MIC hard top surface now resembles the moon's surface

[omi205]

Can't seem to find a common indicator from those who have reported this. It has to be bad manufacturing/material and its up to luck if yours is effected.

Ford has not announced any "improved" hard top (MIC). Have a MY23 4Dr Badlands w/ MIC. Build date of 10/22. Have 5.5k miles to date. Picked up off the dealer lot, new, Feb 23. I have taken it off-road several times.

I first heard about this issue, on this forum, shortly after picking up the bronco in Feb of 23. Since then I have been monitoring the hard top. I hand wash the bronco myself. Do not use any special cleaners or conditioners on the top. Just basic car detailing soap and then water to rinse off the soap.

So far I have not been able to notice any cracks or bubbling. I have only removed the two front panels (over driver and passenger seat). Nocking on wood. The bronco is always kept in a garage (covered). Typical sunny cali weather.

Have told myself that if it does go bad...I would consider one of the third party brands. They all use different material which seem to be stronger. Ford took this rout to cut costs and reduce weight. My opinion. It looks great. Unfortunately doesn't perform so well.

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[ATLBronco75]

It cracks me up that they had this solved 30 years ago. Never had any of this on my 80s/90s Broncos. I even took the caps off and on regularly.

 

[DemonGT]

Iv seen Jeeps with similar style hard tops, do they not have some of the issues that the Bronco tops have had?

 

[lwilliams34]

I can see already that i am going to have to lower my expectations and calm my OCD with these vehicles. I think Ford can learn a thing or two from Jeep.
I contemplated owning a jeep, but for me the looks and functionality for what I am using it for just didn't make sense. Plus I wanted the 2 door and even though the Bronco doesn't have a lot of room in the back it is better than the Jeep.
May just order a soft top and use that during the summer and hard top during the winter...
Anyone else done this?

 

[SoDak1623]

The variance in quality of the tops is crazy. My '22 that was built in March last year has no cracking, delamination, bubbles, etc... It has even been through a couple hail storms that left some small dings in the hood, but no top issues. I've removed the front panels a lot and had the clamshell off once resting on the garage floor and no chipping or deformation from that either. To add, mine is kept outside all year. Snow, Ice, and -40 during winter and 100 degrees in the summer.

 

[indio22]

Iv seen Jeeps with similar style hard tops, do they not have some of the issues that the Bronco tops have had?

I don't think my older Jeep hardtops have this double wall bonded honeycomb construction. Instead they have a thicker single wall construction, with some double wall areas that don't rely on honeycomb style bonding.

To me the issues with the Bronco top are:
1) Un-bonding of the outer skin and inner honeycomb.
2) Outer skin too thin - hence more prone to damage, stress cracks, etc.

I think about my kayaks, canoe, and 3 older Jeep hardtops ... and you can beat up the thicker single walls, not concerned with delamination or comprising a thin outer wall.

What's the solution? Get the bonding spread out better. Make the outer skin thicker or out of something more resilient.

 

[userdude]

For a 4 door retail price is
$3380 for the clamshell
$980 for the middle panel
$3155 for the front 2 panels

Geez, with those prices the Armadillo top with all the fixin's is a good deal, assuming they can produce them and they're good quality. With these tops, though, nothing is for sure.

 

[Tricky Mike]

Mine hasn't seen the light of day for about 18 months so I'm not sure how it looks. It's irritating that they delayed so many of us for months on Dirt Mountain for tops and still put out this crap.

 

[Imaginary Friend]

Iv seen Jeeps with similar style hard tops, do they not have some of the issues that the Bronco tops have had?

Both of my JKs were hardtops (both body color), never an issue with either top. Not even a leak. They were tough and unfazed by weather including hail and heavy snow and even a small errant tree branch.

I'm putting my dream of owning a 2-door Bronco on (probably near) indefinite hold until they bring back the base model with cloth seats and offer a ragtop from the factory.

These hardtops are garbage, and many will be moldy mush inside within a few years....

 

[Tabman10]

Jeeps also have this groundbreaking technology thing that goes over/around the door openings and keeps large flows of water from pouring onto you when the window or door is opened....

 

[Herewegoagain]

They already offer it. You can order a MIC top from any dealership.
I see about ~95 2 door tops available at a few different depots right now and 33 4 door tops.

I'm glad I got the soft. If I ever get a hard top it won't be thru Ford.

 

[Rusty Sheckelford]

It cracks me up that they had this solved 30 years ago. Never had any of this on my 80s/90s Broncos. I even took the caps off and on regularly.

Let's be a little fair, those tops were a LOT different than the new mic tops, both in materials and functionality.

A Better argument imo would be that jeep seem to have no problems with their tops, so it shouldn't be taking ford and webesto so long to figure their shit out.

 

[ATLBronco75]

Let's be a little fair, those tops were a LOT different than the new mic tops, both in materials and functionality.

A Better argument imo would be that jeep seem to have no problems with their tops, so it shouldn't be taking ford and webesto so long to figure their shit out.

Sure but they don’t need to be. Ford just cheaped out and won’t do a foam and fiberglass top. The top on my 1990 was superior in every way except weight.

 

[Ksjrb03]

I don't think my older Jeep hardtops have this double wall bonded honeycomb construction. Instead they have a thicker single wall construction, with some double wall areas that don't rely on honeycomb style bonding.

To me the issues with the Bronco top are:
1) Un-bonding of the outer skin and inner honeycomb.
2) Outer skin too thin - hence more prone to damage, stress cracks, etc.

I think about my kayaks, canoe, and 3 older Jeep hardtops ... and you can beat up the thicker single walls, not concerned with delamination or comprising a thin outer wall.

What's the solution? Get the bonding spread out better. Make the outer skin thicker or out of something more resilient.

The main issue is #2. Waaaaay too thin.

Cost is always a driver in these decisions, but the reason Ford went with this design over the tried and true methods Jeep uses, was weight. The same reason our interior panels are ridiculously thin and flimsy. Bronco had weight issues and during design they cut a pound anywhere they could.

 

[HighVelocity]

I was hoping this was about a glow-in-the-dark roof.

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