Good morning guys,
Just finishing this up on a 2017 PI Utility. Would like to share to help save time and money. I did a bunch of leg work before I took this on.
Your bumper cover is basically 3 pieces. The upper portion, which is the largest piece, is painted and will contain your back-up sensors. The middle portion is typically flat black and I have discovered that this is the same on all models. I initially thought I was going to have to replace this but didn’t need to. The last piece is the lower fascia. I believe there are 4 varieties. There is one version that has a raised eyebrow or half moon around the exhaust tip coming off the resonator. This is available in flat “carbon” black or in silver. The other version has the rectangular exhaust openings is for the Ecoboost and is available in gloss “absolute” black on the Sport and silver on the Platinum.
My PI had the flat black lower fascia with the half moon over the tips. Even though it’s an Ecoboost, it doesn’t get the rectangular openings so that Ford can still mount a recovery hook to the left rear, near the resonator. I’m assuming that if you get the rectangular openings on a civilian Eco model, then you at least have the rear receiver to pull from if you get stuck.
I also installed an OEM receiver on the PI and had to change the wiring harness. I’ll save that for another thread. The main pieces I needed to go from the base / PI fascia to the Sport look, was the gloss black fascia and the tip surround. Interestingly enough, I found it was cheaper to buy the fascia as an OEM accessory versus buying it as a replacement part:
https://accessories.ford.com/vehicles/explorer/2017/exterior/trailer-towing.html
The accessory part number on the gloss black is GB5Z-17K835-DA. The silver is GB5Z-17K835-EA. Has a retail price of $96.56 with a dealer cost of $67.59. I was able to buy it for $74.35 at my local dealer.
The replacement part number is FB5Z-17K835-EPTM. That lists for $219.95 with a dealer cost of $131.97. It will usually wholesale around $150 - $160. So, as you see, the accessory part is really the same thing, but cheaper.
Next was the exhaust tip surround. Retail for $289.80, dealer cost of $173.88, usually wholesales around $200. I found these used on eBay for MUCH less, made the guy an offer and he took it. Look for a seller on eBay “itemsforeverything”. He has sold several used sets of these.
Rear bumper has to complete come off. Not a bad job, there is a hidden bolt behind the wheel well trim, about half way around. These were a PITA. I ended up leaving them on the car and holding them out enough to remove that one bolt on each side. The lower fascia has about 20 taps on the top holding it to the middle bumper section. Then, there are 8 rivets holding them together at the bottom. These are aluminum and drilled out easily. The new fascia comes with rivets but I may go back with plastic fasteners. The exhast surround has a plastic bracket going around it with 6 holes. Will probably use plastic fasteners on it as well to attach it to the middle section. Concerning the exhaust openings, it mounts to the middle section and the lower fascia goes on around it.
I’ve got pics and will post them once I wrap everything up.