Rough Country MLC-6 Multiple Light Controller

[Tabman10]

Hi all, I recently attempted to install a Rough Country MLC-6 in my bronco and noticed that it does not clear the hood/hood liner, causing the side of the hood to remain open about 1/4” higher than the other and is not resting against the seal. Has anyone that installed this product observed the same thing? I am not about to cut out the liner (not even sure that it would be sufficient anyways), and wondering if anybody had a similar experience and solution. Thank you.

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[landwarrior]

Hey, I have exactly the same problem! My hood doesn’t close at all if I keep the battery holder bracket underneath . Didn’t want to undo the install so kept the battery bracket off for now. Have you reached out to Rough Country? I plan to give them a call to see what options are on the table. I like having the controller vs direct wiring to the AUX switches so worst case scenario I will try to manufacture a lower bracket.

If you found a solution I’m eager to hear it!

 

[Tabman10]

Hi landwarrior,
I do not yet have a solution. There is a person on Bronco Nation that beat the lid down with a hammer, but I don’t think it would be sufficient I my case.

I did reach out to Rough Country, and have communicated with the following people:
Chad Blalock ([email protected])
Chase Dudley ([email protected])

Initially, they asked for picture and vehicle info and said that they were forwarding the information to the R&D team. This was a few weeks ago, a few days before Thanksgiving.

I have not heard anything back form them since, but just reached out again over the weekend (12/10).

I have tried to place the unit in both of our Broncos (MY22 Badlands 4-Door, 2.7L, Sas, Lux) with and without the hoodliner in place. On both vehicles, the hood does not close completely in either case and there is constant contact against the hood. It is likely that to fix this problem both the bracket height needs to be reduced and the cover needs to be redesigned to round off or bend down the corners on the ends. I don't think that total clearance can be achieved by just reducing the bracket in my case.

I also noticed that the website has been modified to state that there may be clearance issues with a hoodliner in place. This statement is not accurate / complete as (at least) with specific configurations or builds the hoodliner does not make a difference. The product does not fit as advertised.

I will let you know when I hear anything. Please do the same. Thank you!

 

[Jeffem]

I was just about to order this but decided to search installs on this forum. Saved again by searching. Thanks!

 

[landwarrior]

Hi landwarrior,
I do not yet have a solution. There is a person on Bronco Nation that beat the lid down with a hammer, but I don’t think it would be sufficient I my case.

I did reach out to Rough Country, and have communicated with the following people:
Chad Blalock ([email protected])
Chase Dudley ([email protected])

Initially, they asked for picture and vehicle info and said that they were forwarding the information to the R&D team. This was a few weeks ago, a few days before Thanksgiving.

I have not heard anything back form them since, but just reached out again over the weekend (12/10).

I have tried to place the unit in both of our Broncos (MY22 Badlands 4-Door, 2.7L, Sas, Lux) with and without the hoodliner in place. On both vehicles, the hood does not close completely in either case and there is constant contact against the hood. It is likely that to fix this problem both the bracket height needs to be reduced and the cover needs to be redesigned to round off or bend down the corners on the ends. I don't think that total clearance can be achieved by just reducing the bracket in my case.

I also noticed that the website has been modified to state that there may be clearance issues with a hoodliner in place. This statement is not accurate / complete as (at least) with specific configurations or builds the hoodliner does not make a difference. The product does not fit as advertised.

I will let you know when I hear anything. Please do the same. Thank you!

My ticket with them is created - would be surprised if I get a better response but let’s see…

My plan on a custom solution is to lower the bracket and bring the wires in horizontally through the cover (I’m not a fan on how much the battery connections have to be bent to go down and out based on the intended install). Water getting into the unit is a concern so I will see how I can make sure that won’t happen when I bring in the wiring on the side instead of underneath.

For now I’ll sit tight waiting for a response from them before voiding all warrantees…

 

[KABQ]

Hi all, I recently attempted to install a Rough Country MLC-6 in my bronco and noticed that it does not clear the hood/hood liner, causing the side of the hood to remain open about 1/4” higher than the other and is not resting against the seal. Has anyone that installed this product observed the same thing? I am not about to cut out the liner (not even sure that it would be sufficient anyways), and wondering if anybody had a similar experience and solution. Thank you.

