Details & update for 2021 Bronco Badlands with steering rack failure on King of the Hill K2 Trail

[JPG]

Good Luck with a beefier rack. I hunted for 6 years for one for my FJ, no one made any, no money in it i was told. Beefier rods yes, but not the rack. It has been said previously, IMHO the problem is the 37s, Ford markets the Bronco with 35s only, NOT 37s. What could have been done, is to bring it in on 35s, and not to say anything about 37s, if you are that kind of person. Ford is not to blame here , OP pushed passed what Ford planned for the vehicle. And that obstacle was not just a "bump" in the road...

 

[Ricky_gibbs]

Same thing cross my mind when I read 37" tires. Indeed the inner fender cover says "Lift me baby", would that cover size tires change??. Would it be interesting to know at what point Ford warranty will cover modified vehicles.

I haven't read any guidance about warranty when you lift the Bronco.

So last I checked , the warranty is good on all "Ford approved " after market parts. Not sure what's ford approved, but they do sell 18s in the accessories site, you can't put anything less than a 35 on there or else it would look weird right?

 

[Gamecock]

Good Luck with a beefier rack. I hunted for 6 years for one for my FJ, no one made any, no money in it i was told. Beefier rods yes, but not the rack. It has been said previously, IMHO the problem is the 37s, Ford markets the Bronco with 35s only, NOT 37s. What could have been done, is to bring it in on 35s, and not to say anything about 37s, if you are that kind of person. Ford is not to blame here , OP pushed passed what Ford planned for the vehicle. And that obstacle was not just a "bump" in the road...

Actually, they do "market" it with 37s....see the yellow hole in door truck they have all over in promo videos....they just only sell it with 35s right now. It is widely marketed by them wearing 37s. That may not make a difference, but it's not true to say they don't market it with that size tire, and encourage people to lift and go bigger.

That said, I wonder if beefier rods would have prevented this? Did the rods bending before they broke, cause the rack to get stripped? Maybe that bending doesn't happen with stonger rods, and then no stripped rack. Hiopeflyy that is an answer, as rods are/will be easy to upgrade.

 

[MSparks909]

Do you think any of these 37"s on under-sized stock BL 8" wide wheels make a difference ?

I highly doubt it. Toyo and Nitto make the heaviest 37s on the market. The Nitto Trail Grapplers and Toyo MTs are 84# per tire…that’s HEAVY. Bombproof tires, but heavy. Put it this way, there’s a member here running a 1” leveling kit on his Base Squatch and 37” KM3s with no issues. I’m not a BFG fanboy by any means, but I do quite a bit of research on all things Jeep and Bronco. I think a lot of Bronco owners would be wise to stick to BFG 37” KO2s or KM3s until beefier front end parts come to market.

 

[Stompr]

I kinda thought those tie rods looked small, I was an Audi mechanic by trade, those tie rods aren’t much bigger than an Audi. The rack being that weak is an interesting fail, thought they’d beef that up.

 

[JPG]

That said, I wonder if beefier rods would have prevented this? Did the rods bending before they broke, cause the rack to get stripped? Maybe that bending doesn't happen with stonger rods, and then no stripped rack. Hiopeflyy that is an answer, as rods are/will be easy to upgrade.

I'd rather break and repair Tie rods in trail than break a rack. Said it before, IMHO rods are like fuses, they break before the rack. In this case, maybe the force was so strong the rack didn't survive too ? We will never know.

I think the West guys, play harder than what we do in the East or up here, Moab and all those trails around that region are Hardcore stuff, were often created with modified Jeeps and Buggies in mind, i think.

 

[Silver-Bolt]

Take it to a different ford dealer, I am sure one of them will warranty it.

Once the first dealer logs it into the system it does not matter how many dealers you take it to. It will have to be elevated up the ladder for any hope of a warranty repair.

 

[Silver-Bolt]

I'd rather break and repair Tie rods in trail than break a rack. Said it before, IMHO rods are like fuses, they break before the rack. In this case, maybe the force was so strong the rack didn't survive too ? We will never know.

