What did you do to your 5th Gen?

[Sgt1411]

LMAO - I knew someone was going to say something about that. All fixed, my friend. I actually got suckered into the "leather car package" for $1000 when I bought my ride. I got some leather/interior care **** and used it after I "worked" on my ride.

Sorry I saw the pics and my OCD started to activate.......then I saw the G2 Caliper paint kit video and I couldn't hold back!

 

[supr squirrel]

That's a great kit, I'm sold.


The rotor hat rust is driving me nuts, does the spray cleaner in the kit deal with that?....or is there not enough paint to do all 4 calipers plus rotor hats?

Essentially it's just brake cleaner, but what little rust I had on my calipers it dealt with it nicely. I'm sure with a light scrubbing from a wire brush along with the cleaner it would take what rust is there right off.

As for rotor hats and the calipers both I think you'd be stretching it pretty close to try to do both out of one kit. If you did two coats on the calipers (instead of three or four) you might have enough to do the rotor hats, too, but it'd be close. Plus with the time constraints (roughly 4 to 6 hours of work time once the activator is added) doing the calipers and the hats might be close, too.

I didn't need to do my hats yet (thankfully), but I think I would have probably purchased a second kit to do them...just to be safe. And I'd likely go with a different color as well. If/when I do them I'll probably do them in black versus orange.

 

[ggifford]

Added Adventus AVX-7 22x9's with Yokohama Spec-X 265/40/22's. Stoked on how it looks/ breaks up the "blacked out" look of my XSport.

https://goo.gl/photos/J43xh4tyZzKqMdHj9

 

[Sgt1411]

Added Adventus AVX-7 22x9's with Yokohama Spec-X 265/40/22's. Stoked on how it looks/ breaks up the "blacked out" look of my XSport.

https://goo.gl/photos/J43xh4tyZzKqMdHj9

Those wheels look really good, I would love to see them in gloss black........

 

[MrWickd]

Didn't have a chance to paint the calipers yet. This storm was brutal. Still trying to decide on which CAI to go with

 

[jonnoriega]

Had the rig detailed by hand using a carnauba wax and clay bar treatment. It got rid all of all surface scratches and door dings and brought out the true color of the paint.

More importantly, they put on a protect-ice coating. Photos don't do the work justice. If you haven't done this to your EXP yet, I highly recommend it. The inside looks fantastic as well.

Done by the owner of BenzWorx Car Wash in Streamwood, IL Ron the Car Man. Gave me a hell of a deal.

View attachment 95646

 

[Sgt1411]

That looks fantastic, I'm sure noticing a big difference between my 17 Sport Shadow Black and my 14 Sport Tuxedo Black.

Shadow Black shows every little scratch and rub mark.

I will look into getting that done as well.

Still LOVING those wheels!

 

[jonnoriega]

That looks fantastic, I'm sure noticing a big difference between my 17 Sport Shadow Black and my 14 Sport Tuxedo Black.

Shadow Black shows every little scratch and rub mark.

I will look into getting that done as well.

Still LOVING those wheels!

Honestly, I went to just get the car washed and hand waxed, but the owner came and looked at the car and said that if he waxed it, it would just put a coat on all the scratches and surface marks on the car. He recommended that he do a clay bar treatment and then he would use carnauba wax to coat it and "fill in the gaps". He also said that he would do it all by hand as not to leave swirl marks with a buffer.

Long story short, after a bit of haggling and 3 hours later, I came back to pick up the car and was very impressed. Here's a video of a similar process that he did (wouldn't let me film him). The only difference is he used 2 coats of a proprietary carnauba wax on my ride.

 

[Jon M]

Honestly, I went to just get the car washed and hand waxed, but the owner came and looked at the car and said that if he waxed it, it would just put a coat on all the scratches and surface marks on the car. He recommended that he do a clay bar treatment and then he would use carnauba wax to coat it and "fill in the gaps". He also said that he would do it all by hand as not to leave swirl marks with a buffer.

Long story short, after a bit of haggling and 3 hours later, I came back to pick up the car and was very impressed. Here's a video of a similar process that he did (wouldn't let me film him). The only difference is he used 2 coats of a proprietary carnauba wax on my ride.

I'm going to be doing mine myself. I have everything to do it, and barring some change, I'll be doing it tomorrow. I suspect it will take me longer, since it's my first time using clay instead of just compound. It's going to be a long day of scrubbing 4 1/2 years of stuff off that paint!

 

[Eltee]

I said goodbye to my beloved 2005 Explorer Sport Trac today. I've had it over ten years and it has served me well. Ironically, my neighbor bought it so I will see it every day in his driveway. A little bittersweet. I replaced it with my 2013 Explorer XLT. Here they are side by side.

