Looks great, but yes, the trim restore stuff has to be reapplied constantly.
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Interesting. My lariat hybrid, without ACC (which I hate), has all matching black grill components.The Adaptive Cruise Control Panel (ACC) isn't the exact same black color as the grille on the Lariat trim. Pre-Production units and early production units were even lighter gray than mine. See pic below:
This always drove me nuts. I planned to do something about mine when I received it. However, I always worried if I painted it, it would be too thick and may mess with the sensors. I love my ACC, so I don't want to ruin that experience.
I was relieved that my November 18th build came out with a darker panel than the earlier units as shown above. But still not quite matching. I bought Forever Black exterior black trim restorer fluid from Amazon. It's a thin fluid, so I thought it was the best thing to attempt to not interfere with the ACC radar sensors.
I tried to remove the panel cover first and maybe do this indoors. It appeared like the ACC cover probably snapped on to the grill. I tried to pull it off. It even looked like it kind of clipped in place and I might be able to lift up and pull. However, I was afraid I was going to break it. If it was friction fit, it was going to require more force than I was willing to attempt. So I decided to mask it and apply directly on the installed ACC cover.
I cleaned the panel really well with the cleaner that came with the Forever Black container. Then I started brushing on the Black Reconditioner fluid. The stuff is pretty thin and is applied with a foam applicator that came in the package. Not too difficult to spread out evenly. But can get a little puddly in the seams and crevices. I just kept working through with the foam brush until it looked even. I am very glad I taped it off and not tried to hand do it.
Here is what it looked like after applying the first coat. Still wet.
The instructions say to let dry 20 minutes. It was super humid, cool and damp when I applied. About 50 ℉ when I applied the blackening fluid. It took about 45 minutes to dry. I applied a second coat. Success!
I don't know how it will hold up or how frequently it will need to be reapplied. But I love the results after the second coat dried. The color is nearly spot on, the sheen is ever so slightly glossier. Still satin-y. The big thing is now my eye is not drawn to the miscolored panel.
And most importantly, I just finished a 30 mile highway trip and the ACC/Lane Centering worked perfectly. All the same. No impact. I will report back about how it holds up over the continued Washington State winter and into the Spring. If it has to be reapplied more than 2-3 times a year, it probably is not worth the effort to me.
Final product
I personally design packaging for front facing radar systems in the 77-78GHz range. I have some peenies to throw in this discussion.
Paint can effect the efficiency of the reflected radar signals received by the sensor. These were only an issue do to the following conditions.
the gain of the transmitter was marginal
the gain of the receiver was marginal
the thickness of the paint
the properties of the paint i.e. carbon particles effect or attenuate the signal more then desired.
the flat finish vs gloss finish. RF likes flat finishes as the smooth or shiny surface is more reflective and hence less energy is received by receiver.
The typical enclosure has the color in the plastic in this case ABS or Kydex that is used.
Since I do not have Ford data on their sensor hard to say if painting will effect it. but like I said all of the above items can effect the sensor. the more margin the sensor has the more tolerant of paint, dirt, bird poo it can withstand before the sensor goes in fault mode.
for example Toyota will void your warranty of the sensor if you just look at their sencor sideways. that means that their system has zero margin. Even oem grilles will void that active cruise control with Toyota's
Cheers
I agree with TheGriffin1313. I had a Gulfstream jet repainted by a supposedly competent shop and they shot 2-3 thousandths too much paint on the top of the vertical fin. It took us 2 months to figure out why the Direct TV signal was weak. It turns out that Gulfstream had done a LOT of testing on this aspect of painting their airplanes. This is also a huge factor in the painting of military aircraft. The lesson is that it doesn't take much to screw up the sensitivity of some of these components.
Yep, @02ST . Still follows the other vehicles as before. I now have 300 miles on it since applying the Forever Black. Rain, Fog and I just got back from intensive stop and go I-5 Seattle traffic this evening. It has had zero impacts to these advanced systems. ACC is working perfectly. Including a semi-emergency stop. It has worked exactly the same as it had the previous 1,300 miles before application.A good test for impact on the radar functionality would be to see if the cruise control still follows other vehicles OK. Following at maximum and minimum distances are the acid tests. If your mod interferes enough to matter, this is where it will show up.
Water is tough on radar, so if the system already works in rain, through a coating of water on the sensor face, then most oil-type liquids are easy in comparison. Still, at the frequencies these automotive radars emit it is easy to get surprised. Even folks with many years of book-learnin, practical experience and general smartification end up doing a lot of testing.
Good looking change….thank you for sharingOf course, yes. I did nothing to the camera. It isn't is a mismatching gray. LOL
I have used spray enamel paint many times to coat my radomes but our radars have lots of margin so paint and dead bugs and bird poo is no issue for us.Yep, @02ST . Still follows the other vehicles as before. I now have 300 miles on it since applying the Forever Black. Rain, Fog and I just got back from intensive stop and go I-5 Seattle traffic this evening. It has had zero impacts to these advanced systems. ACC is working perfectly. Including a semi-emergency stop. It has worked exactly the same as it had the previous 1,300 miles before application.
I don't now how painting it would work. May be too thick. Also don't know about other fluids that may be heavier. But I can tell you now based on my personal experience that 2 coats of Forever Black fluid is not impacting the ACC/Lane Centering features. And I am leaving for a 1,000 mile/5 day trip in a few minutes. I will report from that trip too.
Great info! Thanks!!I have used spray enamel paint many times to coat my radomes but our radars have lots of margin so paint and dead bugs and bird poo is no issue for us.
Our prototypes we see cars out to 300 meters pedestrians to 200.
What is offered today "advanced systems" and to 2025 in most cars and in this Ford is MIMO radar old tech. The field is flooded with RF energy and the receiver is trying to form a doppler radar pattern from what reflects back. And these systems are maxed out at 150 meters. Inefficient use of the RF power.