Body Work & Detailing

I recently had the good furtune of State Farm insurance buying me a new lift gate for my Explorer. A perfect opportunity to shave that rear wiper and squwirter I never use. Shaving door handles, locks and what have you will all fall under simular procedures. Also there are several ways to go about this task, this is the way I chose. Here is my new liftgate ready to go. Here is a close up of the holes I wish to fill. I did not have the time to engineer a way to shave the lock / glass popper. If I had thought of something I would have. Step one is to measure the holes I wish to cover so I can cut a metal backing. Never use duct tape or any thing like that to back up your body filler no matter how small the hole...

HI,I have a 96 explorer that the passenger side wiper arm keeps following off is there a special trick on how to get the whole thing off as it looks like a big nut but is not one,it has two nubbins sticking up thru sheet metal,another stupid engineering problem that did not need to be done as they could have turned it upside down and it would have never come off ever,but thats what happens when your dealing with the human race,thanks for any help.

Just thought I'd see how everyone else keeps their truck clean in the winter months.....Do you wash it yourself, or take it to the local car wash?

I am finally coming to terms with the end of the beautiful weather and the coming of the snow,slush and junk. Fishing season is just about over...sigh! Right about the time I put my rods away I know its time to do some detailing to prep my truck for the winter. Aside from a good cleaning and coat of Meguiar's, is there anything else I should do? How about protecting the wheels?

Hey guys after i do my lift and all I was planning on plasti dipping my truck white and then spraying gray and black plasti dip over it indifferent variations. i.e. winter camo. I love the way that it looks, and i thought why not. Plasti dip comes off anyways. Also... I am not feeling like buying from dipyourcar.com due to overpriced items....IMO. i was going to buy some rattlecans. But I am not sure what I should use to lay down the white base coat, and not really feeling likebuying a complicated sprayer. Thanks!!! some examples. and yes.. ik that the plasti dip is matte.

I noticed that my X started having a bit of rust at the point the roof is connected to the winshield. Is there a way to remove the black moulding without removing the winshield so I can acces the rust? Without too much dust getting in to truck. I will be replacing the winshield in the near future, but didn't want to take it to a place to remove the moulding/winshield, then work on the rust, then have a new winshield re-installed. Any help will be much appreciated.

Has anyone ever installed a Wings West spoiler on the back hatch of a '02 and up Explorer? Pics? Thanks. ;)

Well, the yards here are full of Windstars with the sexy roof rack, and I'd like to pick one up. Questions are, will the mounting screws line up, and also- there was a rolled Mounty there, and I think the crossbars were in the back of the truck, and when I held them up to the Windstar, they were a different length than the Windstar crossbars. Are they different on the Windstar and the Mounty? Would I need to find Mounty crossrails? (they were longer, unless one is longer on the Mounty and I had the wrong crossbar on the wrong end...) This is what I'm finding... This is the Mounty crossbar- am I missing something, or was it maybe the wrong crossbar?

Hi all, what would you recommend as the best windshield wipers for rain, snow sleet etc? Thanks so much! Greg

I need to clean up and possibly paint the windshield wiper cowl plastic part on my '99. How do I take it off? Thanks....

Has anyone had problems with water getting under the weatherstripping causing rust. I noticed the channel on the roof of my Explorer was allowing water to gain access to the body causing a small amount of rust where the windshield lays. Here are some pics...

Problem: Rear window washer sprayer has come off and is just dangaling there. Is there any way to fix this? Tried some kind of glue but only lasted a day.

What do you use for your windshield wiper fluid?

I have no idea what they are called, but I've seen a few on the f-series trucks and they look nice. It's that visor thing that goes at the top of the windshield, and sticks out straight forward a few inches. I thought they looked nice on the trucks, and I was wondering how it would look on an X, does anyone happen to have one, or have an opinion? Thanks

Hello, I have a 2015 Ford Explorer and the passenger side windshield side molding has ripped off while driving down the highway. I have purchased replacment parts and have a question about installation. Attached are two pictures. My question is about the thing shown by a red arrow in attachment #1. In the youtube video I watch this glob isn't present. I am wondering if this is just a big glob of silicone that I can remove? If so, how is the best way to remove it? I think underneath it is a clip hole? The second attachment shows what it looks like in the video. Thanks for any input.