Louisiana Area 51 Badlands

[GreyZ]

Im also in the BR area. Planning a trip to Barnwell in April in Marshall, TX. (Hour west of Shreveport)
It is the closest area with the type of off roading I enjoy, although it does not compare to the views of actual mountains. I have yet to make it to Hot Springs, but I plan to do that one in the fall.

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[Ozbronco]

I really like these step sliders. The steps are narrow at the front seats, but they're very usable. The extra width at the rear kick-out is great for rear passengers. They are quite a bit higher than the hoops steps, so if taking a big step up is a challenge, then these are not for you.

Hmm. Those look familiar. Been a couple of times I wish I still had them on.

Hit me up if you come to Arkansas to wheel.

 

[BayouBadlands]

Hmm. Those look familiar. Been a couple of times I wish I still had them on.

Hit me up if you come to Arkansas to wheel.

Absolutely! Thanks again for everything. Good people like you are what make these hobbies fun.

 

[OverlandingPastor]

Im also in the BR area. Planning a trip to Barnwell in April in Marshall, TX. (Hour west of Shreveport)
It is the closest area with the type of off roading I enjoy, although it does not compare to the views of actual mountains. I have yet to make it to Hot Springs, but I plan to do that one in the fall.

Good to meet you Eric! Hopefully we can all make some trips together. Love the community.

 

[OverlandingPastor]

@Missy @OverlandingPastor

I'm in Mandeville, just north of New Orleans. We are planning some trips this year, though it turns out that living in a swamp with zero elevation change means we have to travel a bit. The DeSoto National Forest and parts of the Mississippi TAT look like easy destination trips. We're also considering a weekend trip to the St. Francisville area for the Cat Island River Trail.

We do have trips starting to come together to Arkansas and to Austin, TX, but those are a little further off.

The Gulf Coast Bronco Association has a busy event calendar, and they seem like a great group.

Louisiana 4x4 is also active. They have a ride on the 17th to Sicily Island.

I joined both groups, and I am planning to attend some events this year.

That said, it would be awesome to have a Louisiana meet-up and an easy trail ride.

My wife and I also hope to do the Bronco Off Roadeo in Moab this year. The plan is to fly into Denver, rent a fast car, and road trip it to Las Vegas over 5 days, with the Off Roadeo in the middle.

Just joined Gulf Coast Bronco Association. I'll see if they have something going we can use vs setting up something new.

 

[Missy]

Just joined Gulf Coast Bronco Association. I'll see if they have something going we can use vs setting up something new.

Sounds good! I bookmarked them and will join after work.

 

[BayouBadlands]

@JTopsUSA Bronco Hardtop

I love the open air feel of the Bronco, but the summer sun in Louisiana can be brutal. Also, cutting down on the amount of wind in the cabin can be good, especially with certain passengers with substantial investments of time, money, and effort in the tops of their heads.

I looked at a number of bimini options, and went with JTops. There are more favorable reviews for this brand than most. I really like that it can be left in place with the hardtop installed.

They have a variety of colors on their site, and I ordered a few color samples to see what would look best for my Bronco. They sent these for free and they arrived in just a few days. I went with black.

Installation is easy. They (really) stressed the importance of the velcro installation, so I took my time with that and followed the steps. I let the Velcro adhesive cure for about 36 hours before installing the top.

Once the velcro is installed, the top is attached by sandwiching it under the middle hard top bracket, attaching a few clips in the front, two clips in the back, and along its full length using the velcro strips. It is pulled tight by tensioning the rear clips and by pulling hard on each side as you attach it to the velcro.

There was quite a bit of movement at highway speeds when I first installed it, but I pulled most of that out by stretching and pulling the top over a couple of weeks.

I was concerned that the top would block most of the visibility at night. Unexpectedly, it is very easy to see out of at night. You can see stars, trees, and even powerlines. It's the daytime visibility that is reduced; the mesh diffuses the sunlight and makes it hard to see through under bright sun.

However, it dramatically reduces the sun and wind exposure, and - particularly with the windows up - it makes the cabin a calm place at speeds under about 45.

At higher speeds, it creates a whooshing noise – it has a higher pitch than normal wind noise. I have been trying to tighten it as much as possible to reduce this, but its still quite loud.

I wish there was an easier method for really getting this thing tight. Sailboats have lines sown into their sails that run through a small cleat ("leech lines" are a good example). These allow the tension in the sail's edges to be adjusted underway. A similar design might improve the bimini.

Also, there is a 6-inch solid piece that runs the width of the bimini along its leading edge. One of the things that I love about the top-off experience of the Bronco is how much the vertical windshield contributes to the open-air feeling. In most convertibles, the slant of the windshield intrudes over the driver's sight line, if that makes sense. Well, the JTops' construction has a similar effect, and you lose a little bit of the open-air feeling.

All that said, most modifications involve compromises. Jtops has the best solution on the market for me, and the benefits are well worth the minor compromises. The bimini makes leaving the top off for days or weeks much more livable. That means the top comes of and stays off more often, and that substantially improves my Bronco experience.

Tips:

- Take your time on the installation and be patient. Give the velcro time to cure.

- Watch the JTops installation videos on YouTube. This is an easy install, and the videos are worth the 10 minutes it takes to watch them.

- Retighten the bimini every few days after the first installation. Mine is much tighter after a few rounds of pulling. It looks better and reduces flapping and wind noise.

EDIT: Hardtop reinstallation tips:

The JTops instructions neglect to say that the middle hardtop bracket has significant adjustment from front to back and side to side. When reinstalling the hardtop, it is critical that this bracket is aligned. Failure to do so will make it difficult to reinstall the top and/or create a poor fit for the rooftop panels. I recommend using painter's tape or some other method to make reference marks before loosening this bracket!

I was unaware of this, though, and had difficulty with the realignment.

When reinstalling:
1. Loosen the bracket bolts just enough to move the bracket by hand, with effort.
2. Reinstall the hard top middle panel
3. A locating pin at the front inserts into the middle hardtop bracket.
4. The middle panel should firmly line up against the rubber seal, with an even gap around the panel.
4. Adjust the bracket as needed so that the latch closes firmly but without excessive effort.
5. Install front panels. There is a locating pin at the front edge of the two front panels (where the Jtops hooks would otherwise go. Adjust the middle bracket so the top sections slide smoothly in AND OUT without binding on the locating pins. Ensure an even gap all the way around. The latches should operate smoothly and firmly.
6. Remove the front driver-side panel carefully - fully tighten the exposed front bolt on the bracket. Repeat on the passenger side.
7. Unlatch the middle panel. Lift carefully, slide the panel back, and fully tighten the remaining two bracket bolts on each side.

 

[joell king]

Looks nice ! great for the nice breeze

Kodi​

 

[ChrisB351]

Im also in the BR area. Planning a trip to Barnwell in April in Marshall, TX. (Hour west of Shreveport)
It is the closest area with the type of off roading I enjoy, although it does not compare to the views of actual mountains. I have yet to make it to Hot Springs, but I plan to do that one in the fall.

When in April? Im in Shreveport and been to barnwell a few times when I had my jeep. Its a lot of fun.

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