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

[Barracuda340]

I finally plumbed in the lower lines for the second catch can. Holy crap is that tight. After you remove the intake tube from above the radiator, you can reach in there and feel the tubes. You have to do damn near all of this by feel, and with a mirror on a stick. The orange colored hose nipple on the engine side is the "out" side from the crankcase that goes to the "in" on the catch can. The "out" from the catch can is what goes to the intake, or black hose nipple on the engine.

I put woven coverings over all the hoses to give it all a "stock" appearance. I plan to get hose separators, and make up a few brackets to support the 3/8" hoses that run to the lower side of the system and prevent them from rubbing on things. For now I cut some hose pieces to put over them where they rub, and i zip tied everything together.

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[Timothyd]

This thread is meant to chronicle the accessories I purchased for my Maverick, as well as the prices for each item, and ease of assembly or install. Also any items I may have fabricated. I am doing this because theres some folks on the forum who are not very mechanically inclined. The aim is to also show that a lot of this stuff is not very hard to do even for those who are not mechanically inclined.

Myself, I am a mechanic, and have been fixing, modifying, and fabricating things since my teens. I am 54. I am in the aviation industry as a sheetmetal structural repair technician, and also teach sheetmetal repair. I want to make each post geared towards the novice on the truck club who is not very mechanically inclined. For those of you who are mechanical you will probably appreciate the prices and where I got each item, or the method of fabrication. Theres lots to come. I have had this truck only 2 days.

Matt

Well, here, I have a project for you. With the small bed on the Mav a "pass-through" to the cab would give a lot more utility. Think of the possibilities: carrying bigger stuff, sleeping back there with a camper top, etc. I was planning on that aftermarket pop out window but a bigger hatch would be better. You could sell the plans. I only have a MIG welder but am willing to acquire a TIG.

 

[Barracuda340]

Well, here, I have a project for you. With the small bed on the Mav a "pass-through" to the cab would give a lot more utility. Think of the possibilities: carrying bigger stuff, sleeping back there with a camper top, etc. I was planning on that aftermarket pop out window but a bigger hatch would be better. You could sell the plans. I only have a MIG welder but am willing to acquire a TIG.

I dont plan on doing this and doing any major cutting on my pickup, therefore I dont plan to chronicle this, or sell plans/kits. This is a bad idea IMHO. I would NOT recommend this for any reason. If you wanted an Avalanche type vehicle, then that is what you should have bought. That vehicle was designed with that in mind.

The sheetmetal under the rear window is a major structural area. Note how all of it is boxed in. Now I'm not an engineer, but without it, this thing might fold up worse on an impact. With a unibody vehicle, every piece is a stressed member on impact. That all sounds like a liability issue. It's an even bigger liability issue if I designed a kit/ or sold plans to do this should somebody actually go through with it, and get injured from it in a car wreck.

Now if you take a cutoff wheel to your own truck, and come up with something like what your mentioning to me for yourself, then the liability is all on you. However if the vehicle fails in the event of a car wreck and your injured, or somebody in the back seat is injured as a consequence, Fords attorneys will make sure your lawsuit goes right in the trash can.

If you should sell said modified vehicle and somebody gets injured or killed in it because of your modification, then that puts you in the hot seat for a lawsuit. I am betting that just like me, you lack the money to modify and then crash test one of these things just to prove the design.

 

[Timothyd]

I dont plan on doing this and doing any major cutting on my pickup, therefore I dont plan to chronicle this, or sell plans/kits. This is a bad idea IMHO. I would NOT recommend this for any reason. If you wanted an Avalanche type vehicle, then that is what you should have bought. That vehicle was designed with that in mind.

The sheetmetal under the rear window is a major structural area. Note how all of it is boxed in. Now I'm not an engineer, but without it, this thing might fold up worse on an impact. With a unibody vehicle, every piece is a stressed member on impact. That all sounds like a liability issue. It's an even bigger liability issue if I designed a kit/ or sold plans to do this should somebody actually go through with it, and get injured from it in a car wreck.

Now if you take a cutoff wheel to your own truck, and come up with something like what your mentioning to me for yourself, then the liability is all on you. However if the vehicle fails in the event of a car wreck and your injured, or somebody in the back seat is injured as a consequence, Fords attorneys will make sure your lawsuit goes right in the trash can.

If you should sell said modified vehicle and somebody gets injured or killed in it because of your modification, then that puts you in the hot seat for a lawsuit. I am betting that just like me, you lack the money to modify and then crash test one of these things just to prove the design.

Yeah, personally I'm not going to compromise the unibody although I do plan on getting that kit for the window.
I think that there's a way to do it but it would be too involved and would probably add too much weight. Different story if it wasn't unibody. I've had a long time to think about different mods while I've been waiting for my Maverick so I thought I'd put it past someone else. Ah well.

 

[Rivers90]

Awesome. It is always the XL guys leading the way in the mods. This is a handy reference.
Thank you

 

[wax87]

I dont plan on doing this and doing any major cutting on my pickup, therefore I dont plan to chronicle this, or sell plans/kits. This is a bad idea IMHO. I would NOT recommend this for any reason. If you wanted an Avalanche type vehicle, then that is what you should have bought. That vehicle was designed with that in mind.

