DETROIT, MI – To say that Erik Barnlund was raised in a “Ford family” is a bit of an understatement. The Donovan, Illinois (population just 350, back in the day), native says it was much more than that.

Of his family, Barnlund says, “Cut us open, and we’d bleed Ford Blue.”  

He recalls a story of bringing a used car home when he was a teenager. His father greeted him from the porch with displeasure. It was a Pontiac, and it was not allowed on the property. Erik learned from that.

Erik’s uncle Dick was also a big influence in this Ford life. His uncle worked at the Chicago Heights Ford plant and purchased a new 1967 Bronco that had been languishing on the lot at a local Ford dealer. Dick said he bought the Bronco because he was tired of looking at it.

He had no fondness or affection for the pickup-bodied Bronco, and drove it accordingly. But his admiration for the truck grew, as that Bronco stood up to all of the abuse that he could dish out. This was a lasting impression that was left on the family -- and on Erik.

Young Barnlund grew up flipping cars . . . yes, virtually all of them Fords. His admiration for the Bronco’s capabilities were solidified while spending time with his brother and his older cousin Rick, bounding around the rural Illinois countryside in his Bronco. Cousin Rick, who became a Ford Senior Master Technician, has come full-circle and now works at Maxlider Brothers Customs, in Bloomington, Illinois, where Erik is CEO.

Erik Barnlund also co-owns a technology company that, in an indirect way, provided a starting point for the Maxlider Bronco business. In November 2014, the company bought a building for the tech business. It also had a showroom and shop attached, which provided the launch pad for their Bronco hobby to be taken even more seriously.

At the time, Ford Broncos were really starting to soar in terms of popularity in the enthusiast world. The restomod trend was crossing over from muscle and classic cars to SUVs and trucks. So Maxlider Brothers Customs began buying, building and re-selling classic Ford Broncos with increasing regularity.

Barnlund soon brought all of his companies’ expertise in social media, internet marketing and strategic knowledge to bear on a business plan and applied it to their Bronco hobby. It took off.

As their social media following and reputation grew, the caliber of builds they were being asked to do stepped up several levels. The results being challenged at the top of the Bronco hobby reached a fever pitch over the last two years, with Maxlider Brothers Customs Broncos competing at the World of Wheels in Chicago and Indianapolis, and then at SEMA.

With some 500 custom Bronco-builds under their belts, their knowledge, hard work and attention to detail bore fruit: The Maxlider Brothers Customs 4-door Bronco was 4x4 of the Year at SEMA in 2017, where it received the Grand Turismo Award for Best Truck of the Show. When asked why they wanted to build a four-door Bronco, Barnlund’s smile widened.

“This (4-door Bronco project) was done as a thank you to Ford, for declaring they would do a new, modern version of the Bronco,” he said. “We wanted to get their attention with this build, and we wanted to influence some of their design decisions. It was a statement build.”

Barnlund noted that Jeep sales exploded when they made a four-door version, and that opened up a whole market for the rugged four-door SUV market that well-suits the Bronco brand. Adding to the “statement build” is big power. With a Roush-supercharged, 670-horsepower 5.0-liter Coyote V-8 mated to a 6-speed manual transmission, this is one Bronco that easily overpowers most modern performance-oriented SUVs.

The best complement Barnlund receives from the public is how “natural” his Bronco looks as a four-door, and that it could have rolled out of a Ford factory like that. The build is that seamless. The Maxlider Brothers’ deep blue, 1974 Bronco known by the moniker “NIL8” was a 2018 Top-10 finisher in the Battle of the Builders at last year’s SEMA show.

Barnlund said the company’s goal sounds easy, but as with most custom builds, the devil is in the details:

“Our goal is taking something as crude and as basic as the old Bronco has been known to be, then to doing something as radical as putting Coyote engines in them, supercharging them, installing modern overdrive transmissions, and making them drive even better than they look.”

Barnlund actually manages two divisions of Maxlider Brothers Customs. One is building high-end, SEMA-level 2-door and 4-door custom Broncos, for which there is currently a waiting list. Their 2-door Bronco builds start at around $200,000, and 4-door Broncos are around $325.000.

Maxlider Brothers Customs also buys, sells and customizes about 75-100 pre-owned Ford Broncos a year, up to and including the last-generation production Broncos as well. The Maxlider team prefers to source the vehicles themselves, as they know what to look for in selecting a candidate Bronco, and can avoid the pratfalls and warning signs that a particular vehicle may be un-restorable.

Barnlund says of his time in the Bronco trade, “The interesting thing is that we’ve been staring at these things for so long, we know their inadequacies and their idiosyncrasies; as a result, we’ve brought engineering solutions to market, to remedy a lot of known old Bronco issues.”

One of their most notable engineering solutions is a custom front clip – a cage-type solution that Maxlider Brothers have designed to be completely modular. It allows the front clip to be removed for easy engine access. Previous welded-in pieces made this kind of engine compartment access much more difficult, so this improvement has been well-received.

Maxlider Brothers Customs also works closely with other companies involved in building components for Broncos in the interest of bringing better parts and components to market. With so many lessons learned, these companies have improved the Bronco building experience for many enthusiasts.

The 1974 NIL8 Bronco built for United Pacific Industries, who makes a full line of aftermarket metal for the Bronco. NIL8 was a rolling showcase for their metal. Maxlider’s feedback was instrumental in helping United Pacific Industries develop metal for improved build quality.

According to David Odegard, United Pacific Industries Director of Research and Development, “United Pacific Industries specifically chose Maxlider Brothers Customs to build this high-profile flagship Bronco for our company. Their knowledge of and passion for Ford Broncos is unmatched, so we knew they were the best people to build our SEMA booth vehicle.”

The NIL8 Bronco is equipped with a Ford Performance Coyote 5.0L V-8 engine, Wilwood brakes, a heavy duty 4R70W Bowler transmission, air conditioning, Bluetooth stereo, electronic gauges and power running boards, all supplied by Maxlider Brothers development partners.

For many involved so deeply in the Bronco hobby, it’s clear to see that partnerships and collaborations among companies can directly benefit the enthusiast.

“We’re taking what enthusiasts say they desire the Bronco to be and do, and we’re making it possible by re-engineering a lot of the aspects,” Barnlund said.

While the ever-expanding Ford Bronco community may still trail behind the size of the Mustang enthusiast universe, it’s growing in both size and popularity very quickly.“We’re propped up in the Bronco community as Bronco ‘experts.’ Barnlund continued. “It’s a role we take very seriously, because the Bronco community is so collaborative and family-oriented.”

Despite experiencing so much success, Barnlund and Maxlider Brothers don’t plan to just keep up the good work, but rather they see even more opportunity in the future.

“We want to be the foremost authority on the Bronco -- and the Ranger – platform,” Barnlund said. Certainly, the recently reborn Ford Ranger also represents a prime off-road platform.In fact, Maxlider Brothers is currently developing a performance package for the 2019 Ford Ranger. With several development vehicles already in their hands, the feedback from experts in the hobby so far has been excellent. Better still, Barnlund says the platform’s performance and durability is exceeding their expectations. And with the 2020 Ford Bronco launch now on the horizon, Barnlund’s enthusiasm for the Bronco rebirth is infectious.

“People buy trucks so they can personalize them and customize them,” he noted, “and we’re going to lead that effort in the aftermarket space by showing people what’s possible.”