Eilers Park 2023 Black Diamond

[EilersPark]

I never got around to writing anything up when I first got it, but its been a year now with my 23’ Carbonized Grey, Black Diamond Sasquatch. I have 25K miles and I’ll say that I love it and it has exceeded my expectations in almost every way.

Ordering and Delivery: I ordered this from Vanderhyde Brothers Ford in Cedar Springs, Mi. I ordered March 7th of 22, right before the order cut off. I picked it up April 10th of 23 so right at about 400 days for delivery. I flew up there and drove it home to Austin. I ordered from Vanderhyde because of a close friend that used to work at the dealership and all of the Austin Tx area dealers were shystering $5-15K ADMs on everything. Bernie and the team at Vanderhyde were amazing and I would recommend them to anybody in the Western Michigan area.

Specs: Black Diamond, Sasquatch, Mid package, 4 door, 2.7, MIC, Modular Bumper, and tow package (all the deadly sins at the time).

Initial Impression: Its big. It stands tall (and is a bit of a challenge to get up in without steps, and is stockier than I expected in person, which I love. Its comfortable to drive, but a bit louder on the road than I expected, which makes me really glad I didn’t get a soft top. I will also say that I like the stock Sasquatch wheels and tires more than I expected to. I was originally going to at least get black beauty rings but haven’t done so. I also haven’t noticed the Goodyears throwing rocks as much as others had reported.

Service / Issues: I am happy to report that I have been relatively trouble free. The only warranty issue I had was for the rear wiper fluid line having a leak and draining all of my wiper fluid out. A minor inconvenience as it leaked inside the back panel and storage area. Lief Johnson Ford service got me fixed right up. I have had the occasional issue with the infotainment system locking up and with CarPlay not connecting but those are easily solved with the power button + >> reset trick (which is a life saver). have changed the oil and rotated (all 5) tires 3 times in 25K miles.

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[EilersPark]

Upgrades / Mods: Here are the upgrades and mods I have done so far. Also a top 5.

