Delivered MIC Hardtop Roof: Close-up Pics of Exterior, Interior Finishes

[markregel]

Obviously the shitshow that is Webasto's production of Molded-in-Color hardtops for Bronco has caused issues throughout the last year, and now seeing dozens of Broncos parked outside of MAP with "Bad Roof" chalked on their windows isn't helping matters.

With 2 weeks under my belt on my 2021 Big Bend 4-door with MIC, I was asked to share photos and impressions of one of the "good" tops.

To start, it's important to understand that this isn't simply a single-piece molded roof. Each panel has 3 structural components: A thick, textured outer laminate piece, a thin, inner laminate piece, and a core of honeycomb to balance strength and weight.

The exterior of my roof is uniform in both color and texture. All edges are smooth and consistent. The "bad" units appear to suffer inconsistencies in color and texture of the exterior finish, with edges that are jagged and in some cases showing early signs of delamination. The interior is about what I expected from similar composite roof shells. It has an okay finish but is obviously not designed to look as polished as the exterior. There is some variance in color, and in broader flat sections of the roof the shape of the honeycomb structure is visible. I suspect that the inclusion of the free headliner was to cover these inconsistencies. Not necessarily quality issues, as that is the design of this type of roof, but to provide a more polished interior finish.

All my panels are square and straight, and the latches are aligned perfectly. Each panel latch gives you a reassuring "click" when you've reached the fully closed portion, and the ease of use in removing and replacing the 3 forward panels is superb. I have yet to remove the clamshell as we've had rain chances nearly every day for the last 2 weeks, but the 6 bolts necessary for removal are easily accessible and the process seems straightforward.

It's good Ford is not allowing substandard roofs to be sold. From what I can tell from the photos the quality of the roof looks good.

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[Ksjrb03]

You can definitely see a mold part-off line on your panel edges... Clearly there's s'pose to be the exterior, MIC material here, which is absent on the 2 door, bad tops...
Simply looks like an injection/pressure/lack of enough material or material not making it to tight, small areas issue, not a design fault... Which is good news.
Seems they just need to further iron out the process...
Maybe these bad ones made it out in an attempt speed up the manufacturing process.
I'll wager this is purely a cycle time issue causing this.
And if any of you work in manufacturing, you know those assholes that are always trying to decrease cycle time!

Its not a mold issue. The 3 layers are mechanically seamed, and these seams continue to be an issue.

 

[Efthreeoh]

Torrential rain and one trip thru the high-pressure car wash already, ZERO issues with water intrusion.

The way the panels lock back in, I don't see how it would be possible to mis-install them causing a lack of seal. The latches are big, beefy, and obvious, and every quarter turn lever has a "click" point when it reaches fully locked.

There are alignment pins on each panel that have to seat correctly for the latches to lock, it simply won't let you close it otherwise.

Which is indicative of a good design.

I'm assuming the tops are a honeycomb matrix sandwiched between an outer sheet molded compound (SMC) shell and an interior SMC shell. Increasing production rate is a function of tooling count, not cycle (processing) time. The SMC has specific cycle times to be heated and molded. Heat soak is critical to making good parts. It's not an easy finished product to make. Final part trimming probably is mostly hand finished, but that's a guess.

 

[ZackDanger]

Wow. That wiper seems pointless.

1. If it were any longer it would extend up past the top of the window glass.

2. It's way better than the Jeep's... at least on the Bronco they maximized the coverage where it's useful...

 

[markregel]

Moral of the story, do a good look over of your own vehicle before taking ownership! Maybe that's something I have to worry about this year.... maybe not.

That would be the moral of the story if people are getting bad roofs. That is not what is being reported here. Of course there is always a chance something could be missed, but that is true with anything.

 

[WuNgUn]

Its not a mold issue. The 3 layers are mechanically seamed, and these seams continue to be an issue.

Then how do you explain a mold parting line on the panel edge of the 4 door top and exposed honeycomb in the 2 door top in the same area? Obviously it's s'pose to be a molded in edge.

