank is pretty close to the frame, so the passenger side U-bolt is actually touching the top edge of the gas tank, which I don't love, at all... so I need to try to figure something out there.

Are you saying those sliders came wrapped in Styrofoam sheeting AND a moving blanket?? If so, I gotta give kuddos to @Metal-tech 4x4.
Can you post a picture of this U-bolt touching the gas tank? Your rig is looking sharp!!

 

[broox]

Not really a mod, but I'm glad to have my top lift pro back in action.

I loved how easy it was to remove the hardtop on my 2-door Jeep with the @TopLift Pro ... but with the bronco's crossbar sitting so close to the rear of the vehicle, the Jeep's TopLift design just didn't work. I actually scratched my rear crossbar down to the aluminum trying to make it work.

Luckily, TopLift's engineering team came up with a new solution and was able to ship me the Bronco attachment for my existing TopLift a few weeks ago.

The 2-door Bronco TopLift is a bit more involved than the 4-door or Jeep models, but it's still easy enough to do alone.

Here are some photos of the update and putting it to use.

The TLP that works with everything but the 2-door bronco...

The 2-Door Bronco TLP attachment, in a slightly mismatching green...

Arms folded out to support the top

Top coming off

Hardtop supported by the Top Lift

I didn't get a photo of it, but one of the weird parts of this design is that the angle in which the 2-door topper sits makes it so that you need to raise the front of the hardtop in order to fold the arms out. TopLift suggests using a pool noodle between the roll bar and front mounting points of the hardtop... It works, but is kind of a weird requirement.

I feel like Top Lift could have replaced the upper horizontal green tubes in my last photo with some slightly longer versions to level out the angle of the hardtop supports... This theoretically would make it so that you wouldn't have to manually walk around to lift the front of the hard top.

Either way. I'm just happy to have this thing back in action to easily go topless!

 

[broox]

After sitting in the hot vinyl seats a couple times, I decided it was time for a "Bimini" shade.

I was between the @JTopsUSA and Spiderwebshade, but Spiderwebshade just fit my needs a little better.

The JTops looks super nice, but it doesn't play nicely with the 2-door bronco @TopLift Pro, and requires quite a bit more effort to take on/off. I like to able to quickly and easily add/remove the shade, so Spiderwebshade fit the bill perfectly. It fits super tight, stays tight @ 70+ mph, and can be put on in about a minute flat.

I also grabbed the Rain Gear Trail Cover for a bit of insurance while running around topless.

It came rolled up in a larger bag than I wanted, but I found that it could be re-rolled to easily tuck behind the seats.

After doing the initial install, I trimmed up the straps a bit so they wouldn't be draped on the ground and soaking up water. It's very sturdy and fits great.

 

[JTopsUSA]

Everyone has a choice and it’s great this fits your needs but I rebuff a few statements.

A JTop works perfectly with the 2 door top lift pro. It has the same clearance as the other brand.

Also the shade can be removed quickly if you like but it’s not necessary to put the hard top on and off.

The other brand mentioned has no access to the latches other than reaching your arms through. Taking it on and off to put the hardtop back on was not something we would ever consider.

It is the same bungee design as all the others and has all the inherent issues.

Just stating facts based on some of the comments from our 4,000 plus users.

Mike

 

[MikeOBronco]

I don't see how you can use the Top Lift Pro to remove the top on a 2 door Bronco with ANY type of shade fully in place. The TLP for the 2dr has arms that must be folded into a slot on the rear top support get the TLP in position. Once the device is in position you have to get in the Bronco and reach above the roll bar to unfold the arms that support the front of the top. Any mesh top would prevent you from getting access to the arms on the TLP. You would have to fold back the mesh top significantly to access the folded arms that are at the very back of the Bronco. Picture shows slot where arms live when folded.

 

[broox]

I don't see how you can use the Top Lift Pro to remove the top on a 2 door Bronco with ANY type of shade fully in place.

You’re exactly right! And this is why I went with Spiderwebshade. It’s simply faster to completely add/remove.

Having “the same clearance as the other brand” as Mike points out above, has nothing to do with anything. You still have to remove at least the rear portion of the shade to use the 2-door TopLift Pro.

 

[MikeOBronco]

You’re exactly right! And this is why I went with Spiderwebshade. It’s simply faster to completely add/remove.

Having “the same clearance as the other brand” as Mike points out above, has nothing to do with anything. You still have to remove at least the rear portion of the shade to use the 2-door TopLift Pro.

Yep. I think JTops probably has the best shade, but I think the more "permanent" nature of their install works against them in our use case. I hope someone tests this out and confirms that repeatedly removing the back half of the JTop doesn't impact the integrity of the glued on velcro, etc.

 

[JTopsUSA]

Yep. I think JTops probably has the best shade, but I think the more "permanent" nature of their install works against them in our use case. I hope someone tests this out and confirms that repeatedly removing the back half of the JTop doesn't impact the integrity of the glued on velcro, etc.

Hey guys you are missing something. We have an access port that you unzipped, reach in and unfold the arms.
SWS has no zippered port.
I has to be removed even to put the hard top on.​

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