• Top 5 Upgrades (in no particular order):
  • Suma Performance Mirrors: I got these after almost a year. Why did I wait so long, these are amazing.
  • AR Magnum Stirrups: Steps/rails are a must have for a Sasquatched Bronco. These are some of the best made and best looking in my opinion.
  • Seven Sparta Blue Grab Handles: Used every day. Ford should have grab handles from the factory.
  • Auto Start/Stop Eliminator: I wish I would have had it since day one.
  • Mabett Floor Mat Set: Rubber floor mats are a must have. This is a great set.
• Exterior:
  • License Plate Frame: An inexpensive bling item for the rear plate.
  • Front License Plate Mount: A great solution from form member Walt (HBTFD).
  • Mabett Front Bumper Splash Guards: A good idea, but I am disappointed in the product. These are molded plastic and have waves and bends when installed, not like the pictures on Amazon. A disappointment in quality for sure.
  • IAG Rock Rail Mini Mud Flap: I picked these up locally on CraigsList. They fit great and work well.
  • AR Magnum Stirrup (Black): I picked these up from a local Bronco owner on CraigsList. I got them for about $1000 and I didn’t have to wait 3-6 months from AR (which I was willing to do). These steps fit great and look amazing. They make a huge difference in getting in and out of the Bronco.
  • Ford Bronco Tube Doors: This is the CraigsList steal of the year. I got the full set of 4 for $600. The person had just sold his bronco and was selling his accessories. He knew what they were worth and just wanted a quick sale.
  • JTOPs Bimini Top: I picked this up from a user on the forum. Great top, I really like it. It makes riding with the top off much nicer.
  • Suma Performance Mirrors (Grey/tinted): I waited until they had a forum sale. These things are amazing. By far one of the best upgrades on my Bronco. I have had no issues with them being too dark. I installed these when I did my Oracle Mirror lights.
  • Hood Struts: I have tried 2 different cheap Chinese hood strut kits and both have failed, either broken or outgassed. Failure #1 here. Failure #2 here. Stay away from these. I guess I need to pay a little more for something better.
• Interior:
  • Auto Start/Stop Eliminator: Just got this recently, ordered the one from 21 Offroad, not the cheap one on Amazon.
  • Seven Sparta Blue Grab Handles: This is clearly one of the best and most inexpensive upgrades you can do. I use these daily as do passengers.
  • Mabett Floor Mat Set: Complete set including floor, trunk and seat back. Great set, fit perfect.
  • Mabett Front Door Storage Pockets: These are great, very useful. They stick out a bit but don’t really bother me. I did notice that the color was slightly off but not that bad.
  • Mabett Console Organizer Tray: A very inexpensive and very useful addition. I debated this vs a locking console safe, but I can actually keep my Sig P365 in the top console tray, so everything works out.
  • Overhead Sunglasses Storage Box: Another small but useful item. I can but my sunglasses as well as my garage door fab in there and most people don’t even notice its there.
  • Dash Mount Rail: This is one of the more inexpensive ones and it worked for what I needed, which was a phone mount and a GoPro mount.
  • AR Black Diamond Console Badge: I pinged AR and they had a few left so I got one. It looks solid, top notch quality as expected from AR.
  • ModCrate Blue Latch Bushing: A great little interior mod to add to the blue accents.
  • Mabett Rear Ceiling Light and 4pc Interior Dome Lights: Overall this is a great upgrade, and really helps with the lighting. I have had the occasional issue where the 4pc lights stay on and don’t turn off for several minutes while you are driving. Its annoying but not terrible. If anyone has any ideas on this, let me know.
  • Center Console Shifter (saddle bag) Storage Box: Another inexpensive addition. I don’t use it as much as I expected but it doesn’t get in the way.
  • Fire Extinguisher and Mount: I originally went with the Aufer quick release mount but I found it rattled so I returned it.
  • JROAD Tailgate Table: A great choice, it installed fairly easy, it works well and is rattle free.
  • Rear grocery bag hooks: These would work fine on a normal Bronco but I have the 6 ¾ speaker pods and there is interference. I had to make modifications to make them work.
  • Rockworkx Blue Hard Top Screws: Great addition. They make removing the hard top much easier.
  • OBD Link and Forscan: A very useful tool and easy enough to figure out. I have done the standard stuff, adding missing GOAT mode (Baja), removed double honk, and various stereo changes.
• Lights:
  • Mabett Raptor Style Fog Lights: I actually ordered these before I got my Bronco and had them waiting on the truck, so they were one of the first mods I did. They were easy to install, I have them hooked to SW5 and SW6. I will say that I do notice aground loop interference when they are on, but its not terrible.
  • Front BullBar, Philips 20” Light Bar and Mounts: I was looking for a low profile bull bar that I could mount a 20” light bar under. I tried a few and found that while they all look the same there are slight differences in the way they fit resulting in different clearance heights for the light bar to be mounted underneath. I finally found a combination that works. This looks good and the light bar is bright.
  • Oracle Mirror Ditch Lights: A great addition. Easy install and they look cool. They are very bright and throw a wide beam. I also got the Oracle puddle lights for these but didn’t see a straightforward way to hook them up such that they turn on when the door opens, so I haven’t installed them.
• Stereo Upgrades: My Bronco came with the 6 speaker / subwoofer delete. I followed the same general path as has been detailed here on the forum. Overall I am happy with the sound, it’s a huge improvement but its still not an audiophile system by any means. I may upgrade to the Kicker Key 200.4 and or 500.1 at some point but I’m good for now.
  • 4” Kicker KS in the front,
  • 6.5 Kicker KS in the back with Mabett speaker pods that I got locally from a Craigslist user for about half price,
  • Kicker 6.75 CompRT sub and a working factory sub amp.
  • I also did all of the Forscan mods.
• Off Roading / Camping:
  • AMBULL ¾” Shackles, Blue for the front, 2nd tow hook for the rear: Some blue shackles for the front bumper and a 2nd black tow hook for the rear bumper.
  • ARB Ford Performance Parts Portable Air Compressor Kit: I used my FordPass points on this one and then paid the difference. A good kit, which I have used on the trail a few times.
  • All-Top Recovery Kit (Recovery Boards, Soft Shackles, 1x20 Kinetic Rope): One of many brands on Amazon, but all seem well built.
  • HeyTrip SUV Air Mattress: I got this as an inexpensive alternative to the Overland Sleep mattress. I have used it a few times and it fits decent and works OK. I still need something under it to level out the back.

