2020 FX4 Salvage Rebuild

[XionUAV]

id ask benny and see what he says. may be same answer. I dont see how it cannot be shipped. More like they do not want to deal with it.

Exactly.

Message has already been sent to Benny. Just waiting for a response. Worst case I found a seller with a "Sherman" brand radiator support for $385 shipped. He says they've never had issues but if there is one they'd replace it.

Now I'm waiting for the other shoe to drop on the hood, fender and upper bumper cover I supposedly ordered.

And here's another good one.

The fenders have a steel mounting piece attached at the front by what looks like a round punch through the steel into the aluminum prongs of the fender. The inner part on the mount is glued to the fender. Pictures I'm finding of the actual fender from sources other than OEM are showing this piece attached. But apparently the OEM Ford part does not have it attached. It's a separate piece. So there’s that issue to figure out.

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[XionUAV]

have you tried going through a local Ferd parts department? it might be easier to put together a shopping list and haggle a better price from a single place than shop around and deal with this kind of headache.... I know, replacing 1 headache with another... stoopid ferd dealerships

Any time I've purchased parts locally it always seems to be at retail. But I may call a local dealer anyway and see what they say.

 

[XionUAV]

Well, Levittown Ford is almost $350 plus $210 shipping for a radiator support. Part price is fair. Shipping not so much.

 

[XionUAV]

Just ordered a fender and another radiator support from another automotive parts supplier. Finger's crossed.

A Ford parts person told me the OEM fender does not come with the steel mount at the front. Just two prongs sticking out where the metal mount in question is attached. He said the mount at the front was additional and gave me that part number. I looked it up. The number he gave me is for a much smaller mount that's actually spot welded to the radiator support. It was not the piece that's attached to the front of the fender.

Looked over the part that came off the damaged fender. No part numbers. Sent another email explaining that the part number he gave me was incorrect and that the part in question had no part numbers. I asked if he was absolutely sure the fender didn't come with that mount already attached since it doesn't appear in the parts diagram. No response.

I spoke with the guy I'm working with at the body shop to reschedule and shared the problems I'm having with parts suppliers. He said it was typical. Well, it shouldn't be. Glad this is a one-off automotive project because what should be a fairly straight forward repair has become pretty frustrating thanks to parts suppliers. Live and learn.

 

[myothercarizahearse]

Glad this is a one-off automotive project because what should be a fairly straight forward repair has become pretty frustrating thanks to parts suppliers.

when are they ever straight forward?

what is Utah's protocol for legally getting a wrecked car back on the road? or is this just for off-road use?

 

[got3fords]

 

[Trigganometry]

Is the part you’re looking for in the radiator support parts list by chance?

 

[XionUAV]

when are they ever straight forward?

what is Utah's protocol for legally getting a wrecked car back on the road? or is this just for off-road use?

Yeah maybe I have selective memory. I've done quite a few repair/flips and just don't recall ever having this much trouble getting decent, correct, reasonably priced parts. Now I certainly could have strolled down to the local dealer, handed them a credit card and said, "Get me everything." But the point of this rebuild was to do it professionally for as little as possible, within reason. Otherwise I would have just stuck with something much less expensive in the first place, like, uh, a 2012 Nissan Frontier.

Replaced the head gasket on a VW 2.0L motor one time and needed a PVC cap. Had already checked online and they were about $15. So I figured instead of waiting for it, I'd just save time and go to the local dealer and get one since they were so inexpensive. The dealer had one...for $77. Some people don't care about saving money. I'm not one of those people.

That said, had I any idea there was going to be this much drama just getting parts to rebuild the Ranger, I may have paid more and gone through a local dealer anyway. But that's the problem with hindsight, isn't it? Now that I'm into this far I need to just follow through.

Then there's this stupidity. Contacted Carparts.com with a claim regarding finding RUST on the their NEW radiator support (sent pictures) while trying to clean it up to paint it. Explained that the rust went into a welded layer of metal so the part was defective and useless. Their response was to issue a prepaid FedEx return label to return the radiator support. You know, the same part that some Ford parts dealers won't ship because it's too big. Don't have the giant box for it anymore anyway. Part of the return instructions state that the part MUST BE IN ORIGINAL CONDITION in order to receive a refund. Apparently they didn't actually read the information or look at the pictures in the claim. Seriously...

Registration in Utah for a salvage vehicle generally requires an inspection for basic necessary street-legal items to be working (horn, blinkers, etc.) and for the vehicle to pass emissions, if required. Basically that just means no check engine light and factory cat(s) are in place. It will be a daily driver, when it's finally drivable, someday, hopefully.

 

[XionUAV]

Is the part you’re looking for in the radiator support parts list by chance?

