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So my salesman was Johnny-on-the-Spot and took personal responsibility for making sure my Ford Pass Points were on my account two short days after I took delivery of Lil Red on August 8th. Ordered the modular bedliner on a Saturday, it arrived on Wednesday and I installed it this past Friday. I'm a gray-haired woman, and did the work myself, and am right pleased with the results, but I thought I'd share some thoughts/challenges to help anyone else who is about to undertake the project:
* I watched alllllllllll the install videos, and printed out the instructions, and had all of it memorized and was prepared (I thought) for the actual install. I was not. It turned out the biggest hurdle for me was tools, of which I have an embarrassing quantity, but not the BEST tools for the job. Here's the issues I ran into tool wise:
* I had a T40 torx bit for the difficult front tie downs on the floor, but those buggers still would not BUDGE for me. I do not know why. I am aware the specs call for an IP40, but everything I read said they came out with a T40 just fine. Mine did not, and I still don't know why, but damn...those things were IN THERE. I tried other sizes, to no avail. I ended up driving the truck to my local mechanic, who is thankfully just blocks away, and he had a TP40 and an impact drill which took them out in no time, and he tossed the bit to me so I could finish the job at home. Pays to have a great, nearby mechanic. I had no issues with any of the torx bits on the rest of the job, all standard, all in my tool box and of good quality. (Side NOTE: In lots of videos and comments, people complained that those flat tie downs go back in with only the two prescribed/supplied pieces of tape down, and that it results in a part of the bed color showing through, which is unattractive at best. Knowing this in advance, I supplemented the tape with a small piece of black gorilla duct tape I had, did the trick nicely. )
* I THOUGHT I had an extension that would allow my primarily socket torx to work with my drill gun, but of COURSE when I went to go lay hands on it, it had disappeared into the tool void somewhere. So I was condemned to wrenching most of the screws with a simple socket wrench, which was not a problem except it just added to the TIME the whole thing took, and I lost a good ten pounds in sweat, as I was wrenching in Alabama. I have since purchased a set of torx that will work in my screw gun, so the adapter can stay lost.
The install itself was much simpler than I expected though, primarily by virtue of watching all those videos. I used an angle grinder with a diamond wheel I had sitting around to cut the holes for the bed cubby storage areas, which made for very quick work and a clean line. Every video I watched and the instructions themselves advised a jig saw, but I'm a former metal hobbyist and super comfy with a grinder, so I went that way. I used a 1 and 1/8th" spade bit to cut the holes for the tie downs. Specs call for a step bit to 1 and 1/8th", but mine didn't go that high and I figured the spade bit would work fine and it did, no issues at all, nice clean holes, I took the extra step of beginning the hole on the backside at the marked indentation, and then flipping it over and completing it from the other side, years of habit doing that when working with wood to make a clean cut. In one of the videos I watched I saw someone using a file to clean up the edges of such cuts, but I found a simple blade (box cutter or a good knife) worked well to remove the scraggly pieces after a cut. I took my time and did all the prep work/cutting first.
In videos you learn the bedliner arrives in a box and the big bottom piece is kinda' folded over, and mine was, of course, so I laid it out in my den overnight, with some light weights on it (including a cat) to flatten it out, which did the trick. HOWEVER, no one had mentioned the tailgate piece, so I didn't pay that much attention to it until I went to install it, and realized both ends were bowed up a good bit. If I'd realized it sooner, I'd have weighted it down in advance, to make it lay back, but too late, had to work with those ends, coaxing them down and into shape before the install, but they're still waving at me a bit, (Photo #5) I figure with time and the tailgate closed they'll settle in.
In some of the earliest installs of this unit I saw a lot of people commenting on the back piece, the one nearest the cab that has the Maverick logo on it -- about it not laying exactly flat, and requiring all kinds of creativity to get it to lay flat and adhere. I'm guessing that the manufacturer may have actually adjusted something after those early ones, because mine not only laid flat, it was so flat and tight it was a challenge to perform the last step, which is getting behind it to pull the red tape cover off and adhere it to the bed. (You can see how tight it is against the cab in the last photo, you couldn't even slide a fingernail behind it now).
My ONLY criticism of the product is on the tailgate piece. There are screws holding it down in the section of the tailgate piece closest to you with the tailgate down, but curiously nothing at ALL holding it down in the part closest to the bed, so I anticipate issues with stuff sliding up under there, nothing at all to stop it. A poor design element, in my opinion.
After Ford Pass points and the Ford.com 20% discount, the bedliner cost me $150. Please don't start with the drop in versus spray arguments, I've had drop ins in every truck I've owned across a lifetime, and never a worry or problem, and this one appears to be of better overall quality than any I've had previously. And even an elderly woman can install it!
