Part 2
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The brace is now mounted up with all the trim panels re-installed (shown with the original side access covers back in temporarily). The two studs at the front of the brace are used to hold a bracket that is part of the police package, but I left them and nuts there for no real reason (they will be covered anyway). If you don't have the need to add the supports and panels, you could probably even leave everything just like this:
Next up, the foam supports. With the original liner left in the spare tire area, I couldn't wedge the side supports in, so I had to loosen the brace slightly to make some room. The side supports actually each have a clip underneath that holds them in place in the police version, but they aren't present in the civilian versions (and were lost when I bought the parts). I may remove the liner at some point anyway, so if the supports aren't tight, a strip of velcro could come in handy, but for now I left it there. Note the fuel funnel in its new location.
For reference, here is another picture from a PD version that shows all the foam supports and floor panels removed. You can see the forward bracket on the top of the brace (it bolts to the floor pan just behind where the center console would attach if it has that option). I don't think the lack of that bracket in a civilian version is a big deal, but some guys have apparently just cut those studs since they aren't used. Also circled are the forward holes (from the "U"-supports) that will hold those long bolts for the forward floor panel:
After all the supports were in, I knew the spare tire cover wouldn't fit, but that was not a big deal since this is just storage now. If I want even more room, I'll just remove the tire and put an inflator kit in there (
here is one of those kits for reference - this particular one residing in my Cobra). This is how the complete area looks in the police version with the full-sized spare:
This is the underside of the main panel in a PD version I looked at before I acquired my parts. It is pretty beefy:
Once the brace was tightened back up, the forward floor panel goes over the top using the two 80mm long bolts. The original "U" supports that came out, again provide one hole for this bolt, you just have to line it up and use an awl to poke a hole in the carpet on each side. After that panel is lined up and snugged down, the larger panel slips right in. You can't see the long filler panel that is right below the latch for the liftgate (has to be removed to get the spare tire cover up), but it had to be left out for the large panel to seat itself.
As an alternative, there is also the
Havis (<---Link) steel floor with the hydraulic kit which looks to be very solid and might be adaptable to the civilian versions. It looks as it covers most of the floor and has a space towards the front for a small cabinet or additional floor plate. In any case, its price is slightly less than the plastic floor panels from Ford!
Here is how it everything looks (and cleaned up more after I took the picture):
The area under the forward panel actually has a couple recesses for some more storage, so that is nice too since it also hinges up. I was planning to use some of my black felt to cover most of it so it looks better (especially since someone at the original PD, again, cut a chunk out of the center), but maybe I'll tackle that in the spring. For now, it is fine since it is completely hidden behind the second row:
After that, I tossed my Husky liner back in along with the cargo net and stuck my tool bag and some other odd's and end's under the floor where they will be out of the way.The Husky liner isn't actually a perfect fit since the edges of the floor panels sit a bit lower, but if you are real picky, you can get a new liner for the MKT or Flex (which is rectangular) and it will probably sit down nicely. The picture below shows how my Husky liner fit with the original seats folded flat. Note that at its front edge, it was about 4" higher than it will be now with the PD floor:
Cont.