Putting your new Bronco together is easy but I was thrown off by the wheel brackets. I tightened them before I put the axle in and could not insert the axle. Had to loosen the bolts first. Here is the assembly video:
I also sealed the the two drum pieces with high heat silicone, although you probably do not need to.
Can confirm, even with the bolts loose it too a little encouragement to get the axel through. If you are following the directions and wonder where the axle is while you are still working on it upside down, tilt it and look underneath. Other than that the instructions are great.
I am quite impressed by the build quality. A 7/16 wrench and a screwdriver is all that is required to put it together, if you use a screw gun make sure the bit is a good fit, torque is set low and you have a few turns in hand tight before hitting it with the power tool.
It has a lot of bolts but they are all the same size which is great. If I did this again I would by a bunch of stainless 1/4-20 x1/2 to put it together.
I really had no problems with assembling my Bronco Pro, thanks in part to learning from a couple of issues you guys had. But during my first cook yesterday I noticed grease dripping from the bottom. At first I thought it must be coming out around one of the bolts holding the wheel bracket on, but it actually seems to have been coming out through a tiny hole in the weld that goes all the way around the bottom. Has anyone else had this happen?
Panhead John I ordered the Pro through the Amazon deal. I guess the weight/size is contributing to the delivery time as they required me to select a delivery date (1st available was the 31st) for Prime delivery.
Mine showed up on a box truck with a liftgate. So, not your regular delivery van that comes by every day. Panhead John has sold too many of these and now the delivery drivers are overwhelmed.
I just put mine together yesterday, received on Tuesday. Easiest grill/smoker I've assembled to date. It did have a good scratch on the front and is covered in black greasy something. I just covered it with a tarp and will deal with that later. It started raining 25 minutes after assembling.
Update: did my first overnight cook on the OKJ Bronco Pro last night and it cooked like a champ. As good a pork butt as I have ever made. And with the Hunsaker Vortex charcoal basket I originally bought for my WSM, a full load of B&B briquettes gave me a good 14 hrs and there was enough left over that I could have easily gotten another 3 or so hrs out of it.
Now for the downside... that sucker leaks grease like crazy. It has gotten worse instead of better. And toward the end of the cook I learned to close the lid very gently or grease/oil spatters in all directions where the top and bottom sections bolt together. I learned the hard way by having that hot crap all over both shins. 🔥 🥵
Anyhoo, this one is going back for a replacement unit. Next time I will be armed with a tube of RTV while putting it together.
DTro, yeah, that notch is where it should be. I remember that step during assembly. Panhead John, I initially contacted Amazon to see if they would refund the difference between their price and Lowe's when Lowe's put them on sale for $550. I was told no, to just ask for a refund. So, the replacement from Lowe's is already sitting in my garage still boxed up.
Just so I’m following this right, you bought the leaky one from Amazon, they’re refunding all your original purchase price? Then you bought a new one from Lowes for $550.? Is Amazon going to come pick up their Bronco? What are they telling you to do with it?
Correct, Panhead John. Amazon is picking up tomorrow, which is the earliest they could get to it. I had arranged for the return because of price, but discovered leaking issues since then. My plan was to go ahead and use the one from Amazon, and send them the other one unopened, to save myself some disassembly and assembly. But now I have some work to do.
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