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What did you do to your 5th Gen?

Hello, Just wanted to introduce myself. First time posting, but long time reading this site. I've learned a lot from all the interesting posts here and gotten really cool ideas for my Explorer.
I have a 2016 Explorer Sport. I've done a bit of customizing on it

22 Rims and Tires
Brake Discs and Calipers
LED interior lights
Blacked out Ford logos

I hope to keep improving my Explorer and learn from you guys and gals

Thanks


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NICE... lower it with H&R Springs. ;)
 



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Hello, Just wanted to introduce myself. First time posting, but long time reading this site. I've learned a lot from all the interesting posts here and gotten really cool ideas for my Explorer.
I have a 2016 Explorer Sport. I've done a bit of customizing on it

22 Rims and Tires
Brake Discs and Calipers
LED interior lights
Blacked out Ford logos

I hope to keep improving my Explorer and learn from you guys and gals

Thanks


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IMG_7023_zpsdehbxioc.jpg
Really like your choice of wheels......I'm big on the all blacked out look.
 






Wired my dashcam today. I know people opt for the Moonroof wires for a 12V switched source, but I found fiddling around near the roof a pain and decided to tap the wires on the driver side A-pillar harness connector that's right behind the cover. I've included a picture if someone else is looking for either a 12V switched or a 12V always hot (like the cigarette plugs), on the 2012 these are the ones I found. There's more than one 12V always hot in that harness, but I only saw 1 that was 12V switched.



For the ground I just used the bolt behind the cover by the door, as there's already a factory ground wire there, and in my case, a few others :)



For USB harness I used this, which comes with really long wires for the USB part, and plenty long for the rest. Works great.
 






Be careful with that particular ground. It grounds all of the BCM and if it comes loose or otherwise interfered with, it takes out a number of vehicle functions. I grounded to a metal point elsewhere.
 












Hello, Just wanted to introduce myself. First time posting, but long time reading this site. I've learned a lot from all the interesting posts here and gotten really cool ideas for my Explorer.
I have a 2016 Explorer Sport. I've done a bit of customizing on it

22 Rims and Tires
Brake Discs and Calipers
LED interior lights
Blacked out Ford logos

I hope to keep improving my Explorer and learn from you guys and gals

Thanks
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Now you gotta blackout the chrome exhaust tips.
 






Be careful with that particular ground. It grounds all of the BCM and if it comes loose or otherwise interfered with, it takes out a number of vehicle functions. I grounded to a metal point elsewhere.

Good to know. That bolt is on pretty hard, but next time I'm poking around there I might move them to a better ground just in case
 






It's in that category of "ask me how I know." ;)
 






Finally had time to have my Powerstop Brake Kit installed over the weekend. Although you can likely buy as a kit now, I purchased the items separately as they came available. After waiting for MONTHS and much hounding, Powerstop finally released to their retailers the red powder coated calipers for the xSport that I've been after. Rockauto.com were the first to carry them (keep your old calipers as cores if you order through them). I ordered the pads and rotors through Amazon.com. Because my wheels are a PITA to keep clean I went with their low dust pads, but they have many higher performance options to choose from. For me, the best part of the kit were the drilled/ slotted rotors and red powdercoated calipers. This kit was largely an aesthetic thing for me as my wheels show lots of the brake system. The braking on my 16 xSport was never poor to begin with- is there a huge difference if braking performance now? Not yet- I think the pads & rotors are still seating in and there are higher performance pads to be had, so no- but it is certainly equal to if not slightly better than stock. The rotors are anodized silver, which went perfect with my aluminum wheels as well. My wheels are 22x9's so there is a larger gap between the rotors/calipers and the inner diameter of the wheels than you can expect if you are running the factory 18's or 20's. This is NOT a "big brake kit", this is simply an upgraded factory replacement if you will. All of the dimensions are the same as factory. Cost wise, it is much more affordable than a true big brake kit. As far as Powerstop quality/ performance/ longevity, all I can say is that I had a Powerstop kit installed on my 07 Toyota FJ Cruiser for years and loved it (huge upgrade in braking). The Powerstop website will help you answer any questions you might have and their email customer support is very responsive. Cheers.
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Putting some new shoes on the rig with the best guys in the business. Got 30K on the Yokahama Parada SpecX tires.

