Why 2023 Ford Broncos Came With Non-Functional ‘Dummy’ Subwoofers And Amps – The Autopian

Dig into just about any car, under the hood or in the interior, and you can find all kinds of weird bits and pieces. If you’ve bought a cheaper model, you might find lots of blanked-off switches or cable harnesses that go nowhere. Or, if you’ve bought a modern Ford Bronco, you might find an entirely fake speaker and amp — yes, dummy parts almost like movie props — in the back. Isn’t that curious?

A video from BuckleUpButtercupTV gives us a great look at this curious manufacturing decision from Ford. In the back of her Bronco, there’s a “dummy” amplifier and subwoofer living behind a trim panel. Both are non-functional, even though the speaker looks like the real deal and the amp has wires coming out of it. The trim panel even has a grille for the speaker, even though none of it works!

Hunt around online and you’ll find a whole ton of Bronco owners who have found the same fake components in the back of their trucks. So what’s going on? Why would Ford put fake parts in the Bronco?

Why?!

First, the background. In late 2022, the chip shortage spawned by COVID-19 was once again causing havoc for Bronco production, just a few weeks in to a new model year. Ford found itself lacking the parts to deliver the new standard seven-speaker audio system it had promised for some 2023 model year vehicles. Of those seven speakers, one was a subwoofer that lived in the back of the vehicle. Ford reasonably figured it could cut the subwoofer without unduly harming sound output. This allowed the automaker to keep getting Broncos out the door. Notably, this only affected models with the standard sound system, not those with the upgraded Bang and Olufsen system, which used different components.

Ford didn’t hide this from customers, of course. As noted on the Bronco6G forums, those with active orders were notified ahead of time, and asked to sign an acknowledgement form regarding the change. Customers received a $250 discount to MSRP in exchange for the subwoofer delete. Ford also notified customers that their vehicles would not be retrofit with the subwoofer at a later date.

Deleting the components made sense. Ford couldn’t source the chips it needed to build the amps that ran the subwoofer, and it seemed silly to hold up production over a single speaker. Thus, it made the call and kept the production lines humming. That all makes sense. However, the exact way Ford went about it is rather curious.

See, Ford didn’t just ship the vehicles with the subwoofer and amp missing. Instead, it still put the components in the vehicles, just using dummy amps and subwoofers instead. The amps are readily identifiable—they have the same aluminum case as a proper unit but with a red X on it to indicate the dummy status. As covered by Best Car Audio, the amplifier housing has connectors and a PCB inside, but it’s not populated with components. Meanwhile, the subwoofers lack their magnets, which would be an easy way to cut costs on a sub that’s not being used anyway.

While we know why Ford did this (supply chain constraints), we don’t know for sure why they chose this exact method rather than leaving the space blank. And though Ford’s decision-making here is not exactly intuitive — manufacturing fake speakers and amps costs money — I have some guesses.

On a surface level, it would surely make more sense to simply not install amps and subwoofers in vehicles instead, however, Ford obviously did this for a reason. Research has failed to net me an official explanation, so I’ve reached out to the automaker for comment. In the meantime, let’s speculate—intelligently!—on why Ford went to the trouble of installing dummy parts.

For one thing, using the dummy parts would prevent any disruption to Ford’s finely-tuned assembly line processes, even with a rapidly changing supply chain situation. The worker who’s tasked with bolting in subs and amps? He or she is gonna keep doing the job the same way. Sure, you could tell them to take a few months off, or retask them, but that’s a change, and change gets expensive and fussy when you’re in the manufacturing game. Best to leave them be, right? Sounds silly, but sometimes the easiest path is the best one.

More importantly, though, removing the subwoofer and amp has consequences. Remove the subwoofer and its housing, and there’s suddenly nothing in between the interior trim and the outer metal body panel on the Bronco. That could act as a funnel for noise to enter the cabin, particularly as the subwoofer is near the rear wheel well. Small rock strikes and other annoying noises could be far more audible with the subwoofer missing. Similarly, if the audio cable from the wiring harness had no amp to plug in to, the connector on the end would just be rattling around inside the trim. That would sound really annoying! [Ed Note: I’m curious if the difference in mass between the real part and the dummy part has any NVH implications. -DT].

A populated amp PCB from a Bronco that shipped with the full subwoofer kit. via Enfig Car Stereo, YouTube screenshot

These issues could be solved. Ford could task an engineer with making some kind of clip to hold the connector. The subwoofer could be replaced with a block-off panel, too. However, these parts would have to be designed, manufactured, transported, and the production line techs would have to be reeducated on how to install them. We’re talking lots of hours of work here for probably tens of people. And they’re already really busy!

Instead, Ford took the simple route. One call to the amp supplier—”Hey, we can’t get chips. Just send us the subwoofer amps unpopulated and put a red X on them.” Done. One call to the subwoofer supplier—”Hey, don’t bother putting magnets or coils in the Bronco subwoofers. Just send us dummies with the cones installed.” The suppliers cut out the unnecessary processes, Ford gets near-identical parts, and changes nothing on its end barring a small reconfiguration to the audio software.

Plug and play upgrades are possible, but some choose to use aftermarket amps instead.

Some have also speculated that removing the subwoofer or associated parts could have affected the Bronco’s crash test approval. That one’s outside my wheelhouse, but my engineering spidey-sense says removing a speaker isn’t a big enough change to count in that regard. I could be wrong, though, so I’ve raised that with Ford as well.

Retrofits Are Possible

Incidentally, while Ford declined to offer retrofits, that doesn’t mean they’re not possible. Plenty of owners have pursued subwoofer installations on their own, and it’s actually remarkably easy. All because Ford left virtually everything in place!

For the amp, the dummy can be replaced with a working version part numbered for the Ford Fusion. It plugs straight in. As for the subwoofer, a Kicker 6.75″ sub is a common choice. Then, all that’s required is a small modification with a FORScan OBDLink tool to enable the subwoofer output in the audio system.

Performing those simple mods gets the Bronco’s sound system much closer to how the manufacturer originally intended. No more will the low frequencies go under-represented!

Ultimately, some will grouse at Ford for not pursuing a retrofit campaign itself. As demonstrated by many owners, it’s not difficult to pop off some trim pieces and put the working parts where they’re supposed to go. Instead, amidst a difficult manufacturing environment, Ford chose an easier way out that got product to customers and it washed its hands of the whole situation. Plus, it gave Bronco owners a fun weekend project in the process. No harm, no foul?

In any case, it gives us an insight on how weird manufacturing can be at larger scales. Sure, it might seem simpler for Ford to just leave out parts when it can’t get them. But reality is often more complex! Big automakers seldom do anything for stupid or frivolous reasons, outside of design and product planning, anyway. Dummy parts often exist for good reasons, even if they’re seemingly useless. 

Image credits: Amazon, BuckleUpButtercupTV via YouTube screenshot