📣 Ford announces MIC hardtop solution (program 21B49): unscheduled orders will get MY2022, delivered & built Broncos will have tops replaced

[WuNgUn]

Oh, I can just see it now... Come October, Ford fires off email stating, because of quality and production issues, new-design MIC hardtops won't be available until first quarter 2022.
If there is one thing that Ford has be reliable with, it's delaying everything.

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[KTP 30]

The ones already delivered are a liability issue and makes the brand look crappy in public.

 

[IDyeti]

Neat, bong rips for breakfast it is.

 

[Dro]

No. MIC hardtop production for unscheduled First Edition builds will resume late this year with the updated hardtop design. I wouldn't expect this until probably November, as the new tooling still needs to be completed, installed, and tested before production of the new hard tops can begin. Once that happens, they have committed to building new MIC hardtops for all units that have already been delivered, then the "bad batch" Broncos trapped at MAP, THEN for production of new units.

With new tooling beginning in November, would you guess that units stuck at MAP will remain there through EOY?

 

[Science4Lyfe]

I am going to keep posting this every 10 minutes until someone at Ford reads it:

Let assigned VINs switch to a soft top.

 

[da_jokker]

I couldn't read fast enough to keep up with the pages...

So sounds like Ford is claiming that in 2 months their new Hard Top manufacturer is going to start producing a replacement top?

Does anyone believe this is even possible? Seems like there's no way that Ford could start producing hardtop Broncos by December. That's only 4 months away.

 

[fraserjr]

Hey, you have every right to be a dick. This has been a mess.

The design issue is the unfinished edges. Initially, these were to be treated and sealed but it was never successful. The "coating" applied at the plant lasted for about a week, if that. The other issues plaguing the MIC top - thickness of outer ply, uniformity of material thickness, and forming issues within the clamshell - were perhaps made more challenging by the tooling but not necessarily impossible. This new design and tooling should aid in ALL these factors.

As for the 8/2 "full speed" production, that was the plan. Heels were firmly dug in on the engineering of the top and all fingers were pointed towards Plymouth. There was hope that the "best" of the roof units being delivered to MAP could at least be used to complete FE and stranded builds, but as more and more units were evaluated, it became clear that it was a bigger liability to release more of these out into the wild than to just scrap the thing and start over.

Like I said last night, this move HURTS... especially the "bad batch" crew of 2,200+ builds stuck at MAP, but it's absolutely the best way to address it at this juncture. A LOT of these headaches could have been alleviated by pulling the plug when the first issues became apparent, but that's not where we are.

So my guess here is they will pump out soft tops for six weeks for orders and dealer stock. My FE build that was scheduled for 9/6 week will move to sometime in October (assuming their six week timeline holds ) And my Badlands with a MIC with an 8/30 build will probably be pushed sometime right before the end of the year with a Jan/Feb delivery.

FE delivery in November - wishful thinking
BL delivery in Q1 22 - wishful thinking

PS this isn't to sh*t on all the people who don't have VINs, if I were you I would be even more livid. I just need some new story to update all my friends and family who are going to ask when my Bronco is coming.

 

[BroncoPls!]

Ok, this news is not that surprising based on everything going with the MIC tops. I have been a MOD top order since day 1, 99nd and pushed to MY23 (supposedly). I’m a little nervous that there was no mention of the MOD top timetable.

 

[ModifyMike]

Wow… well isn’t that an ironically timed little bit of information there Robinhood?

 

[Scott R Nelson]

So, since I have not been notified of a build date, I'll be getting a 2022, right?

I'm curious if the 2022 will have any different options, like maybe I can get the tow package with a base 2-door Sasquatch? Maybe a manual transmission?

I'm still rather annoyed at Ford about this. When I signed up I was expecting to have one about now, not more than six months from now.

 

[PrepVet]

Makes sense.

Maybe my non constraints day one reservation will actually get built? Ha, I kid. My dealer sucks. That won’t happen.

 

[WuNgUn]

Holy shit...so I'm reading this as my First Edition won't be here until a early? 2022....as a 2021 MY. If they can't even start with new roofs until October at the earliest, then are taking care of ALREADY DELIVERED Broncos first, then bad batchers, THEN FEs, etc. Add 2 months to ship, and I'm screwed.

I can't do it. I have no choice but to buy something for winter use, can't drive a GT350 through an Alaskan winter!

Fuck you Ford. Really, truly, fuck you. Send me a Bronco with a bad roof, IDGAF. Deal with it later.

There isn't a whole lot of hard tops that need replacing, really. MIC tops are pretty rare in the wild... Mostly softies. The lot hold trucks are like 2000+...
That alone should only be like 2 weeks of hardtop production...
Am I drinking Ford Kool-Aid?? You betcha!

 

[Contact]

Well at least us old "In production" people have an answer. Now to start planning for the future.

 

[PREMiERdrum]

Actually a little better than I expected, but no surprises here.

@PREMiERdrum Still working my way through the thread, but can you offer any more details about how exactly they are altering the design of the MIC top?

Any discussion if altering the design will require new safety testing?

The design will look very much the same (and be the same color, to those of you asking). Main points to address in the update:

- Rolled /finished edges where there were formerly raw cuts.
- Thicker, more uniform outer layer of material.
- Improved injection process to fix forming issues in the clamshell.

Also, I've seen several people asking why they can't just get their truck now with a bad roof and replace it later. Two huge problems will prevent that from happening:
- Ford doesn't want any more "bad" units running around beyond the few hundred already out there.
- They want no part of shipping any more of these things than they already have to. Freight is going be enormous on them and there is a substantial risk of damage while shipping. I doubt they have a packaging and logistics plan for them but I can imagine it's going to be incredibly costly.

 

[Zeno]

Interesting the date on the awareness communication letter says July 21. I wonder if that is because this letter applies only to Broncos that were shipped. Does that mean Ford stopped shipping any hard top Broncos made after 7/21? My build date was 7/22. Missed it by that much (if I'm right). I'm just speculating...

Mine was built on 7/20 and no shipping here. If you look on the 7/19 build thread and earlier build date threads you will see a bunch of us that have been built, but not shipped. My guess is that they made their final decision on how to go forward on July 21st, but already knew well before that date that the bad batch Broncos built, but not yet not yet shipped would not go out.

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