Ford Fiberglass & Bronco Hardtops

[jeff]

Does anyone know if the hardtop on 1980-1996 Ford Broncos cracks under the "rigors of prerunning" ? Here's what I'm wondering... has anyone reinforced the factory hardtop with another layer of glass and resin? I gently set a spare tire up on the hardtop the other day when the Bronco was in the garage and noticed the roof REALLY flexed under the load. The tire/wheel probably weighed no more than 70 lbs. Any ideas on beefing up the roof? I was thinking it'd be nice if I could toss a couple lawn chairs up there to use for spectating. Adding up to another 50lbs of additional glass and resin to the stock roof would be AOK with me - think that's enough?

[rdc]

I've seen a lot of Bronco's being used for pre-running and rock crawling without any problems with cracking. I think the fact that the tops do flex a bit is one of the reasons why they don't crack very easily. I don't think that trying to stiffen the top up would be a good Idea. Nor would I suggest trying to use it as a sun deck. But on the other hand you could try it and if it doesn’t work out Jerry at Camburg has an extra Bronco top that he would be willing to sell for a pretty good deal. Good luck.

Shaun