Maverick accessories, mods, how-to's on my Maverick

[Barracuda340]

LED bed lighting strips. Took me about 2 hours. Mostly because I had to figure out how I wanted to route all the wiring, plus pulling the access panel and spare tire underneath for access. But seriously, A novice can tackle this. It's not terribly tough. Really, the hard part is running the wires.

This is Part 1 of the bed light install. You will need a 10mm socket, 7mm socket, a torx socket, scissors, zip ties, shrink tubing, clear silicone, some good double sided tape, masking tape, and a complete length wire hanger shaped straight with a hook bent on one end for fishing wires through.

The space I used for the strips measures 46". As such I cut them down to fit. Theres cut lines on the light strips. Remove the plastic end caps, Cut them at the cut lines at the desired length. Then glue the end cap back on with a little clear silicone. After that feel free to plug them together, and test them. The wiring is red to red, and black to yellow. Yellow in this kit is the (black) ground return.

Remove the RH cubby box if equipped. This requires removal of the lower cleat to remove the box. Remove the LH cubby box, or flat cover if equipped. Use the wire hanger to fish it through the upper bed hole to the small square hole behind the taillight. This will allow you to fish the wire through.

Sponsored

 

[Barracuda340]

Part 2 of the bed light wiring install. Hook the wiring plug to the hook on the coat hanger, and tape it together. Carefully feed the wire through. Do this on both sides.

Once through, carefully feed the coat hanger back through the square hole (stake pocket hole) all the way down to the bottom of the truck. The LH side is easier. Its wide open . The wire will hang out of the bottom.

At this point, wipe down the bed side with rubbing alcohol where you want the light strips. Then peel and stick them in place. Mine were in a box for 6-7 months. I think the peel n stick on them sucked.

I ended up using thin 3M VHB tape to hold them in place. They also come with cheezy plastic screw in place clips to hold the lights. This is not necessary with good double sided tape, plus I do not want to drill holes in my new truck.

On the right side under the truck, you remove ten 7mm screws including 2 in the wheel opening to push the splash shield out of the way to feed the wire down through same hole on the R/H side. You dont remove it completely. No need to.

Also lower your spare tire all the way down and slide it forward. Route all your wiring with the existing wiring harnesses. There is a reason that stuff is routed how it is routed. Position your wires so they do NOT rest on any sharp metal edges where vibration will eventually wear through them. More zip ties are better than less. Do not put tight bends in the wiring to prevent kinks.

Additionally I was not happy with the plug ins being under the truck where water will eventually degrade the connections, so I used shrink tubing, and clear silicone to water proof them. I squirted a small amount of silicone RTV in the connections, slipped shrink tubing over them, and heated it.

I put the zip ties on loose enough to position the wires how I wanted them before tightening them up. Note how my wiring is routed with the factory harnesses, and there are not tight bends. Note, the kit comes with cheezy zip ties. I keep zip ties in bulk in my shop, and grabbed a handful to button this up.

 

[Barracuda340]

Part 3 of the bed light wiring install. For now I wired the leads just twisted together and with shrink tube. This part isnt permanent. The lights installed and the wiring under the truck is permanent though, unless I get a wild hair and decide to eliminate the plug ins under there. The rest of the wiring I coiled up, and zip tied it before stuffing it all inside the square stake pocket hole for now.

I put the LH cover on with the switch just sitting in the corner. Again this part is not permanent.
I plan on installing a master shut off switch, surface mount blade fuses for the power panel, and bed lighting, as well as a mercury switch inside the tailgate so when I open the tailgate the bed lights automatically come on. This is a future down the road project.

 

[dldsm7]

Damn that’s bright. Great addition too! Saved your thread as 60% of your mods I will plan on doing once I get my hybrid!

 

[Barracuda340]

Awhile back i picked up these chromed door handle covers. The intent was originally to scuff these, epoxy primer them, paint them iconic silver and install them. I was going to use white reflective tape in the slotted hole in the cover. The reflective white almost looks like iconic silver. Now I am seriously looking at leaving these as chrome on silver. Heres a pic with the reflective tape in the middle, and without. I'm not ready to mess with these just yet, but it gives ideas for sure. The more I look at the pic, the more the chrome grows on me.

