Leaked Image of 2021 Ford Bronco Tube Doors Hints at Built-In Airbags

Off-road in style—and safely.

byPeter Holderith|
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Unsurprisingly, people want to know a lot more about the new 2021 Ford Bronco. They want to know about all of its gadgets, accessories, options, and Ford just doesn't quite have it all released yet. That just won't cut it for our tech-savvy forum members over at the Bronco 6G forum. A few weeks ago they found all of the truck's yet-to-be-released configurator images buried somewhere in Ford's website, and this week they've found images of the Bronco's tube doors.

Last year, we took an in-depth look at nine removable door patents that Ford filed during Bronco development, which featured removable doors, an in-trunk stowable door system, tube doors, and tube doors with inflators on them, much like the airbag-equipped tube doors

Tube doors, for those who prefer keeping their vehicle on the road (can't blame you there), are heavy-duty doors made out of metal tubing that people put on their offroad vehicles as a replacement for the regular ones. They'll take more abuse, there's just enough door there to keep you in the vehicle, and most importantly, they look cool. I mean, just take a look at the Bronco's.

Bronco6G Forums/Ford

Unfortunately, that coolness is dampened a bit by the fact that the tube doors are laid directly over the regular doors in the image, but beggars can't be choosers as far as this kind of stuff goes. The Jeep Wrangler—the Bronco's closest competitor—is also available with tube doors, whether it's from Mopar or about 6.6 trillion aftermarket companies. One thing none of those doors have however is airbags. 

Airbags are rumored to be a feature of the Bronco's Tube doors due to a patent image that references an "inflatable safety device", however, Ford has yet to comment on such a system, and it's unclear if that's what we're seeing in the picture that was dug up by Bronco6G members.

U.S. Patent Office

Since these "leaked" images have yet to be released officially by Ford, they have yet to tell us any sort of release date for these new tube doors. I'm sure the aftermarket is already hard at work trying to figure out the Bronco's door measurements so they can get a taste of the action, but if Ford can build a better tube door with a safety feature like airbags, I'm guessing a lot of consumers will go for the factory option. 

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