Bronco Wild Outdoors’ Duane has a 2022 4-door Bronco Badlands with MIC hard top, and the clicks and pops of the panels were annoying him enough to where he needed to find a solution. While he can’t recommend others do this, it’s his way of making the Bronco even more enjoyable to drive.
The Area of Issue
He begins by undoing the latches of the driver’s side panel and removing the piece. With his son Gavin, he goes over potential causes of the noises, and pinpoints it to the alignment pin rubbing on the bracket hole at the rear of the panel.
The Potential Solution
Rather than lubricating the area and having to maintain it, Duane goes for a longer-term approach. He takes some Dorman heat-shrink tubing he got at his local auto parts store (approx. $5). Using a tubing size large enough to cover the pin, he pushes it down over the rear post. The extremely snug fit keeps him from having to use heat to shrink the tubing, so he makes another sleeve for the front pin near the latches.
Next up is testing the seating of the panel with the new modification. The panel sits a little high, but once the latches are closed, everything seals nicely. A check-up of the tubing on the pins shows it didn’t roll or tear after the test, so Duane and Gavin move on to repeating the steps on the passenger side.
The Test Drive
The guys go for a test drive, hitting the same manhole cover they went over earlier, and the top is noticeably quieter. Being thorough, Duane doesn’t want to declare success until after a 600-mile road trip, so make sure you follow the channel for updates and more Bronco content from a fellow Bronco Nation member!
Update: It's a success! The family recently went on a trip to the Outer Banks, and the Bronco top fix held up perfectly.
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