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.

Sponsored

 

[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.

 

[vongeaux]

@BayouBadlands thank you for posting this. I’m in the BR area too and agree - sun shade is a must! I just installed my Jtop Bimini and I was so frustrated that after putting my hard top back on the front panels now have a gap. I’m going to follow your steps.

 

[BayouBadlands]

@vongeaux Glad that was helpful! Did you get your front panels realigned?

 

[BayouBadlands]

Ford Performance Winch Kit Install



Parts:

Ford Performance winch kit $923

Rough Country parking sensor extension cables $36

Ford Ranger parking sensor relocation kit (wrong size for what I wanted) $30

Mountains2Metal front camera relocate kit with ADD cover $210


I bought the Ford Performance winch kit at a deep discount ($1050 + 20% off coupon), including shipping to a Ford dealer about 45 minutes away. The kit arrived in three days.

These are shipped on a pallet, and it’s heavy. If you do the same, open the big box and lift the winch out separately. Inside the shipping box, both the winch and the winch plate are packaged very securely in their own boxes, making it much easier to move the pieces separately.

The website description states that this is not compatible with parking sensors, front cameras, or ACC, and that the dealer must reprogram the airbag settings and disable the sensors. I wanted to keep the camera and parking sensors (I don’t have ACC, but reports say it works fine with the winch installed), so I planned to lightly modify the winch mount.


I unpacked everything prior to the install, and with all the hardware on the table, it’s easy to see how the project comes together. There is some heavy lifting, but it’s not complicated.

Anticipating the camera relocation, I removed the grille, which involves removing a few retainers and 10mm bolts. Once the grille was removed, the camera was held in place with a lightweight bracket. I removed the bracket, disconnected the cable and the washer fluid hose, and removed the camera module from the grille. The Mountains2Metal kit comes with extensions for the cable and the hose, which connect near the top of the grille and run behind the passenger headlight and along the bumper to the winch. I then reinstalled the grille.


The first step to installing the winch was to remove the modular bumper. You unclip the parking sensor harness on the driver’s side, remove the two plastic winch hook covers, and zip out the six bolts holding the bumper on. I have lights in my bumper wired to the AUX switches, so I removed that harness as well. The bumper is heavy and unwieldy. I lowered it onto a few pieces of cardboard, then moved it off to the side.

I should clean this area. I am not going to, but I should.

Next, mounting brackets and frame horn reinforcements are installed. The hardware seems to be good quality, and everything fit together very well. Once the reinforcements are in place, the bumper is reinstalled.


Before reinstalling the bumper, I removed the two middle parking sensors to prepare for their relocation. They are tucked in the bumper behind the mounting brackets. I’m lazy, and I was able to remove them with a pick and my clumsy fingers. It was fairly easy and faster than removing the brackets, but either method works.


I put the bumper on two jack stands, which got it within a few inches of where it needed to be to bolt back up. That made relocating it much easier.


Once the bumper was reinstalled, the “recovery forgings” were installed. These replace the original recovery hooks and they are BEEFY. The winch plate mounts to these with brackets, and then the winch mounts to the winch plate.


Before wiring everything up, I made a small modification to the winch mount to relocate the parking sensors. I drilled two 1 1/8-inch holes with a carbide-tipped hole saw from Harbor Freight ($18—better than a stepped bit). I used plenty of WD40 to keep the bit cool. Once the hole was drilled, I cleaned up the bumper and used trim and bumper paint to cover the exposed metal to prevent rust.

Then, I installed the new parking sensor brackets. I couldn’t quickly locate Bronco-specific ones and wanted to leave the original ones in the modular bumper in place in case I ever removed the winch in the future. That would make restoring the Bronco to factory spec easier. So, I ordered some aftermarket ones for the Ford Ranger. They are a little too big, but nothing a razor knife and a rubber mallet couldn’t handle (prior to installing the actual sensors, obviously). I suggest buying Bronco-specific parking sensor mounts, and I will eventually swap these out.


The Mountains2Metal camera relocation kit sits on a bracket that bolts to the backside of the fairlead bolts. The camera cable and washer fluid extension route behind the winch and up to the bracket. I wrapped both in a plastic wire loom to protect them and to make the install tidier. The camera sits in front of the bull bar.


A note on the Mountains2Metal camera relocation kit: I didn’t see many choices on the market, so I went with this. I don’t like it. The location is exposed, and the cost is insane at over $200. There’s no justification for that. I will eventually find another solution, probably involving relocating it to the top or front of the winch control module. I don’t recommend the Mountains2Metal kit; it’s an inelegant solution and wildly overpriced.


The winch is wired directly to the battery. I used a wire fish to pull the cables along the route per the installation instructions. The instructions called for removing the wheel well liner, but there’s no reason to do that. I removed a few screws and folded it back just enough to see.


Then, reconnect the parking sensor and lighting harnesses before reconnecting the battery—unless you forget, like I did.


I started the Bronco and the DIC went nuts with warning messages about the parking sensors and related doom and gloom. I thought I’d installed something wrong, or the harnesses were bad, or a pin was loose in a connector, or the parking sensors were in the wrong orientation, or… Turns out I just forgot to reconnect the parking sensor wire harness. Once that was done, I had no error messages. I backed the Bronco out and drove up to my closed garage doors. The sensors worked completely normally. I pulled forward until the indicators turned red and the car was beeping like crazy. The relocated sensors on the winch mount were still a few inches from the door. Perfect.


