Howdy all. Another PA person here...

[JohnnyO]

In PA also, near Pittsburgh.
I had a Gibson cat-back on my old Sport Trac and it was pretty friggen' loud so for now I'm enjoying the quiet. The clips I've heard on YouTube aren't as loud, probably two less cylinders and a turbocharger quiets it down a bit.

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[BrassSlinger]

I’ll try to get that clip tomorrow; had a bit too much going on today to get that done. (Need to recruit wife unit to hold phone to do it proper.)

Cool, looking forward to it

 

[Sara/AWE]

So, wow, It is cold outside. But I was fueled by anxious anticipation and excitement. ? So I barely felt it. Lol. (And can barely feel my fingers too. ?)

AWE 0fg cat back install in 24 degree weather. ?

Sounds amazing! I’m lovin’ it and haven’t even gone for a drive yet.

Extra points for braving the weather, glad you're loving the system!

 

[SpaceGhost]

Congrats on the Tremor! Lightning blue XLT FX4 here over in Pike county PA.

 

[Elmosaurus]

Been busy but haven’t posted updates. (Tricky dodging cold weather or snow). So here is a really, really long post. ?

Got my Ford Impact HD bed mat installed. (Bedrug is the OEM for Ford). It lives up to my expectations for sure. Very happy with it, even more so that I got it using points from Fairway Ford. (Nate shipped Very fast and I had it two days later). I had to actually wait for warmer temps to unroll it as it comes rolled tight; wife wasn’t thrilled with me taking over the living room floor for a few days as I used the inside heat to get it to unroll and lay flat. ?. No special tricks for install really, just alcohol the Velcro mounting areas and stick it down. They say to do it on a warmer day as the adhesive works best at 68* or so. I did it in 50* weather and just pressed hard and it seems well stuck on there. Did a test removal just to see, and the Velcro separates with moderate force so washing under the mat will be easy if I ever want to do that.

Also, Diamondback produced and shipped my order. It arrived very quickly as well. (Great benefit of being close to manufacturers like Diamondback or dealers like Fairway Ford and Stage3Motorsports). Estes LTL freight delivered it right to my driveway and even placed it close to my truck so I wouldn’t have to shuffle things around. I wish I would have taken pics of the palette as it arrived, and as I unboxed things. Diamondback did a stellar job packing the pieces securely and everything arrived in pristine shape. Take my word for it though; they know what they’re doing and it shows.

I took my time installing the cover Friday; it took me a few hours, but most of that was my OCD nature trying to get everything lined up exactly the way I wanted. Actual install time was probably more like just under 2 hours.

There were two minor issues I ran into during install:
First, the bulkhead seal instructions weren’t clear about which way the seal should face. It has a slight lean to the shape of the seal, so I put it straight side towards the bed, sloped side towards the cab. Not sure if it matters but that’s the way it made most sense to me.
Second, the plastic J sections that stick under the bed rail sheet metal as reinforcement points for the locking bars were too tall. So I had to trim them a bit to get them to slide all the way up so the sheet metal nested into the ‘J’ fully. This meant the supplied pre applied adhesive was of no use. So I luckily had my own 3M VHB tape to replace. Something to keep in mind if you decide to order this cover.

Otherwise, I love the cover. It is exactly what I hoped for and expect it to work in harmony with the way I use the bed perfectly. I also have two of their light kits but I will install them at a later date when it’s warmer and I figure out exactly where I want illumination in the bed.

Lastly, I got to Harbor Freight finally today, picked up a bunch of random crap I need to resupply my workbench, and also got the cargo bar I’ve been wanting. That will help keep the collapsible crates I got off Amazon from sliding forward into the bed. Combined with the crates I now have a ‘trunk’ area for any stuff we buy while out shopping. Our family of four fills the cab and since the Super Crew cab isn’t as large as my old Tundra SuperCrew, I needed a place to put groceries and purchases without having to worry about them sliding around or having to climb into the bed to retrieve them when we got home. If I ever need more space while on the go, I can collapse the crates and the cargo bar and tuck them against the bulkhead and reclaim almost all of the bed space. ?

Oh and one more thing. ? I figured the key fobs needed some protection from daily drops and grime, so I got them some TPU covers off Amazon. Very happy with them, and recommend the ones I got highly. (I found that some of them aren’t as good being loose on the fob or not having the opening for the Ford logo on the back, but these were perfect). The Ranger keychain however I would not recommend; I thought the logo and wording would be under the clear coat, but it appears they just placed a decal or printing over the top of the clear coat on the carbon fiber plate. This has me concerned that it may scrape off or scratch easily at some point. Definitely not ideal for the price they’re asking. (I paid $22 on Amazon last week, and now they’re listing it for $30!! ? I feel that’s a rip off for this level of quality)

and now for the pics… Enjoy!!

 

[Elmosaurus]

Amazon item links, for those interested:
CleverMade collapsible 62L crate
Blue Keyfob cover. (three other colors available)
Black Keyfob cover
Key Ring Cable (I find them much better than split rings for these huge fobs)

Cheers,
Elton

 

[BrassSlinger]

Been busy but haven’t posted updates. (Tricky dodging cold weather or snow). So here is a really, really long post. ?

