How to: How To: Replace your Headliner

[Tbars4]

...That is different and it looks good...:biggthump

...Are you going to add that same color elsewhere in the interior???

 

[koolaid81]

Might, but not sure yet, have an A/c problem I need to get done first

 

[GRNMACHINE]

HATS OFF to you both, both headliners look great. I always wanted to have black suede installed for headliner.

 

[Tbars4]

...Are you saying you will be doing this soon???...I would like to see a black suede headliner...If your turns out great, I might have to try it in the Ranger...:scratch:

 

[koolaid81]

Black Suede, that sounds interesting.... maybe a little Gothic... please post pics when you do this!

 

[barrys]

How did you get the headliner out without removing the seatbelt panels

Question for TBars4:
First of all, nice work. You're probably bored of hearing that but...

I notice you seemed to have removed the headliner without taking those interior panels at the rear corners of the cab that the seabelts attatch to/through. How did you do that? I read the Helm manual wich pretty much says "take apart entire interior then remove headliner." In looking inside the car, I see those panels overlapping the headliner edge so it made sense that those had to come out. But, that's going to add plenty of time to the job so if I can avoid that that would be cool.

 

[Tbars4]

...Sorry, I'm on vacation and just seen this...

...I just barely pulled on those rear corner panels as the headliner is only about 1" below the top of the panel...

...It is really easy to R&R with the Ranger...

 

[barrys]

Thanks for posting back.
> ...It is really easy to R&R with the Ranger...
True, unless you have the supercab. (I can't find that little emoticon with that dude banging his head against the wall.) With the supercab, it's like a slow miserable death. But, I'll work it out.

Your original post on this is the best on the net near as I can tell.

 

[barrys]

An update on material acquisition...
I too ordered from A1 Foam and Fabrics (a1foamandfabrics.com) as mentioned in this post and the shipping was really expensive.

They don't tell at the time you place the order what your shipping charges would be.
To get two yards of fabric shipped in UPS' cheapest (same state) zone, the shipping charge was over 20.00 which was like sticker shock when I read my invoice after the stuff arrived. I called to inquire and they told me that's the way it is... I'd rather just be told at ordering time and make an informed decision. In their defense, they do pack well.

If I did it again, I'd seriously consider http://wlsheadliners.com. That site is so cool and filled with information and tutorials with pictures.

 

[carver750]

Ranger Interior

Looks great! How did you remove clips on ceiling and other plastics? Did it require special tool?

 

[Tbars4]

...If you are referring to the 6 big round plastic button type clips on the Explorer's ceiling, I just use needle nose pliers to pull them out...

...They are just like you plastic door panel clips...I would shop or new ones beore starting this project...They can usually be found thru an auto parts store or http://lmctruck.com ...

 

[barrys]

You can't begin to imagine what I did to shop for replacements and didn't make it 100%. If you're interior is black or grey, you can just get them over the counter from Ford or even and some other vendors who specialize in this stuff like clipsandfasteners.com.

For my car which is "light mocha" interior, I was hosed. The parts dealer laughed and did a nationwide lookup and found none. What you're shopping for is what Ford calls an "interior pin kit." I ordered a kit in Prarie Tan which was close, but not a perfect match. In one of my posts I think I put up pics of the difference but I can't remember now.
Here's another copy of that pic:

You can see they're really close. So, maybe taking one from your car to a dealer might help them get you close with an available color.

Anyway, the moral of the story is to be really careful...
If you yank them out with pliers and break a bunch of them, you might be up a creek depending on your color. I was able to use the "clip remover tools" -- the nice metal ones with the blue handles from Harbor Freight -- to shimmy them out of there really slowly. I'm talkin like 3-5 minutes per clip. I've got 3 out so far and they're pretty well in tact.

 

[YBCold]

Tbars or koolaid how did you get the visor hinge thing off. i got the screws off the other side but i dont see any on the other one closer to the rear view miror.

 

[barrys]

Tbars or koolaid how did you get the visor hinge thing off. i got the screws off the other side but i dont see any on the other one closer to the rear view miror.

I don't know if yours is different. For mine, I had this:
On the visor holders closest to the windows, there are three screws. Take those out first so you maintain the right orientation for that triangular bracket when you go to put it back.
For the part that holds the shaft of the plastic hinge, there should be one screw in the back of each. Remove the screws and the plastic part should wiggle out.

 

[YBCold]

I don't know if yours is different. For mine, I had this:
On the visor holders closest to the windows, there are three screws. Take those out first so you maintain the right orientation for that triangular bracket when you go to put it back.
For the part that holds the shaft of the plastic hinge, there should be one screw in the back of each. Remove the screws and the plastic part should wiggle out.

never mind it was late when i took a look and i didnt have good lighting. the other one has one screw just came undone. thanks for the reply. now i have to remove the seatbelt lug thing to finish getting my headliner out.

 

[barrys]

Ahh... The seatbelt thing... If you don't already have one, you'll need a Torx 45 bit and that thing's on there pretty good. If your plastic is as old as mine, then when you take that plastic cover off of the seatbelt lug, pull the sides of the bottom out slightly and then lift it up. With that, you might not break the tabs on it like I did.

By the way, with the help of a pro, I did not have to take out many retainers -- just the ones along the top. To remove the headliner, I slid it out from under the right side by sliding it to the left. Then similarly slid to the right to free it from the trim on the left. Then it was loose. Those retainers are very difficult to remove in tact without majorly deforming them.

 

[YBCold]

so in theory i wont have to completely remove my seatbelt lug? just loosen the plastic trim up near the headliner? i bought some torx bits from harbor freight and one of them actually shattered on me.

 

[barrys]

so in theory i wont have to completely remove my seatbelt lug? just loosen the plastic trim up near the headliner? i bought some torx bits from harbor freight and one of them actually shattered on me.

No, you definitely need to remove those lugs or you won't be able to bend the interior quarter trim enough to slip out the headliner. You also need to remove the A post trim and all the retainers on the top edge of the rear of the interior.

Don't by any tools that need to be strong from Harbor Frieght.

O'Reilly/Kragen/Shucks sell the PowerBuilt T-45 torx bit as a single bit for 5.00. It's also made in China but at a better plant I guess.

 

[YBCold]

ill attempt this later. unfortunately i found some stuff under my hood that requires maintenance so ima have to hold back on this. ill post updates later though

 

[macknos94]

is the fabric wide enough to do a run in an explorer ordo you have to kinda seam it together? i'd like to do mine black so it matches my new interior but the width kinda made me wonder