 

[Barracuda340]

The other thing I was toying with was these mirror covers. For some reason the chrome covers were cheap. Again my original intent was to paint them iconic silver and mask off for the black. I also picked up the mirror visors in carbon fiber look. Probably hydrodipped. Got these real cheap. $25 for the pair. My intent since I'm not into carbon fiber look is to sand them down and paint them a semigloss black. I may end up rocking the chrome look on the mirrors. Not sure. I may tape everything in place with clear masking tape and take pix and kind of make up my mind.

 

[23MAVLariatAWD]

The other thing I was toying with was these mirror covers. For some reason the chrome covers were cheap. Again my original intent was to paint them iconic silver and mask off for the black. I also picked up the mirror visors in carbon fiber look. Probably hydrodipped. Got these real cheap. $25 for the pair. My intent since I'm not into carbon fiber look is to send them down and paint them a semigloss black. I may end up rocking the chrome look on the mirrors. Not sure. I may tape everything in place with clear masking tape and take pix and kind of make up my mind.

Chrome looks cool... In the right places especially without too much...old-school cool

 

[LtCasual]

Top notch work on that tailgate tie down reproduction. Any interest in doing a run of them for sale here on the site?

 

[Barracuda340]

Top notch work on that tailgate tie down reproduction. Any interest in doing a run of them for sale here on the site?

It was a pain in the butt. Doing 1 more for wifes truck, then I'm done.

 

[Barracuda340]

I detest seat covers, but I hate drink stains and dirt more than seat covers. Todays job was 4 cans of scotchguard to completely saturate the XLT fabrics, and some coverado covers. At the time I ordered these they only had a light tan, black, and brown. I figured the brown would look a little Lariat ish. I'm not super satisfied with these, however I come home filthy from my job, so I'd rather these take a beating and not me worrying about what's on my work clothes.Took about an hour to install. Plus about an hour to soak the seats and let them dry. Seat covers are Coverado brand universal fit on Amazon for about $180. Not bad for the price.

 

[Barracuda340]

Actually looked into this further, and contacted the seller. They redesigned the case, and are going to send me another one to try. What the problem actually appears to be is that the case is too wide/thick at the key end, and hits the rubber bezel around the ignition lock cylinder. With this case, the key does not fit far enough in to turn it. When I get the redesigned replacement and try it, I will let everybody know my results.

I did get the new case, and tried it. it's still a bit thick although with a bit of effort, you can get the key in there and it to turn. It does not snap back to the run position. Rather once the engine starts, you have to manually turn it back to the run position to disengage the starter. I plan to file the sides down on this one to fit. But if you dont plan to modify it to work, I dont recommend it.

 

[Dad]

I detest seat covers, but I hate drink stains and dirt more than seat covers. Todays job was 4 cans of scotchguard to completely saturate the XLT fabrics, and some coverado covers. At the time I ordered these they only had a light tan, black, and brown. I figured the brown would look a little Lariat ish. I'm not super satisfied with these, however I come home filthy from my job, so I'd rather these take a beating and not me worrying about what's on my work clothes.Took about an hour to install. Plus about an hour to soak the seats and let them dry. Seat covers are Coverado brand universal fit on Amazon for about $180. Not bad for the price.

These actually look pretty good, and it's just fine to look a little "Lariat-ish"! As you stated, better to get these covers trashed than the seats themselves. These are easily and less expensive to replace. Good choice. There has been controversy about the health effects of Scotchgard, so be aware and stay healthy.

 

[MakinDoForNow]

I am loving this thread, thank you for all the information!

I got wheels and tires from Tire Rack and they sent a Tire & Wheel Owners Manual. They also recommend using the anti seize around the axle hubs but they say (in bold print) " Do not apply anti-seize compound to the lug hardware or studs".

It seems to me you should put it on the lug studs like you do?

Putting anti-seize on lug studs lubricates them and as a result the lugs cannot be properly torqued!!! Studs should be clean and dry. Do not lubricate with any wet or dry lube!!!

 

[Barracuda340]

Putting anti-seize on lug studs lubricates them and as a result the lugs cannot be properly torqued!!! Studs should be clean and dry. Do not lubricate with any wet or dry lube!!!

I have put anti seize on lug studs for over 35 years of doing mechanics. Never ever had an issue. I dont use a torque wrench on lug nuts either. I tighten them by hand with a breaker bar. Again never had an issue.

 

[Dad]

Putting anti-seize on lug studs lubricates them and as a result the lugs cannot be properly torqued!!! Studs should be clean and dry. Do not lubricate with any wet or dry lube!!!

Excellent advice! Thanks for the warning!

Sponsored