(Late Edit: Forgot to mention, I'm 5' 6", not tall enough to comfortably reach in and wrench off the tie downs and such, or wiggle the side pieces in easily, so a two-step stool was my most helpful tool, let me just lean over the sides and work).
* I watched alllllllllll the install videos, and printed out the instructions, and had all of it memorized and was prepared (I thought) for the actual install. I was not. It turned out the biggest hurdle for me was tools, of which I have an embarrassing quantity, but not the BEST tools for the job. Here's the issues I ran into tool wise:
* I had a T40 torx bit for the difficult front tie downs on the floor, but those buggers still would not BUDGE for me. I do not know why. I am aware the specs call for an IP40, but everything I read said they came out with a T40 just fine. Mine did not, and I still don't know why, but damn...those things were IN THERE. I tried other sizes, to no avail. I ended up driving the truck to my local mechanic, who is thankfully just blocks away, and he had a TP40 and an impact drill which took them out in no time, and he tossed the bit to me so I could finish the job at home. Pays to have a great, nearby mechanic. I had no issues with any of the torx bits on the rest of the job, all standard, all in my tool box and of good quality. (Side NOTE: In lots of videos and comments, people complained that those flat tie downs go back in with only the two prescribed/supplied pieces of tape down, and that it results in a part of the bed color showing through, which is unattractive at best. Knowing this in advance, I supplemented the tape with a small piece of black gorilla duct tape I had, did the trick nicely. )
* I THOUGHT I had an extension that would allow my primarily socket torx to work with my drill gun, but of COURSE when I went to go lay hands on it, it had disappeared into the tool void somewhere. So I was condemned to wrenching most of the screws with a simple socket wrench, which was not a problem except it just added to the TIME the whole thing took, and I lost a good ten pounds in sweat, as I was wrenching in Alabama. I have since purchased a set of torx that will work in my screw gun, so the adapter can stay lost.
The install itself was much simpler than I expected though, primarily by virtue of watching all those videos. I used an angle grinder with a diamond wheel I had sitting around to cut the holes for the bed cubby storage areas, which made for very quick work and a clean line. Every video I watched and the instructions themselves advised a jig saw, but I'm a former metal hobbyist and super comfy with a grinder, so I went that way. I used a 1 and 1/8th" spade bit to cut the holes for the tie downs. Specs call for a step bit to 1 and 1/8th", but mine didn't go that high and I figured the spade bit would work fine and it did, no issues at all, nice clean holes, I took the extra step of beginning the hole on the backside at the marked indentation, and then flipping it over and completing it from the other side, years of habit doing that when working with wood to make a clean cut. In one of the videos I watched I saw someone using a file to clean up the edges of such cuts, but I found a simple blade (box cutter or a good knife) worked well to remove the scraggly pieces after a cut. I took my time and did all the prep work/cutting first.
In videos you learn the bedliner arrives in a box and the big bottom piece is kinda' folded over, and mine was, of course, so I laid it out in my den overnight, with some light weights on it (including a cat) to flatten it out, which did the trick. HOWEVER, no one had mentioned the tailgate piece, so I didn't pay that much attention to it until I went to install it, and realized both ends were bowed up a good bit. If I'd realized it sooner, I'd have weighted it down in advance, to make it lay back, but too late, had to work with those ends, coaxing them down and into shape before the install, but they're still waving at me a bit, (Photo #5) I figure with time and the tailgate closed they'll settle in.
In some of the earliest installs of this unit I saw a lot of people commenting on the back piece, the one nearest the cab that has the Maverick logo on it -- about it not laying exactly flat, and requiring all kinds of creativity to get it to lay flat and adhere. I'm guessing that the manufacturer may have actually adjusted something after those early ones, because mine not only laid flat, it was so flat and tight it was a challenge to perform the last step, which is getting behind it to pull the red tape cover off and adhere it to the bed. (You can see how tight it is against the cab in the last photo, you couldn't even slide a fingernail behind it now).
My ONLY criticism of the product is on the tailgate piece. There are screws holding it down in the section of the tailgate piece closest to you with the tailgate down, but curiously nothing at ALL holding it down in the part closest to the bed, so I anticipate issues with stuff sliding up under there, nothing at all to stop it. A poor design element, in my opinion.
After Ford Pass points and the Ford.com 20% discount, the bedliner cost me $150. Please don't start with the drop in versus spray arguments, I've had drop ins in every truck I've owned across a lifetime, and never a worry or problem, and this one appears to be of better overall quality than any I've had previously. And even an elderly woman can install it!
(Late Edit: Forgot to mention, I'm 5' 6", not tall enough to comfortably reach in and wrench off the tie downs and such, or wiggle the side pieces in easily, so a two-step stool was my most helpful tool, let me just lean over the sides and work).
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