- First Name
- Nick
- Joined
- Mar 20, 2026
- Threads
- 3
- Messages
- 59
- Reaction score
- 123
- Location
- San Francisco
- Vehicle(s)
- 2026 Ford Maverick Lobo
- Engine
- 2.0L EcoBoost
- Thread starter
- #1
Solved a dilemma this week with the magic of 3D printing!
Backstory: When my Mav was new, I picked up a brand new still-in-the-box Ford bed extender from FB Marketplace. The only problem was the original purchaser had left the bed-side brackets installed on the truck when he traded it in.
The brackets that come with the OEM Maverick version have a special threaded bracket that has a built in handle that allows you to fish the thing into the hole behind each taillight to where the bed holes for the extender are. Problem is the replacement brackets you get from RealTruck or Amazon only come with small sheet metal screws that don't work at all for the unthreaded predrilled holes on the Maverick.
At that time I solved it for mine with hardware store screws+nuts and attaching each nut/washer to the end of a screwdriver with double sided tape so that I could extend them one by one inside the taillight cavity to where the bed holes are, then capturing with a screw from the outside. Very tedious and not user friendly!
Fast forward to now and I picked up another Ford bed extender for a friend, also missing the bed side brackets for the same reason. I didn't want to go through the same exercise again, so this time I found a good photo of the correct bracket online and took measurements of the hole spacing of my own original installation to make brackets of my own. They work great and function just like the originals!
Mine are printed in PETG plastic and have inserts that fit standard M4 nuts. Hole spacing was perfect and made bracket installation much simpler!
Backstory: When my Mav was new, I picked up a brand new still-in-the-box Ford bed extender from FB Marketplace. The only problem was the original purchaser had left the bed-side brackets installed on the truck when he traded it in.
The brackets that come with the OEM Maverick version have a special threaded bracket that has a built in handle that allows you to fish the thing into the hole behind each taillight to where the bed holes for the extender are. Problem is the replacement brackets you get from RealTruck or Amazon only come with small sheet metal screws that don't work at all for the unthreaded predrilled holes on the Maverick.
At that time I solved it for mine with hardware store screws+nuts and attaching each nut/washer to the end of a screwdriver with double sided tape so that I could extend them one by one inside the taillight cavity to where the bed holes are, then capturing with a screw from the outside. Very tedious and not user friendly!
Fast forward to now and I picked up another Ford bed extender for a friend, also missing the bed side brackets for the same reason. I didn't want to go through the same exercise again, so this time I found a good photo of the correct bracket online and took measurements of the hole spacing of my own original installation to make brackets of my own. They work great and function just like the originals!
Mine are printed in PETG plastic and have inserts that fit standard M4 nuts. Hole spacing was perfect and made bracket installation much simpler!
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