Chanel's Build Thread

[Dusty]

Welcome to Chanel's build thread! I'll keep this first post updated with a current photo, and start the build thread in the second post and continue it from there. Here's how she looks today:



Chanel is a 2021 2-Door Base Bronco in OxFord White. She was purchased with no options except for the overhead AUX switches. 2.3L engine, 7-speed manual transmission, no lockers, no fancy equipment.

MODIFICATIONS SO FAR

Suspension & Drivetrain:

• ICON CDXS Front & Rear Coilovers
• ICON Tubular UCA's
• ICON Tubular Rear Upper Links
• ICON Tubular Rear Lower Links
• 37X12.50-17 Nitto Recon Grapplers
• ICON Alloys 17X8.5 0mm offset Rebound Pro
• Magnaflow Overland Series Cat-Back Exhaust
• M210 Front Drive Unit (purchased used) with Electric Locker
• Broken Innovation Diff Drop Kit
• M220 Rear Axle Assembly (purchased used) with Electric Locker
• Yukon 5.13 Front and Rear Ring & Pinion with Master Install Kits
• Yukon Hard Core Diff Cover for Bronco M220
• Ford Performance Front CV Axles for M210
• Ford Performance 2.3L Tune with ProCal Unit
• 74Weld Stage 3 Billet Steering Rack

Exterior:

• ICON Impact Pro Series Front Winch Bumper
• ICON Impact Front Skid
• ICON Impact Front Diff Skid
• Warn ZEON Platinum 10-S winch
• Factor 55 Flat Link winch shackle
• Steed Off-Road Big RAD Winch Fairlead
• Turn Offroad Rear Bumper with Tire Carrier
• ADV Fiberglass 5" Front Fenders
• ADV Fiberglass 2-Door 5" Rear Quarters
• ADV Fiberglass Ram Air Hood
• Anderson Composites Halo Doors
• Oracle Lighting Flush LED Taillights
• Ford Sasquatch Rock Rails (purchased used)
• Jtops USA Custom Printed Bimini Top
• Lobo Off-Road Spare Tire Whip & Light Mount Kit
• Wild Horses 4X4 Revolution LED A-Pillar Light Kit
• Custom Die-Cut Vinyl Shelby Racing Stripes
• Turn Offroad 2-Door Roof Rack
• Overland Vehicle Systems Nomadic 270 Awning

Interior:

• Lobo Off-Road Overhead Mount System
• Diabolical Locker Security Enclosure
• Rock-Slide Engineering Fold-Down Tailgate Table
• ICOM 2370A Dual Band Mobile Radio
• Archetype Racing BYODR (Bring Your Own Device Rail) with (3) 1" BALLS
• (3) Tackform 7.5" Elbow Arm
• QuadLock MagSafe Charging Phone Mount
• Tackform GoPro Mount
• Bulletproof Mounting Solutions Handheld 2-way Radio Mount
• Kicker Key 200.4 Amp
• Plug N Play Kits Stereo Amplifier Harness Kit
• (2) Kicker 4" Speakers
• (4) Kicker 6.5" Speakers
• Kicker 10" Powered Sub*
• Mabbet 6.5" Rear Speaker Pods
• Bronco Molded Floor Liners from Ford Accessories
• ForYou Roll Bar Grab Handles
• Gaizon Rear Seat Back Covers
• Geliker Door Pockets

Tools & Accessories

• 2D Door Storage Bags from Ford Accessories
• Trick-Flate 300 12V Air Compressor
• OBDLink ForScan Adpapter Cable

Formerly Installed But Now Gone:

• ICON Vehicle Dynamics 3" Level & Lift Kit
• ICON 2.5 EXP Shocks
• ICON Impact Trail Series Front Bumper
• ICON Impact Pro Series Rear Bumper
• Dusty-Bilt Recovery Tabs/Flat Tow Points (for stock plastic bumper)
• Tackform Phone Mount

 

[Dusty]

Chanel's dates:

• Reserved: July 13, 2020
• Ordered: March 17, 2021
• Built: July 15, 21
• Delivered: August 12, 2021

Production photo from Ford:



Window Sticker:

 

[Steffiesharp]

Welcome to Chanel's build thread! I'll keep this first post updated with a current photo, and start the build thread in the second post and continue it from there. Here's how she looks today:

View attachment 151

Coco is a 2021 2-Door Base Bronco in OxFord White. She was purchased with no options except for the overhead AUX switches. 2.3L engine, 7-speed manual transmission, no lockers, no fancy equipment.