 

[MorgansRun]

1. If it were any longer it would extend up past the top of the roof line.

2. It's way better than the Jeep's... at least on the Bronco they maximized the coverage where it's useful...

This is what it needs.

 

[RyanP]

Once again, thank you for the information and insights. Any idea what webasto’s production numbers, actual and target, look like?

Obviously the shitshow that is Webasto's production of Molded-in-Color hardtops for Bronco has caused issues throughout the last year, and now seeing dozens of Broncos parked outside of MAP with "Bad Roof" chalked on their windows isn't helping matters.

With 2 weeks under my belt on my 2021 Big Bend 4-door with MIC, I was asked to share photos and impressions of one of the "good" tops.

To start, it's important to understand that this isn't simply a single-piece molded roof. Each panel has 3 structural components: A thick, textured outer laminate piece, a thin, inner laminate piece, and a core of honeycomb to balance strength and weight.

The exterior of my roof is uniform in both color and texture. All edges are smooth and consistent. The "bad" units appear to suffer inconsistencies in color and texture of the exterior finish, with edges that are jagged and in some cases showing early signs of delamination. The interior is about what I expected from similar composite roof shells. It has an okay finish but is obviously not designed to look as polished as the exterior. There is some variance in color, and in broader flat sections of the roof the shape of the honeycomb structure is visible. I suspect that the inclusion of the free headliner was to cover these inconsistencies. Not necessarily quality issues, as that is the design of this type of roof, but to provide a more polished interior finish.

All my panels are square and straight, and the latches are aligned perfectly. Each panel latch gives you a reassuring "click" when you've reached the fully closed portion, and the ease of use in removing and replacing the 3 forward panels is superb. I have yet to remove the clamshell as we've had rain chances nearly every day for the last 2 weeks, but the 6 bolts necessary for removal are easily accessible and the process seems straightforward.

 

[redone17]

Thanks @ZackDanger - I was looking for that comparison. It is nicely centered I guess.

 

[Ksjrb03]

Then how do you explain a mold parting line on the panel edge of the 4 door top and exposed honeycomb in the 2 door top in the same area? Obviously it's s'pose to be a molded in edge.

I explain it as a mechanical seam, the 3 layers are pressed individually and seamed together.

 

[Bmars1127]

So beautiful!!!

 

[Southern Girl]

Interesting. I wonder what a bad roof looks like?

I've seem some posts where folks claim they've seen reviews of bad roofs. Any links to those?

Just look at the threads on the forum because it was just put up today.

 

[Rlack75]

Wow. That wiper seems pointless.

The only time I have ever turned on a rear wiper was …. Accidentally!!

 

[JTsGarage]

I'm genuinely excited for you folks getting your hands on the Bronco finally. It looks awesome. I have a Badlands on order. I've owned a Jeep Wrangler JK and a Jeep Gladiator (don't come with your pitchforks) with hardtops. I knew with the Bronco I wanted a soft top because a soft top is just a gamechanger - it's so easy to unlatch and push it back.

I've got to say I'm glad I ordered the soft top because if this is an example of one of the "good" hardtops, I'm truly shocked that Ford is letting the long-awaited Bronco roll out from the factory like this. The exterior of the top looks great but that interior underside looks completely not production ready. The hardtops on both Jeeps I've owned look a lot better, especially from the inside. There's a lot to love about the Bronco but so far the MIC isn't one of them for me. Glad to hear function-wise that the seals are keeping out rain, etc., though. I just hate that the Day 1 early adopters appear to be getting a top that's not ready for primetime.

 

[evilletruck]

This is my current thought. I have a 6/29 build date and no news on it. It being "In Production" while waiting on a new roof would make sense to me. I have confirmation it's been built, but that's it

I had same build date, got confirmation it was built and then nothing then dealership called and said it was on their lot. They were just as surprised as me, the Ford site was updated the following day that it was shipped and delivered

I did however end up getting one of the bad roofs, so maybe it wasn't supposed to ship yet which is why the surprises and bad roof.

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