Got my Ford Impact HD bed mat installed. (Bedrug is the OEM for Ford). It lives up to my expectations for sure. Very happy with it, even more so that I got it using points from Fairway Ford. (Nate shipped Very fast and I had it two days later). I had to actually wait for warmer temps to unroll it as it comes rolled tight; wife wasn’t thrilled with me taking over the living room floor for a few days as I used the inside heat to get it to unroll and lay flat. ?. No special tricks for install really, just alcohol the Velcro mounting areas and stick it down. They say to do it on a warmer day as the adhesive works best at 68* or so. I did it in 50* weather and just pressed hard and it seems well stuck on there. Did a test removal just to see, and the Velcro separates with moderate force so washing under the mat will be easy if I ever want to do that.

Also, Diamondback produced and shipped my order. It arrived very quickly as well. (Great benefit of being close to manufacturers like Diamondback or dealers like Fairway Ford and Stage3Motorsports). Estes LTL freight delivered it right to my driveway and even placed it close to my truck so I wouldn’t have to shuffle things around. I wish I would have taken pics of the palette as it arrived, and as I unboxed things. Diamondback did a stellar job packing the pieces securely and everything arrived in pristine shape. Take my word for it though; they know what they’re doing and it shows.

I took my time installing the cover Friday; it took me a few hours, but most of that was my OCD nature trying to get everything lined up exactly the way I wanted. Actual install time was probably more like just under 2 hours.

There were two minor issues I ran into during install:
First, the bulkhead seal instructions weren’t clear about which way the seal should face. It has a slight lean to the shape of the seal, so I put it straight side towards the bed, sloped side towards the cab. Not sure if it matters but that’s the way it made most sense to me.
Second, the plastic J sections that stick under the bed rail sheet metal as reinforcement points for the locking bars were too tall. So I had to trim them a bit to get them to slide all the way up so the sheet metal nested into the ‘J’ fully. This meant the supplied pre applied adhesive was of no use. So I luckily had my own 3M VHB tape to replace. Something to keep in mind if you decide to order this cover.

Otherwise, I love the cover. It is exactly what I hoped for and expect it to work in harmony with the way I use the bed perfectly. I also have two of their light kits but I will install them at a later date when it’s warmer and I figure out exactly where I want illumination in the bed.

Lastly, I got to Harbor Freight finally today, picked up a bunch of random crap I need to resupply my workbench, and also got the cargo bar I’ve been wanting. That will help keep the collapsible crates I got off Amazon from sliding forward into the bed. Combined with the crates I now have a ‘trunk’ area for any stuff we buy while out shopping. Our family of four fills the cab and since the Super Crew cab isn’t as large as my old Tundra SuperCrew, I needed a place to put groceries and purchases without having to worry about them sliding around or having to climb into the bed to retrieve them when we got home. If I ever need more space while on the go, I can collapse the crates and the cargo bar and tuck them against the bulkhead and reclaim almost all of the bed space. ?

Oh and one more thing. ? I figured the key fobs needed some protection from daily drops and grime, so I got them some TPU covers off Amazon. Very happy with them, and recommend the ones I got highly. (I found that some of them aren’t as good being loose on the fob or not having the opening for the Ford logo on the back, but these were perfect). The Ranger keychain however I would not recommend; I thought the logo and wording would be under the clear coat, but it appears they just placed a decal or printing over the top of the clear coat on the carbon fiber plate. This has me concerned that it may scrape off or scratch easily at some point. Definitely not ideal for the price they’re asking. (I paid $22 on Amazon last week, and now they’re listing it for $30!! ? I feel that’s a rip off for this level of quality)

and now for the pics… Enjoy!!

Thats a very nice set up of gear you have. Install looks professional. Love the key fobs too.

 

[GlockGirl]

Hi there!! I am a noobie here too! Looks like a wealth of knowledge tho!

 

[Elmosaurus]

Another update. ?

Took a little bit due to backorder, but my running board order from Stage3 arrived today. I had sold the OEM Tremor steps as I had planned to go Rock sliders, but I got whacked good this year on income taxes so decided to just get some better clearance affordable running boards for the time being and re-evaluate in a year or two.

These are the Go Rhino RB20 Slim model. I hopped right on it after I was done with work; it took less than an hour to install.

They are advertised as being high and tight to the rockers, but I found them to be just about right; 5” lower than the rocker sill plate. This gives a good step up without being super low and creating ground clearance issues. At their widest point, they are also 5” away from the rocker sill plate, which feels fine. The regular non slim version would stick out way too much for my liking as it’s supposedly two inches wider overall.

The brackets installed fine, but due to body panel variation each seemed to be sloped slightly differently; it didn’t matter really though as once the boards were bolted down it all evened out. (The OCD in me wishes they had built in a way to adjust the angles to make them all match perfect but it’s probably not worth the effort)

The boards themselves have a taper from front to back; measured at the main slope angles it’s about a 1” reduction. I didn’t want that drastic a taper to the look, and I figured my kids might want a little more space to place their feet, so I moved the rear end of each board out away from the rockers by 1/2” to reduce the perceived taper. (Each bracket allows a little in/out movement of the board before you tighten the clamping bolts) I am quite happy with how that turned out. I also biased the boards towards the rear slightly so that I have a foot step to gain a little height if I need to reach deep into the bed near the bulkhead while the cab side panel of the Diamondback cover is open. That also worked out awesome, as I can basically grab stuff on the floor at the center of the bed now while standing on the rear end of the running board with one foot. ?

So… pics!

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