Job done. Sort of.


The winch is heavy. I have a 2.7L four-door Badlands Sasquatch, and it dropped the front end by well over an inch. I could feel the weight of the winch when driving, especially when braking or cornering. I did not take the truck off road in this configuration, but I imagine would not perform well. I am surprised that this is the same winch installation as the Everglades; either the 2.3L motor is that much lighter, or the Everglades has stiffer springs.

It was such a compromised experience that I decided I would either need to remove the winch or make some changes to the suspension.

Hint, hint

 

[vongeaux]

@vongeaux Glad that was helpful! Did you get your front panels realigned?

It did actually. Thanks so much. This bronco is bound to turn me into a handier person.

 

[BayouBadlands]

Here's an update on the suspension work following the winch install. The thinking behind it and the write up are here: https://www.bronco6g.com/forum/thre...alling-the-ford-performance-winch-kit.101971/

Most of the below is copied from that thread:

I had the Bilstein 6100 shocks installed on the factory Badlands Sasquatch springs.

The 6100 series shocks have height adjustability through six circlip slots. I installed the front shocks at location 5 (second from top) and the rears at location two (second from bottom).

Stance: Not sure yet. I wanted an almost level look with the roof on, and level with a full cargo area and a full tank of gas. It is close.

Unloaded, though, there's a bit of rake. In the future, I think I will adjust the front shock to the top circlip location. That requires removing the springs, which is significant amount of work.

If I had to do this again, I would go with setting 6 in front and 2 in back.

One of the reasons I went with location five was to preserve ride quality as much as possible. I was concerned that maxing out the pretension on the springs would stiffen the ride too much.

The ride is fantastic.

I like a firm ride, and the Bronco feels much more responsive. There's much less body roll and break dive. It definitely communicates road imperfections but its not harsh. It is very settled over bumps and it immediately recovers after a big hit, like a speed bump. At speed, over rough roads, it is signifcantly better than the OEM shocks. This is a handy feature in a city like New Orleans, which has unbelievably bad streets. I haven't taken it offroad yet, but I'll get a few chances to do so in November and December.

If you like a softer ride, then I would steer you towards Fox Shocks, or another brand.

My motivation for doing this now was the winch install, as I hated how it made the Bronco look (with the huge forward rake) and feel (with the added brake diving and worse cornering feel). It added a ton of weight, and I was aware of the winch whenever I drove the car. The 6100s have corrected those issues, which was my goal. The Bronco looks and drives better than it did before the winch was mounted.

I do 95% of my miles on the road. The combination of the Bilstein 6100s and the Ford Performance Tune is a game changer for the Bronco. It makes for a much, much better driving experience. Worth every cent of the upgrade costs: $865 for the shocks, $900 for install and alignment, $650 for the FP tune.

After pics (roof off, no cargo):

 

[Ford Motor Company]

Here's an update on the suspension work following the winch install. The thinking behind it and the write up are here: https://www.bronco6g.com/forum/thre...alling-the-ford-performance-winch-kit.101971/

Most of the below is copied from that thread:

I had the Bilstein 6100 shocks installed on the factory Badlands Sasquatch springs.

The 6100 series shocks have height adjustability through six circlip slots. I installed the front shocks at location 5 (second from top) and the rears at location two (second from bottom).

Stance: Not sure yet. I wanted an almost level look with the roof on, and level with a full cargo area and a full tank of gas. It is close.

Unloaded, though, there's a bit of rake. In the future, I think I will adjust the front shock to the top circlip location. That requires removing the springs, which is significant amount of work.

If I had to do this again, I would go with setting 6 in front and 2 in back.

One of the reasons I went with location five was to preserve ride quality as much as possible. I was concerned that maxing out the pretension on the springs would stiffen the ride too much.

The ride is fantastic.

I like a firm ride, and the Bronco feels much more responsive. There's much less body roll and break dive. It definitely communicates road imperfections but its not harsh. It is very settled over bumps and it immediately recovers after a big hit, like a speed bump. At speed, over rough roads, it is signifcantly better than the OEM shocks. This is a handy feature in a city like New Orleans, which has unbelievably bad streets. I haven't taken it offroad yet, but I'll get a few chances to do so in November and December.

If you like a softer ride, then I would steer you towards Fox Shocks, or another brand.

My motivation for doing this now was the winch install, as I hated how it made the Bronco look (with the huge forward rake) and feel (with the added brake diving and worse cornering feel). It added a ton of weight, and I was aware of the winch whenever I drove the car. The 6100s have corrected those issues, which was my goal. The Bronco looks and drives better than it did before the winch was mounted.

I do 95% of my miles on the road. The combination of the Bilstein 6100s and the Ford Performance Tune is a game changer for the Bronco. It makes for a much, much better driving experience. Worth every cent of the upgrade costs: $865 for the shocks, $900 for install and alignment, $650 for the FP tune.

After pics (roof off, no cargo):

Your Bronco looks awesome!

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