I met this guy a couple weeks ago, and he didn't seem to get much of a response other than "we've notified R&D." It is confirmed that it does not clear the hood even without the hood liner, I've seen it in person.

 

[Tabman10]

Thank you both for the responses.
It might be helpful to also send a quick email to the names that I listed above or share the person that you talked to at Rough Country, so that we can be sure that they know that this isn't an isolated incident and it is preventing people from buying from them.
The first time I reached out to the general support email, I was told that it was the first time they had heard of it (despite details of it being reported on other forums), so either there is little cross communication or....
As landwarrior pointed out, I am not exactly a fan of the way that the harnesses are routed either, but this is obviously a repurposed Jeep accessory/design that would likely work just fine if they put a little effort into fixing the lid...

Does anybody if RC has a representative that monitors these forums?

 

[landwarrior]

Received a reply from Chad - he clearly states that the part will not fit with the factory liner in his message.

I looked at that product for a while before purchasing and never caught any disclaimer that it wouldn’t fit on their site. Haven’t checked since - maybe it’s more pronounced now.

Since Tabman10 posted that it may not fit without the liner either I asked RC to let me know if they sell one that fits - or have a recommendation for a 3rd party liner that fits.

 

[Tabman10]

The incorrect disclaimer regarding the hood liner was added recently, after I brought up the question - however I have tried totally removing my liner and the MLC-6 is still touching the hood. Before removing my liner, I bought the liner from IAG hoping that it would help since it looks to be lower profile - but in reality the material itself is thicker than the OEM, so it wouldn’t work anyways. There is no liner that you can add if the MLC-6 is already touching the hood when closed.

Just to be 100% clear, the MLC-6 does not fit, at least in all cases, even without the liner present - and Rough Country knows this.

 

[landwarrior]

The incorrect disclaimer regarding the hood liner was added recently, after I brought up the question - however I have tried totally removing my liner and the MLC-6 is still touching the hood. Before removing my liner, I bought the liner from IAG hoping that it would help since it looks to be lower profile - but in reality the material itself is thicker than the OEM, so it wouldn’t work anyways. There is no liner that you can add if the MLC-6 is already touching the hood when closed.

Just to be 100% clear, the MLC-6 does not fit, at least in all cases, even without the liner present - and Rough Country knows this.

I agree with you - I just want to get that in writing from them. They should stop to market the “Bronco” kit until they have a solution. Not sure if their R&D team is driving around without hood!? It’s just so obvious that this kit doesn’t fit that I don’t get how they thought it would be a good idea to sell it this way.

Maybe they wanted to see how much interest there is for the controller and we became the beta testers… or perhaps alpha.

 

[plogan1379]

JuSt curious if anyone has come up with a solution to this? The unit fits my ‘23 Wildtrak if I leave the battery hold down AND cover off. My good will close with cover on but stays raised slightly as others mentioned.

 

[landwarrior]

Unfortunately no news from my end. I kept the battery bracket off and the cover on but still cringe when closing the hood.

Got distracted from creating a custom bracket that will give it enough clearance but hope to get back to that eventually.

Relocation of the controller may be the better option.

 

[Tabman10]

Sorry for the late response…. It is not exactly pretty, but I used a Drexel with cutting wheel to cut some metal out and make some bends. I then used RTV to seal the gaps. Make sure to paint it quickly, the lids rust very quickly. Even with this and some added bends to the bracket, it still touches the liner slightly, but at least the hood closes all the way. I can’t believe RC still sells this for Bronco….

 

[604Bronco]

Could you not have adjusted the hood bumpers up slightly to gain a tad more space? I know folks adjust these when their hood isn’t even, so I assume it could get a little bit of room for this.

 

[Tabman10]

No, I raised them a little bit, but right now my hood is flush (vs. slightly under fender level from factory), so I am not going any further. These things were not designed for Bronco…just lazily repurposed from existing kits for other vehicles.

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