Upgrades / Mods (Not Done): There are a few upgrades that I was certain I was going to do that I turned out not to do. I’ll explain my thought process on each.

• SAS wheels: I am a blackout trim person. I really like the look. I thought I would like it on the Bronco too. It turns out I don’t hate the silver SAS beauty rings. They provide some contrast with the Carbonized Grey. I may upgrade the wheels in the future, but I like the stock wheels much more than I thought I would.
• Emblems: I thought I was going to go with the blacked out Bronco emblems but again I don’t mind the contrast. Also, I actually kind of like the Black Diamond sticker on the side. I had planned on getting the AR custom script logos, and I still might because I love the quality and look, the price+wait time made that decision for me.
• Rear Trunk Window Molle Panels: I returned them because I found that most sets bold down using the hard top bolts so it interferes with removing the hard top. I may revisit this if I can find the right ones that anchor another way.
• Santa Hat for Spare Tire: I got this and it didn’t fit the 35” SAS tire so I returned it.

Future Upgrades: I think I have checked most of the boxes but here are a few upgrades I am considering in the future.

• MudDigger Spare Tire Cover: These seem to be the best designs out there. Will probably pull the trigger soon.
• Underground Graphics Spear Kit: I think this would look good with black and a blue stripe to match the Black Diamond blue.

 

[EilersPark]

Trips / Adventures: A chunk of the 25K miles I put on in the first year were from 2 cross country trips and a few local ones.

• Drive home from Michigan to Texas: I flew up to Grand Rapids to pick up my Bronco and brought my dad along to have a great father/son road trip. We picked up the Bronco and spent the night in the GR area. The next morning we drive to St Paul Minnesota to see some family we hadn’t seen in several years. We stayed over in the Twin Cities, saw family and then headed south. We spent the night with a friend in Sprit Lake, IA, then onward to Norman OK, whereas a good Longhorn, I paid some respects. . Right at 2000 miles for the drive home.
• Tx Bronco Off Rodeo: Right here in my back yard in Horseshoe Bay, I took my son with me for the day. What an amazing day, we learned so much about what this thing can do. Corey and the crew there were amazing. I would love to go back if it wasn’t so expensive.
• Padre Island National Seashore / Corpus Christi Tx: We went down for a long weekend. I pulled the doors and tops off and hit the beach. The Bronco handled well in the loose sand, and I even tried to emulate the picture on the Bronco 6G app, much to the dismay of my 2 female passengers… Almost a year later, I am still finding sand everywhere. I won’t be doing that again with the doors and top off.
• Great Sand Dunes National Park / Alpine Loop / Telluride: I did a solo trip from the Austin area to Telluride for the Telluride Blues Festival in September. For my first stop, I camped in Great Sand Dunes National Park. What an amazing place. I came in from the back side off of 25, drive up and found one of the primitive camping sites. I used the blow up mattress and slept in the Bronco. It wasn’t bad, however it did get down in the 30s. The next morning at sunrise, I packed up and drive west through all of the creek crossings and out by the park information site. This is a great place to visit and it is easy wheeling. From there I drove to Lake City, Co. I spent the night there, and then drove up and over Cinnamon Pass and down to Silverton. This was great adventure and I had snow up on the peak in the middle of September. Next time I’ll go over Engineer Pass. From Silverton, I took 550 on in to Telluride. Unfortunately, I didn’t have any stops planned for the ride home, but this was a great trip and a great way to go off road in the Bronco. I’ll be back for sure.

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