How do you prep your Bronco for winter weather?

cam.hunter

I'm curious to know what steps I would need to take to "winterize" my Bronco. Being here in Michigan, should I consider protecting my underbody with all the salt on the roads?

Let me know what you do to prep your Bronco for winter weather!

Hey Cam, reach out to @MIGeezer. He posted in one of the threads a while ago about this topic. For me and Nag, we prepare by driving around the sunny Southwest!

I prepare the Bronco driver by watching as many YouTube videos I can find of car crashes caused by icy conditions. Just so I’m in the right frame of mind when I let my Bronco out of its stall. 🤓

Turn on heated seats and wheel and dream of spring.

Yeah, snowing & upper 20s here this morning - Great timing Cam!! My to-dos are to spend some time under Bronco cleaning, brushing & painting the rust, bumps & scraps. Usually, these dings are on the skid plates and rock sliders, but have a few on front bumper too.. Our wheels have some trail rash too, so a little touch-up on them as well.

The RCI guys suggest this product on underside stuff. Method didn't have a color code for our wheels so, I'll try a semi-gloss.


Torque the mud flap bolts making sure they're up for the job of keeping all that slush off Bronco's body, etc.


And probably mid-December, switch tire/wheels to our Nokian studded snows.

Cheers

It barely gets below freezing in Arkansas so I don't do anything out of the ordinary, just keep my Bronco in the garage at home. We probably get one big snow every couple of years.

Wow we are just now getting into top off season again - lows in the mid 70's. And for our 7 days of winter it might get below freezing for a few hours each night. so as far as prepping not much.

TK1215

Hey Cam, reach out to @MIGeezer. He posted in one of the threads a while ago about this topic. For me and Nag, we prepare by driving around the sunny Southwest!

I had Ziebart applied for the Bronco and F-150, it's a 2017. Take the Bronco in for an annual checkup. I don't drive the F-150 in the winter so that gets taken in every couple years. I also have the Z-Glaze wax done ever few years. You will hear all kinds of debates and ideas. I've been using Ziebart for decades and never had any issues and always great results. My 1st 60 yrs I lived in the Detroit Metro area where salt is king during the winter. Still in MI where salt is used.

My 2¢.

There’s only one thing to do if you want to keep it pristine for years if you’re living in a cold salt riddled area like me. 45F degree garage. Corrosion is impossible to fix.

I refresh the Fluid Film rust inhibiter.

cam.hunter

I'm curious to know what steps I would need to take to "winterize" my Bronco. Being here in Michigan, should I consider protecting my underbody with all the salt on the roads?

Let me know what you do to prep your Bronco for winter weather!

I picked up my Everglades on a fairly salty day and didn’t wash the underbody for a bit and immediately noticed corrosion developing so I took it to a place to get the underbody coated with wool wax. There are a variety of options for this but I chose wool wax because it is more “natural”. It’s still a dark oily substance so it might not be everyone’s best choice aesthetically or functionally.

Once the corrosion gets going it is a huge pain to remove as I learned from buying a 25k mile FJ that was totally rusted out underneath. So I’m ok with the greasy coating and not being able to run through a car wash that sprays the underbody. I think there are some more durable coatings out there but wool wax is also fairly cheap at around $500 to apply and at some point if you wanted to remove it you could probably spray on some degreaser and it would wash right off with a pressure washer.

I think if you use one of the many rust preventative measures mentioned above you are ahead of the game. Short of moving to the Desert or Texas you are doing the best you can.

BuckYeah

I prepare the Bronco driver by watching as many YouTube videos I can find of car crashes caused by icy conditions. Just so I’m in the right frame of mind when I let my Bronco out of its stall. 🤓

This reminds me of driver's training all over again LOL

alyd09

Turn on heated seats and wheel and dream of spring.

Heated seats are mandatory for winter driving

Kenneth

Yeah, snowing & upper 20s here this morning - Great timing Cam!! My to-dos are to spend some time under Bronco cleaning, brushing & painting the rust, bumps & scraps. Usually, these dings are on the skid plates and rock sliders, but have a few on front bumper too.. Our wheels have some trail rash too, so a little touch-up on them as well.

The RCI guys suggest this product on underside stuff. Method didn't have a color code for our wheels so, I'll try a semi-gloss.


Torque the mud flap bolts making sure they're up for the job of keeping all that slush off Bronco's body, etc.


And probably mid-December, switch tire/wheels to our Nokian studded snows.

Cheers

Super helpful @Kenneth! I'll take a look at the Rust Tough product and let you know what I end up going with. Good point about securing the mud flaps as well.

Jakob1972

Wow we are just now getting into top off season again - lows in the mid 70's. And for our 7 days of winter it might get below freezing for a few hours each night. so as far as prepping not much.

I'm jealous, to say the least

I turn the AC off

Lots O Fords

I turn the AC off

What is this AC of which you speak?

Hey -Winter canbe fun too!!