No. The part that mounts to the radiator support, the part the Ford parts guy mistakenly referenced as the part that's attached and glued to the inner front part of the fender, is the part circled in the picture and is spot welded to the radiator support. The mounting part in question that is attached to the front inner part of the fender, is then bolted to the circled part on the radiator support. Then the plastic upper bumper cover mount is attached over these pieces.

As long as the fender I ordered yesterday actually shows up, I should be ok because it shows in the picture of the fender that the part in question is already attached. I think the part is actually attached to the OEM parts fender as well and the parts diagram just doesn't show it. Otherwise there would be a part number on that part and it would be listed separately in the parts diagram, which it isn't.

I think the Ford parts guy told me the fender just has the 2 prongs because all he did was look at the parts diagram, and when I questioned whether that was accurate or not and asked him to verify the actual part, he decided that was too much work and went on a permanent lunch break. My theory, anyway.

 

[XionUAV]

Quick update. Just got off the phone with the parts manager at Mid-Tenn Ford in Tennessee and it looks like the hood and upper bumper cover are in fact being shipped directly from Ford. That's one good thing. Very nice and helpful guy, by the way.

He also said they contacted Ford directly to inquire about the fender and that mount at the front but hadn't received a reply yet. He said they have access to a source with actual pictures of parts but the fender wasn't in it. He added that it was definitely possible the parts diagram showing just the two prongs at the front of the fender without the steel mounting piece is incorrect because they run into issues like that all the time where something in the parts diagram doesn't look like or is completely different than the actual part.

So hopefully a decent radiator support with the fender will show up pretty soon and the neighbors will be patient a little while longer with the eyesore to the side of the driveway.

Front frame rail just arrived from Lakeland Ford. At least these parts look excellent. Came with several pages of installation instructions as well.

 

[XionUAV]

Didn't realize the place I ordered the aftermarket fender and radiator support from would take up to 10 days to ship. That seemed sketchy so I cancelled that order. Drove to a large Ford dealership in a nearby town and asked them about the mount on the OEM fender. That guy was able to pull up a real, live, genuine picture of the OEM fender and it has the steel mount at the front.

So, the Ford parts diagrams showing the two prongs are incorrect. Had I not cancelled the fender from the Mid-Tenn order because they couldn't verify the part, the fender would have been on it's way. However, when I went back into their site to order it again, the fender was mysteriously $50 more and local pickup only. Odd. So I ordered the fender from the local Ford dealer. Their price wasn't unreasonable.

Then just for the heck of it, I asked how much a radiator support would be. That wasn't so reasonable at over $600. But that's ok because I had ordered one from Discount Ford Auto Parts. But of course, later I get an email that those dipsticks CANCELLED MY ORDER. What is with these parts houses?

Getting to the point of either forking out the big bucks for OEM I know I can get or cleaning up the CarParts.com support, soaking it in gloss black Rust-Oleum and using it anyway since they aren't going to want to refund me for it. At this point though I may just pay whatever, get a quality OEM support, be done with it and move on. I'd feel better with an OEM part up front anyway.

The moral of this story is that trying save money buying online can bite you in the backside if you aren't more careful than I was. But you'd expect Ford parts dealers to be competent. Most are. I just managed to find a few that aren't.

At least something fun showed up today - new pair of step rails.

 

[9zero1790]

due to covid 19, the war in Ukraine, Unibrow, pig feet, dingle berries, and climate change your order cannot be delivered. It is now canceled. Thank you for your business!

i say that as a joke but it seems like a common set of excuses since 2019.

 

[XionUAV]

I realize this thread has been a lot of blah, blah, blah so far and I apologize for that. Hoping to get into the meat of the rebuild starting the end of next week or the first part of the next. Last major parts are on their way.

Next to last bit of parts drama. After another radiator support order was cancelled by the seller, I did some more research and finally just ordered one from FordParts.com to have delivered to the same dealer to where the fender is being delivered. Oddly though, it was well over $100 less than at the dealer. So I checked the fender and it was $256. MSRP was $258. The dealer charged me $295.

Called the dealer and talked to the same parts guy I got the fender from and told him what the price was directly from FordParts.com. His response was something like, "Well... Uh..." So they're going to refund me the difference when I bring "proof" the price was lower.

Replacement steering rack arrived today. Not as pretty as mine but at least it isn't cracked in half. It will be all purdied up when installed.

In lieu of finding a place to store the side rails, just installed them. Wanted simple and clean so I like these. They hang about 1 1/2" below the chassis. Don't plan on climbing over boulders but it will still be nice to get a few more inches of clearance after the lift and 285's go on.

 

[IdahoRanger]

Blah, blah, blah? I'm enjoying hearing about the project and its trials and tribulations.

 

[XionUAV]

Blah, blah, blah? I'm enjoying hearing about the project and its trials and tribulations.

That's because they aren't your trials and tribulations.

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