Modifications so far:

• ICON Vehicle Dynamics 3" Level & Lift Kit
• 35X12.50-17 Nitto Trail Grapplers
• ICON Alloys Rebound Pro 17X8.5 25mm offset
• Rock-Slide Engineering Fold-Down Tailgate Table
• Bronco Molded Floor Liners from Ford Accessories
• Home-Made Recovery/Tow Bar Tabs

View attachment 152

Chanel

 

[ntsqd]

Is she No. 9, or some other number?

 

[Dusty]

Is she No. 9, or some other number?

Number One!

 

[Dusty]

We picked up Chanel on August 12, 2021 at Ken Grody Ford in Redlands. Ford only missed their estimated delivery date window by one day. We drove Coco, our '71, down to pick her up.







Here's the video we made from the day we picked up Chanel. It was the start of our YouTube channel, Horsin' Around.

 

[Dusty]

We were determined to test everything out in bone stock, stripper form, before doing any mods, and then continuing to benchmark after each round of mods. So we took it off-road a couple of times bone stock, and soon found it lacking in ground clearance due to the small tires. Our first venture off the pavement with it was to go seek out Bronco Knoll, at the coordinates hidden in every Bronco.







I was embarrassed to find out that the bone stock stripper Base model Bronco wasn't quite up to the task of getting to the top of Bronco Knoll, but only due to lack of ground clearance. But we still had a blast. If you'd like to see our video from that trip it's at

 

[Dusty]

So our first major upgrade would be to fit up some 35" tires, but along with that a lift kit to clear them. I happen to work for ICON so they were kind enough to use Chanel as the test mule for their new 3/2 level/lift spacer kit.



They designed it to be able to fit 35's on a non-Sasquatch Bronco with no rubbing at full compression and full steering articulation. Here are a couple photos testing articulation, with the coil springs removed to simulate full bump.





With a 25mm offset wheel the 35" tire tucks right up inside the lip of the non-Sasquatch flares. For reference, the factory Sasquatch wheels are 30mm offset, so these stick out about a 1/4" more than those. Due to the inward swing of the A-arms, they tuck in nicely at full bump.



Of course I needed tires and wheels for proper testing, for ICON loaned me a set of 35" Nittos and a mismatched set of their wheels to run until my permanent wheels arrived.

 

[Dusty]

We ran it that way on a couple of trips, including out to Super Celebration in Colorado for some Rocky Mountains wheeling. Just adding the extra ground clearance was a godsend for Chanel. Now we could properly test the drivetrain, and lack of lockers and other high-tech goodies, but without the low ground clearance hindering us.

 

[Dusty]

Next, the guys at ICON needed to those tires and wheels on something else, but I still didn't have mine yet, so they put on a set of factory Sasquatch wheels and tires that came on their company Bronco. So got the opportunity to wheel the Sasquatch tires on one trip, which we took to Gold Mountain.






The Goodyears worked pretty well on the rocks, but I hated them on the street as the narrow lugs picked up a lot of gravel and slung it at my neighbors' cars each morning on the way to work But it was cool wheeling on the third set of tires in less than 2 months of owning it. Here's our video from that trip:

 

[sLopeFx]

Chanel is a lot more colorful these days and lookn good.

 

[Dusty]

Chanel is a lot more colorful these days and lookn good.

Yeah she is, but I'm getting ready to revert it back to all white. The "Coco colors" were intended as a fun, but temporary, diversion

EDIT: I'm adding the following to this post so it goes in the right order on the Build Thread timeline:

I finally got my own wheels and tires on to the Bronco the other day (I'd been rotating through several different borrowed sets). Haven't had a chance to wheel this combination yet but I did have an hour or so to run out to the wash at sunset the other day and snap a few pics. This is a non-Sasquatch Base 2-Door with an ICON level-lift kit, 35" NITTO Trail Grapplers and 17 X 8.5 ICON Rebound Pros with 25mm offset. I think it looks pretty good

 

[Dusty]

Looks like I've neglected Chanel's Build Thread! Let's work on getting it caught up. It's been a couple of years since I updated this thread but looking back I believe the next thing we did was actually a temporary thing we did for BBBB, when we did up Chanel to mimic Coco's livery



Here's the post I made on it at the time, in case you're curious about the method or the madness:
Cool Tribute or Junkyard Dog? Chanel gets Coco's funky Color Scheme!

 

[Dusty]

Next it was time to upgrade the suspension from stock with a spacer lift, so we installed ICON EXP shocks front and rear. Those keep the factory coil springs but replace the shock with an ICON 2.5" diameter performance damper with adjustable lift height.

 

[Dusty]

Next we took the Coco livery back off and started working on the exterior makeover. Installed ADV fiberglass 5" fenders and ADV ram air hood, and had it all painted to match the Oxford White. Here's a separate thread on it I posted at the time, if you're interested in the details.



Not long after that I installed the flush taillights from Oracle Lighting, along with an ICON rear bumper.