I'll miss the higher ground clearance, the truck bed, and the robustness off road of the Sport Trac but the new XLT has all sorts of bells and whistles for me to learn to use. Today I added a slightly longer antenna whip to improve radio reception, I live in the 'burbs surrounded by hills so sometimes reception was iffy. The antenna SEEMS to be an improvement, I'll know better once I drive around more. My next mod is to add Navigation.

 

[supr squirrel]

I said goodbye to my beloved 2005 Explorer Sport Trac today. I've had it over ten years and it has served me well. Ironically, my neighbor bought it so I will see it every day in his driveway. A little bittersweet. I replaced it with my 2013 Explorer XLT. Here they are side by side.

I'll miss the higher ground clearance, the truck bed, and the robustness off road of the Sport Trac but the new XLT has all sorts of bells and whistles for me to learn to use. Today I added a slightly longer antenna whip to improve radio reception, I live in the 'burbs surrounded by hills so sometimes reception was iffy. The antenna SEEMS to be an improvement, I'll know better once I drive around more. My next mod is to add Navigation.


View attachment 95673

They both look great! Maybe your neighbor will give you visitations rights to your old Sport Trac.

 

[Sgt1411]

LT I couldn't let my neighbor have my truck, if I saw him treating it poorly, in need of a wash, low tire pressure in one tire......or god forbid A DOOR DING............I would loose it and have to go see the Department shrink to calm down.

It's gotta be outta sight outta mind for me! LOL!

 

[Eltee]

LT I couldn't let my neighbor have my truck, if I saw him treating it poorly, in need of a wash, low tire pressure in one tire......or god forbid A DOOR DING............I would loose it and have to go see the Department shrink to calm down.

It's gotta be outta sight outta mind for me! LOL!

I know what you mean, bro, but he's a retired guy who's a bit of a gear head and pampers his vehicles so I know my sweet Sport Trac is in good hands. He may treat her better than I did!

 

[thefranchise713]

LT I couldn't let my neighbor have my truck, if I saw him treating it poorly, in need of a wash, low tire pressure in one tire......or god forbid A DOOR DING............I would loose it and have to go see the Department shrink to calm down.

It's gotta be outta sight outta mind for me! LOL!

I had a lot of customization on my last car, including the DRLs activated on the signals instead of the halogens. I left the custom grille on it when I traded it, but I put on the halogen DRLs because... my trademark, not yours, next owner.

I haven't seen that car since.

 

[dkelle4]

This past weekend: upgraded most of my lights to LED (map lights, glove box, 2nd row overhead, license plate, reverse, rear turn signals, puddle lights)

This coming weekend: upgrade remaining to LED (high beams, front turn signals, fog lights) as well as wire up my new subwoofer

Side note: need to figure out how to replace the one last interior light - in the trunk on the driver's side....

 

[peterk9]

This past weekend: upgraded most of my lights to LED (map lights, glove box, 2nd row overhead, license plate, reverse, rear turn signals, puddle lights)

This coming weekend: upgrade remaining to LED (high beams, front turn signals, fog lights) as well as wire up my new subwoofer

Side note: need to figure out how to replace the one last interior light - in the trunk on the driver's side....

Welcome to the Forum.

Peter

 

[Eltee]

removed the front plate and the dealer decals from my sport. This weekend will be time for the vinyl covers on the door handles to gloss black and a detailing since she has made a couple road trips since I got her last week...

I know the original post is a couple of years old, but if you see this can you tell us a little more about the black vinyl door handle covers, please? I'm wanting to swap out my chrome handles (XLT) to black but I suspect the ones they sell on eBay are NOT Ford made so I am trying to research options.
THANKS.

 

[jonnoriega]

I had mine wrapped. It cost me $20 per door handle. He removed the handle and wrapped it matte black.

I know the original post is a couple of years old, but if you see this can you tell us a little more about the black vinyl door handle covers, please? I'm wanting to swap out my chrome handles (XLT) to black but I suspect the ones they sell on eBay are NOT Ford made so I am trying to research options.
THANKS.

 

[Jon M]

I've been thinking about doing the inset hood decal. I've found various options, but I want to be different, so I'm considering doing it with Kryptek, in either Typhon or Yeti. Maybe Raid. Thoughts? I know it's not everyone's thing, and honestly, I'm not sure it will be mine. I kind of like the idea of it being more subtle, which is why I'm considering Yeti on my white paint.

http://usnightvision.com/sheet-vinyl-camouflage-kryptek-camo/

Of course, it won't have the logo, just the pattern. It would be $30 or $45, depending on where it stops, either at the windshield side edge of the hood, or just short of it, because I think I measured it at 26" to the edge.

Either way, there could be enough left to do other small parts, which I hadn't been thinking about until now, but I could do the black part of the mirrors above the turn signals (the part that's body color on higher trims), and/or the door handles. That might be too much though.

So, throw some opinions at me.

 

[peterk9]

I had mine wrapped. It cost me $20 per door handle. He removed the handle and wrapped it matte black.

Looks more like a silver colour like the ones on my Platinum.