I wanted to get the Pirelli’s but they were $500 per tire versus $185. Couldnt actually justify spending that much on tires do you believe that?

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Pastidip’d my wheels today. Thank you to whoever posted the index card trick. Way better then taping it. Came out pretty good but no before pictures to show. I did leave the center cap untouched.
 












Over the past couple weekends, I tried my hand at plasti-dip. Results turned out pretty good IMO. I went for the "blacked-out" look. The best part is I can easily remove it all if I get tired of it.
Dipped: Roof rails, door handles, lower door trim, grill chrome, rear Explorer chrome bar, Limited lettering, wheels.

SickSix, do you have any photos of your Explorer outside? Love the look...may go this direction on mine...just worried about the wheels getting knicked up.
 






I posted this a while ago, wanting to put a 2016+ center console on a 2012 (better cup holders, the Sync3 USB port part actually clicks in, it's prettier...). I researched the heck out of it, comparing everything, and I just couldn't find any difference in them. In the end I decided to throw money on it and I got one from a wreck on Ebay (has a few scratches, but so did the old).

First, I took out the old console. There's an that helps where the guy rips apart the whole center console, but it's pretty easy getting just the top part off. The "hard" part is the 2 screws holding the shifter (hard because of limited working space).

Here's a comparison of the consoles, at first glance there's really nothing different about them apart from cupholders (ignore that I've already taken the back off the right one). On the right is the old (2012), on the left is the new (2016+)
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On closer inspection, I did find something different, which would normally be a big deal (gray one is old 2012 one, green is new 2016+ one, this is the harness connector that connects down to the car)...
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However, the entire harness is actually exactly the same in every way, except for that connector. So I took the old harness off and moved it to the new console.

To move the shifter over to the new console, you unclip it from the console as so:
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.. on all sides, then click it in on the new console. The dial for drive modes is the same concept, it has 4 things that you push in and push it out, then click it in on the other.

After about 10 more minutes..
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Final result. Sure, "M" is now "S" but that doesn't matter to me. In retrospect I probably would've bought a scratchless one (brand new one), but I didn't know if it would fit at all so I didn't want to throw a lot of money on it in case it didn't.

Things I like on the new model:
- Grippy cup holders and that center bit in the cup holders (that I honestly don't know what it's for, but more space is always good).
- Sync Cover has a nook in it for a cable to come out so that it can still close, old one didn't.
- Sync3 USB port holder in the back just "clicks in" (it doesn't need the big plate, only the actual USB port part, the 2016+ model no longer has a big part that comes out)
- My old 12V cover was broken, this one isn't.;)
- It's blacker (old sides were silver colored just like the sides on the radio/screen console) and it's a little shinier :laugh:
- Doesn't say "Microsoft" on the sync logo.

(My car doesn't have the ambient lighting package nor did the new console, so I can't say what the process would be there, I assume pretty much the same though as all components minus the connector are identical.)

If anyone is contemplating the same switch and wants more info on anything, let me know.

Total time: ~1h
 






What size wheels are you running? Are you lowered? Spacers?

Wheels: Velgen VMB6 20"x10.5" with 45mm off-set
Tires: Parada SpecX 295/45R20
Suspension: H&R Lowering Springs (2 camber bolts used for the back)

Fits perfect in the wheel well. This was @ken60631 original set up. Thanks for his inspiration.
 






Wheels: Velgen VMB6 20"x10.5" with 45mm off-set
Tires: Parada SpecX 295/45R20
Suspension: H&R Lowering Springs (2 camber bolts used for the back)

Fits perfect in the wheel well. This was @ken60631 original set up. Thanks for his inspiration.
Looks great. Thanks for the info. Its my next move for sure. Just wasnt sure if I needed the spacers any longer.
 






Finally pulled the trigger and ordered the Livernois tuner and 3bar MAP. Excited for it to get here!
 






You won't regret it, that's for sure.
Finally pulled the trigger and ordered the Livernois tuner and 3bar MAP. Excited for it to get here!
 



Join the Elite Explorers for $20 each year.
Elite Explorer members see no advertisements, no banner ads, no double underlined links,.
Add an avatar, upload photo attachments, and more!
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