How hard is it to remove the whole cluster? Curious, just in case. In my Jeep Wrangler, you have to dismantle almost the entire dash. Thanks.
Relatively simple... but you will break the 2 clips along the side of the cluster surround panel. it is inevitable, unless you're Elastigirl or her male equivalent and can push the clips "in" as you're pulling out. You;'ll likely damage more if you do it that way, however.
I did what I was comfortable with. going further just means more plastic gets eaten away. It is far from perfect, but I did not expect perfect. I just wanted the etch marks out of here.
Absolutely, 100%. to me, it's acceptable for now. Way, way better than what i started with.
Impressed with your results.Hey everyone..
Spent a lil bit of time on this today with Meguiar's PlastX. A few notes to know about if you'd like to try this -
1. Use SMALL... and I mean small... like the size of a pea - dabs of this in small sections of the cluster as you move along it.
2. Use brand new, clean microfibers. It does not matter what kind they are as long as they are relatively soft and you will not get the fine scratches out anyways - in fact, you'll probably cause more than you had before.
3. Work in circular motions, then go back over it with straight up and down. As mentioned before, the goal here on my end was to get rid of the etching, not necessarily reducing scratches, etc. Someone more versed in detailing will need to chime in on that method here
4. You want the product to basically end up "almost" clear before wiping it off. The more "white" you see, the more haze will be left over
I am not perfect at this, but I think I got this to an acceptable level of cleanup before @Ford Motor Company responds with a good reason that the new cluster lenses are only available for purchase on Lariat models. I think I speak for all of us - we'd like to be able to get these regardless... They are very, VERY soft plastic and replacements are relatively simple... if they were available.
Before picture(s) are in the original post, here are some afters.
i have no idea. Probably one of the dumbest things I’ve seen… and this is my first ford so on a part that simple - it’s pretty clear what their goal is. Make parts available for the “high rollers”, and us “peasants” with lower tiered models have to replace the trucks sooner.
Just a wild guess.
pretty solid guess, if you ask me.
Ford is not going to shut down an assembly line because they are out of a critical part, because it's being stocked as Surplus parts.
we don’t need them to shut plants down for a single cluster lens - I would wait a month for one to come in. I think we just want the ability to order it regardless… that’s the goal here (at least on my end)
