Soft top broken tabs

[adrencg]

Good luck finding the back window to buy. I put an order in last night at a large new auto parts dealer and I just got a cancellation email this morning because of a "national backorder".

Sponsored

 

[DREWR13]

Do you have a part number to the rear window? I need a new one. I broke the tab that slides in the channel on the top part of the corner.

 

[Bird Dog Off Road]

Hey, BigJack! I would like to look into this broken top issue you're experiencing with your Bronco. Could you please send over a private message with your VIN and the name/location of your local Ford dealer?

Just DM'd you. Had this happen while I was visiting family in TN over the holiday weekend.

 

[adrencg]

I fixed mine today with the "wire twist" method posted earlier in the thread. There's some careful drilling required and it's tough to thread the wire through the holes, but it works. Not ideal, but it's better than the alternative of having a piece of the soft top dangling.

 

[Bird Dog Off Road]

Wondering if industrial strength velcro would work? Haven't been able to look at it with greater detail yet.

 

[LT. DAN ICE CREAM!!!]

I fixed mine today with the "wire twist" method posted earlier in the thread. There's some careful drilling required and it's tough to thread the wire through the holes, but it works. Not ideal, but it's better than the alternative of having a piece of the soft top dangling.

As an addendum to this, I replaced the paper clips I used as a "wire tie" with a piece of scrap 12 gauge copper wire. Much sturdier now.

 

[S Q U I N T S]

So what are you doing wrong, so the rest of us don't....?

The key is to not try to take the back window off first. Not saying it can't happen anyway. It almost happened to me the first time I went to remove it. Started to pull on the back corner and heard a crack. Stopped and watched the video. Side windows first!

 

[Velocitybronco22]

Where is the Tsb located? Can someone post Link to it?

 

[flip]

Take to dealer.

 

[Bird Dog Off Road]

All, for a short term fix, I used industrial strength Velcro to hold the flap closed. The 2 middle tabs were all that broke, but there was a visible gap from the outside. I've reached out to my dealer (no response yet) and DM'd Ford on here for a permanent resolution.

 

[broadicustomworks]

I still don't get what you did there. How does the wire NOT need to go through the cloth?

IF you carefully remove the inner plastic corner piece there is another plastic flap inside there. You can drill through the plastic piece and the flap (carefully and with little-to-no force) and not the outer cloth portion.
What you rivet/wire tie/etc. is the hard plastic inner piece to the outer flap.
The plastic flap is what the incredibly fragile "T" clips are part of.

In other news-your fender flares have some similar clips, although beefier.
My passenger rear now has two of THOSE pulled through.
Good news is the thumb latches and the other clips hold it good and flush still, but use caution on those as well.
I've had my flares off and on a couple of times and this last time broke two of them.

 

[adrencg]

The key is to not try to take the back window off first. Not saying it can't happen anyway. It almost happened to me the first time I went to remove it. Started to pull on the back corner and heard a crack. Stopped and watched the video. Side windows first!

And after removing the sides, the key thing to make sure of is that you're actually standing by the back corner you need to remove. I was in a hurry and tried to pull the right side while standing on the left. The plastic column in the corners of the back window piece need to be fully grasped by the solid plastic body and nowhere else. Otherwise, those cheap ass plastic tabs will snap like toothpicks. I love this car being very modular, but some of the parts are garbage.

 

[mul1gan]

this is absolute bullshit for Ford to allow these plastic clips to hold this piece on. My hand barely slipped and caught the same spot on mine and the same thing happened! You can’t even replace the clips!!!

i did the same to 3 tabs (2 on one side, 1 on the other). It looks like the rear will not seat correctly now right?

 

[BCBRONCO77]

I have had the exact same thing happened to me. I went to the ford dealership yesterday to have it looked at. It was not covered under warranty and they are asking around $672 to repair it.

I would definitely go back and push the matter with your dealership. Mine was the first my dealership had heard of it as well, but I gave them the bulletin number and they repaired both sides using the medal rivets (only 1 side had broken clips). A quick Google search would show them that this is a known issue and dealerships are working with customers on this.

 

[Neon440Roadrunner]

I would definitely go back and push the matter with your dealership. Mine was the first my dealership had heard of it as well, but I gave them the bulletin number and they repaired both sides using the medal rivets (only 1 side had broken clips). A quick Google search would show them that this is a known issue and dealerships are working with customers on this.

I still don't get what you did there. How does the wire NOT need to go through the cloth?

Sponsored