I think the West guys, play harder than what we do in the East or up here, Moab and all those trails around that region are Hardcore stuff, were often created with modified Jeeps and Buggies in mind, i think.

In this case the rack also broke. Stripped the gear.

 

[ReimundKrohn]

Whoa! What are your premiums like?

 

[JPG]

In this case the rack also broke. Stripped the gear.

On 37s

 

[Aaonter]

This reminds me of the bent Frames on the gen 1 raptor with the same response from Ford then. 10 out of 14 raptors on one run bent their frames. Ford said they were traveling to fast.

 

[lakesinai]

A few weeks back Bronco6G posted this picture of my Bronco having catastrophic failure while on king of the hill K2 Ketemcy Ranch in Mason Tx. Here is the update and caution.

#1 I did exactly what’s stamped in the fender wells “lift me baby” and added 2” lift.
#2 I added 37” tires to my stock rims
#3 I wheeled this thing every weekend at some very difficult trails in TX. From trees ranch, K2, and hidden falls.

I’ll say this machine is awesome and did a lot of things others with similar features couldn’t. Three weeks ago when my rack and pinion, and inners failed I realized these components are really similar in size to that of a UTV and not a marketed off road vehicle. (Bought for this purpose and not a daily) I held on to it and didn’t initially take into warranty with Ford mainly because why put the same undersized parts back on to happen over and over again.

Once I realized there is no aftermarket solution and won’t be for a long time, I decided to take it in and let Ford warranty and fix with parts that are not the long term solution but at least allow me to use until new solutions come available. In the end Dealership (Northside Ford San Antonio Tx) turned down. Not for any reason but the fact I have scratches all over my skid plates. Yes they admitted they never dissembled anything just put on lift and declined for and I quote “ looks like a cheese grater went through the underside of your vehicle.”

I refuse to pay $2,200 for faulty design so now I’m left as the consumer to figure out a better solution. I have another Badlands coming in three weeks for the wife and would love better solutions. I attached pictures for reference of the undersized components. Not Whining just looking to help others and hopefully work together as a community to truly make the Ford Bronco the best off road vehicle on the market.

Is there an appeal process for the warranty? That's concerning that Ford, at least that dealer, won't honor it. Maybe you should call up Mitch at Town & Country Ford in Bessemer, AL. He put 37's on his Badlands, maybe a dealer with more off-roading experience would do better. From what I've heard, if a Ford Dealership does the modification, they will honor the warranty. Still trying to figure that out.

 

[rugbysecondrow]

If you consider that the Bronco they showed us on the launch date was equipped with 37" tires I think it would be hard for Ford to deny that they implied it was capable of running tires of that size so they should not be able to deny warranty because of 37's.

I think some of you are having difficulty parsing the marketing of the Bronco from the actual Bronco.

I'm no mechanic, so I won't even attempt to play one here. I do believe if I modded an STI and broke it on the track, Subaru would deny a warranty repair. Frankly, I specifically waited to mod my WRX until it was out of warranty for this very reason.

For me, the Bronco is no different. If you are going to mod it and push it hard, a warranty replacement might be a slim likelihood.

None of this relates to whether the part should or should not have broken.

Friends, if you're a scared of the bull, you better stay out of the rodeo.

 

[North7]

Once I realized there is no aftermarket solution and won’t be for a long time, I decided to take it in and let Ford warranty and fix with parts that are not the long term solution but at least allow me to use until new solutions come available. In the end Dealership (Northside Ford San Antonio Tx) turned down. Not for any reason but the fact I have scratches all over my skid plates. Yes they admitted they never dissembled anything just put on lift and declined for and I quote “ looks like a cheese grater went through the underside of your vehicle.”

Dear @Ford Motor Company,

So you are telling the Bronco community that if you scratch the underside of your Bronco 4x4 off-roader, the warranty is null and void because you...

took the off-roader, off-road ??????????????????????

 

[swooshdave]

Actually, they do "market" it with 37s....see the yellow hole in door truck they have all over in promo videos....they just only sell it with 35s right now. It is widely marketed by them wearing 37s.

Go dig up the fine print that went along with this ads. You're the reason there's fine print.

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