JUNK Hard Tops......and a question

[2023bronco]

There's a class action lawsuit in development....

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[Hey Buddy]

There's a class action lawsuit in development....

There should be. I have never understood why our hard tops were not solid fiberglass/plastic like the older Gen 2/3/4/5 models. The cardboard core thing is something they should have never signed off on as being a great idea.

 

[BroncoChallenger]

Who is "they"? And where is this warning?

"They" is Ford. There is, from the factory, a sticker on the windows of the tops (that usually gets removed by the dealerships prior to anyone seeing the vehicle so you likely never saw it on yours) that someone else posted. It's also in the owner's manual that no one ever reads anyway so Ford made all-digital. I downloaded ours and posted the pages on a thread around here somewhere.

 

[BroncoChallenger]

uh oh…they warn you not to go through a car wash? Even a touch-less car wash?

It doesn't specify touch or touchless car washes, but the owner's manual does state it should be hand-washed and waxed. So yes, Ford does warn owners not to go through car washes with the MIC top.

 

[DALOLA]

"They" is Ford. There is, from the factory, a sticker on the windows of the tops (that usually gets removed by the dealerships prior to anyone seeing the vehicle so you likely never saw it on yours) that someone else posted. It's also in the owner's manual that no one ever reads anyway so Ford made all-digital. I downloaded ours and posted the pages on a thread around here somewhere.

Seems like that should be a sticker left for the customer to remove, similar to the airbag sticker on the glovebox. I'd love to see a picture of that, on the top, as it comes from the assembly plant. I will also search my digital owners manual again....I went thru it pretty thoroughly, don't recall seeing anything like that, but I may have missed it.

Bottom line, if it was really so important, Ford should have done a better job warning against it, and making it known to the customer.

 

[BroncoChallenger]

Seems like that should be a sticker left for the customer to remove, similar to the airbag sticker on the glovebox. I'd love to see a picture of that, on the top, as it comes from the assembly plant. I will also search my digital owners manual again....I went thru it pretty thoroughly, don't recall seeing anything like that, but I may have missed it.

Bottom line, if it was really so important, Ford should have done a better job warning against it, and making it known to the customer.

Yeah I'm not sure why dealers remove it, they definitely shouldn't. It wasn't on the one we purchased or any Broncos they had on the lot, but I have seen it on Broncos on OTHER lots, and some guys have posted pictures of theirs still having the sticker in place on this forum.

But here's a clip from the owner's manual I downloaded from Ford's website. It doesn't explicitly say no car washes for the top, but it DOES say they recommend ONLY cleaning it (and really they say the entire vehicle) by hand:

 

[Dadsquatch]

I'm 5'-8". When looking at my hardtop from ground level, it looks perfect everywhere.

If I get on a step ladder and look down from above, the passenger side window has 38 cracks. They are only visible when looking down from above.

Everyone who thinks they don't have cracks, make sure you look at it from ALL angles, before its too late.

Exactly. Must inspect the tops from all angles in all variations of high intensity lighting, low intensity lighting, natural lighting, etc. All tops are already cracked or will be very soon for those who don’t think so.

Exactly, they can be hard to see, especially if you dont know what your looking for, a lot of people think they are scratches, which they are not - mine looks the same as yours

Exactly. Must inspect the tops from all angles in all variations of high intensity lighting, low intensity lighting, natural lighting, etc. All tops are already cracked or will be very soon for those who don’t think so.

2024 Raptor, at 500 miles. They crack also. I dont think they make a mic top that dont Crack. L

Exactly. Must inspect the tops from all angles in all variations of high intensity lighting, low intensity lighting, natural lighting, etc. All tops are already cracked or will be very soon for those who don’t think so.

So, what happens to these cracks over the long term? Do they keep getting bigger? Does it get to the point of separation? Does anyone have pictures of ultimately what happens? Is it just a cosmetic issue?

I’m on my 4th top. My first replacement crack was large enough for water droplets to come OUT of the crack, which means there was water intrusion.

 

[DALOLA]

I’m on my 4th top. My first replacement crack was large enough for water droplets to come OUT of the crack, which means there was water intrusion.

Does anyone have pictures of a top/cracks in an advanced state of separation?

 

[Dadsquatch]

Does anyone have pictures of a top/cracks in an advanced state of separation?

I don’t think they are separating more than what is shown in the picture I’m attaching here, but this was large/separated enough for water to intrude where I later saw it seeping out via a couple water droplets.

 

[SlowTrak]

Painted or not, both are cracking. You are buying a ticking time bomb lol...

I thought about OEM too but reading around and following different Facebook groups, I have seen cracking from both and they are from 2024 and 2025 models (not saying the older ones aren't cracking, saying the newer models STILL are cracking). Like someone mentioned in an earlier post though, maybe they are running it through the machine washes where the arms are scrubbing against the tops which is not a suggested way to wash per Ford?

For me I am leaning towards TOR. I like Armadillo's structure design, not so much the aesthetics as it looks too hard core offroady to me. So i'm leaning more towards TOR.

 

[VirginiaHeritage]

Ford would have had a sale from me by now if they offered an OEM soft top instead of a MIC top on a 2-door. I want cloth seats too, so a base is my only choice and I'll have nothing to do with a MIC top given what some of you are going through. A Badlands with a painted top ain't gonna happen at $60K+.

Heritage has cloth seats and has always had the painted top, so if you ever find a pre ‘25 2-door you like, that might be your ticket.

 

[Jakob1972]

There are two types of MIC hard tops.

Ones with cracks and ones that will get cracks.

I never thought I had cracks until one day the sun hit the top just right, I thought they were spider webs at first. then I looked at the very top of the top.

 

[DALOLA]

I don’t think they are separating more than what is shown in the picture I’m attaching here, but this was large/separated enough for water to intrude where I later saw it seeping out via a couple water droplets.

Interesting.... hard to imagine a crack that small on a vertical surface pulling in water. I still really wonder what the long term effects are, beyond cosmetic.

 

[dingle87]

I posted this in another MIC top thread.... Ford should start a trade-in program for MIC top owners, get them into a MOD top and stop production of the MIC tops. It's a failed experiment from the jump.

 

[rgraphic]

I posted this in another MIC top thread.... Ford should start a trade-in program for MIC top owners, get them into a MOD top and stop production of the MIC tops. It's a failed experiment from the jump.

Absolutely. Has anyone successfully negotiated getting a mod top? (even if it required paying the difference)

I'm 8 or so months in(10,000 miles) and used to just have those superficial internal micro cracks that didn't break the surface by the corners of the windows (which I was borderline starting to come to terms with) but now I'm got actual cracks breaking the surface towards the rear of the window on the exact spot both sides.

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