What did you do to your 5th Gen? | Page 44 | Ford Explorer Forums - Serious Explorations

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What did you do to your 5th Gen?

@Livernois I'm about to order these. Can you hook me up with a better price ;)

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^^^^Gonna be a beast Noriega!!!
 












I carry a lot of stuff for the dogs, and they're with me part of every day. I got tired of having stuff floating around, or having an organizer tied to one of the tie downs at the back, so I built a cargo box. It's not the greatest craftsmanship, because I am not good at cutting long, straight lines. Sometimes short straight lines either. :(

I finished it yesterday. I built it out of 3/4" and 1/2" MDF, painted it black, and covered the top with black rubber runner from Lowe's. The same thing lines the drawers.

It's 44" x 40". I didn't want 44" long drawers, so I made them 24", and the 20" at the back has a hinged door, that will eventually have a lock. I fold the seat forward to access it. It's covered with my existing cargo/pet liner. View attachment 96676 View attachment 96677

The white stuff is some Gorilla glue that squeezed out from under the rubber runner.

It looks a little beat already. This is actually the second attempt. The first one was way too big. This one is 5 1/2" tall. I took the first one apart, cut everything down, and put it back together.

Nicely done, my friend. You should offer your services to other dog/pet lovers!
 






Nicely done, my friend. You should offer your services to other dog/pet lovers!

Thanks. I'll need a lot more practice with a saw first! It's not terrible, but it definitely could be better. For having done it without a real plan though, I'm happy with the result. I'm glad I overestimated the amount of MDF I needed, because I ended up cutting every sheet. I have a lot left over that didn't quite fit anywhere.
 






Thanks. I'll need a lot more practice with a saw first! It's not terrible, but it definitely could be better. For having done it without a real plan though, I'm happy with the result. I'm glad I overestimated the amount of MDF I needed, because I ended up cutting every sheet. I have a lot left over that didn't quite fit anywhere.
Enough to make a dog house?:D
 












New Westin Contour Bull Bar and Unity SAE clear fog lights (I live on the coast, they're needed).

View attachment 96615

View attachment 96616


The factory front plate mount stuck out too far and had to be removed for the new bull bar mounted fog lights to clear. My state, however, requires a front plate so I remounted it. I used the Bell License Plate Frame purchased online. It's really a nice piece and comes with the four screws to mount your plate to it and as you can see from the photos, there are numerous channels to use to bolt the frame to your vehicle. I used the holes left by the removal of the OEM plate frame. I used nylon wall anchors (not my pic, online grab), they fit into the holes and using the provided push tool the "butterfly wings" opened up on the inside of the bumper allowing me to screw the plate frame very securely and the frame is slotted to allow positioning.

I like the Westin Countour Bull Bar as it does not go below the lowest point of the front end like some of the other, larger ones I considered do. I occasionally have to deal with sharp inclines and occasional I do some mild off roading so this setup doesn't hang any lower than normal. Also, my wife didn't want a big grille guard or massive bull bar in front or some cop PIU push bars that I can get from work so the Westins had a low enough profile to keep everyone happy.

Finally, I added my plate to the frame and now I'm all legal in the state of Kalifornia.

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NewPlateMount2.jpg
 












Looks great @jonnoriega ! Is that a Devries overlay?
 












Devries is amazing and does all sorts of custom requests. I have their personal email address if you need it.
 






over the weekend I removed my front plate, and luckily with the Magnetic Metallic color I can get away with just the plain black plugs that you can get for a couple bucks at autozone and it blends right in haha.

20170422_120821_zpsqp0fkdi4.jpg

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I also ordered and installed a switch cover for the 3rd Row Powerfold switches. After loading up the trunk for a daytrip and hit the buttons by accident and stuff falling down from the seats folding I wasn't going to risk it happening again and damaging the seats.....stupid location and design by ford for these switches. They should be in the front at the drivers area, or higher up, or have a cover from factory...

20170422_172451_zpsdi9z6rjn.jpg

20170422_172443_zpsbzwxgwh1.jpg
 






over the weekend I removed my front plate, and luckily with the Magnetic Metallic color I can get away with just the plain black plugs that you can get for a couple bucks at autozone and it blends right in haha.

I also ordered and installed a switch cover for the 3rd Row Powerfold switches. After loading up the trunk for a daytrip and hit the buttons by accident and stuff falling down from the seats folding I wasn't going to risk it happening again and damaging the seats.....stupid location and design by ford for these switches. They should be in the front at the drivers area, or higher up, or have a cover from factory...

Where did you get the cover from?
 






I would like to know as well. Where is that cover from?
 
























over the weekend I removed my front plate, and luckily with the Magnetic Metallic color I can get away with just the plain black plugs that you can get for a couple bucks at autozone and it blends right in haha.

20170422_120821_zpsqp0fkdi4.jpg

20170422_120831_zpsimc6zrkp.jpg


I also ordered and installed a switch cover for the 3rd Row Powerfold switches. After loading up the trunk for a daytrip and hit the buttons by accident and stuff falling down from the seats folding I wasn't going to risk it happening again and damaging the seats.....stupid location and design by ford for these switches. They should be in the front at the drivers area, or higher up, or have a cover from factory...

20170422_172451_zpsdi9z6rjn.jpg

20170422_172443_zpsbzwxgwh1.jpg

Nobody noticed when I posted my mudflap pics, but I used the same plugs on my rear bumper as well. The black part had a small gouge near one corner when I bought it (used) and the dealer wouldnt agree to replace it. So I drilled it out a little, then measured and did the same on the other side. Cost to replace the black part was over $700, 2 free plugs and some silicone did the trick and I dont mind looking at it at all.

8c78e33f-ce39-4090-987d-47f70e087a2a_zps21ndulcu.jpg
 



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Nobody noticed when I posted my mudflap pics, but I used the same plugs on my rear bumper as well.

I figured they were for a smoke screen, oil slick, or some other James Bond-style defensive trickery. I didn't say anything because I didn't want to blow your cover. ;)
 






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