The sheetmetal under the rear window is a major structural area. Note how all of it is boxed in. Now I'm not an engineer, but without it, this thing might fold up worse on an impact. With a unibody vehicle, every piece is a stressed member on impact. That all sounds like a liability issue. It's an even bigger liability issue if I designed a kit/ or sold plans to do this should somebody actually go through with it, and get injured from it in a car wreck.

Now if you take a cutoff wheel to your own truck, and come up with something like what your mentioning to me for yourself, then the liability is all on you. However if the vehicle fails in the event of a car wreck and your injured, or somebody in the back seat is injured as a consequence, Fords attorneys will make sure your lawsuit goes right in the trash can.

If you should sell said modified vehicle and somebody gets injured or killed in it because of your modification, then that puts you in the hot seat for a lawsuit. I am betting that just like me, you lack the money to modify and then crash test one of these things just to prove the design.

But there is a ton of waisted space with those big wheel humps

 

[Barracuda340]

But there is a ton of waisted space with those big wheel humps

And how much room do you think your really gonna get cutting away the wheel houses. Maybe 2 inches on either side? A whole 4 inches for all your effort. I mean there is still tires, shocks, and suspension under there. It's not empty space.

Could I do this type of mod? Yup I sure could. Am I gonna? Nope. The gains are minimal. This is just a 4 door car with a large trunk to me is all it is. See pix below. This is me reversing a rusted floor, and horribly hacked in pop rivets and silicone aluminum minitub job on a 69 barracuda. Pix show that I am capable of doing this sort of stuff. The difference in the pix, is I am putting the car back to original, and restoring the structural integrity that was designed into it by the OEM.

 

[Barracuda340]

Here is the butchery that had to come out. They even cut the bottom off the trunk hinge supports making them useless. Thank God for donor cars.

 

[realshelby]

By all means do what you want to do with your wheels when mounting them. But for those reading about the anti seize applied to everything it is HIGHLY against industry standards to do this.
It is ok to apply some to the hub mount area. Hubcentric wheels are going to stick there before anywhere else. Lug studs and nuts should be wire brushed to clean them, but no oil or other compounds are to be used on them. Very easy to over stretch studs when any lube is on them, plus it could increase chance of backing out. The big deal here is the compound on the rotor to wheel mounting surface. This is intended to be dry and clean. That is to provide friction to keep those surfaces from fretting. These should be wire brushed if any corrosion is present, then installed.
Will the world end when you apply anti seize all over everything? Maybe not. Just know this isn't considered good practice by professionals and industry manufacturers and make your own decision.
BTW, nice Cuda! I am working on my 65 GT Mustang now. Front and rear TCI suspension, mini tubs, and Coyote power....

 

[Barracuda340]

By all means do what you want to do with your wheels when mounting them. But for those reading about the anti seize applied to everything it is HIGHLY against industry standards to do this.
It is ok to apply some to the hub mount area. Hubcentric wheels are going to stick there before anywhere else. Lug studs and nuts should be wire brushed to clean them, but no oil or other compounds are to be used on them. Very easy to over stretch studs when any lube is on them, plus it could increase chance of backing out. The big deal here is the compound on the rotor to wheel mounting surface. This is intended to be dry and clean. That is to provide friction to keep those surfaces from fretting. These should be wire brushed if any corrosion is present, then installed.
Will the world end when you apply anti seize all over everything? Maybe not. Just know this isn't considered good practice by professionals and industry manufacturers and make your own decision.
BTW, nice Cuda! I am working on my 65 GT Mustang now. Front and rear TCI suspension, mini tubs, and Coyote power....

I live in a pretty dry area here in west Texas, The reason in butter up the entire mating flanges is because where I live, we do not have storm drains per se. Our streets are severely crowned, and all the storm water drainage IS in the streets, and runs to dry creeks. When spring and fall rains come, it's not uncommon to get 18" to 22" of water at cross streets out here during and after a storm. You obviously do not go blasting through this, however driving slowly through it the water gets in a bunch of places, like inside the wheel hubs.

My wifes grand caravan we just recently traded in had alloy wheels when we bought it used. First thing it got was a 4 wheel brake job. I had 5 frozen on lug nuts that I had to drill with cobalt bits to remove, and subsequently change the studs out, and the remainder I had to heat, and remove with a breaker bar and a 3 foot cheater pipe. All rust on the threads. 2 of the rims were frozen onto the hubs with dissimilar metal corrosion. Had to beat the hell out of them from the backside with a dead blow hammer while turning them to get them off.

The worst brake job I ever did because it took me almost a full day just to get the effing aluminum wheels off without damaging them. Then I had to order studs from the dealer to replace the drilled out ones. I even had to beat the rotors with a hammer and wood block to get them off the hubs to go turn them on my buddies brake lathe.

Thankfully I had a spare vehicle my wife could use while her new to her van was out of commission. I am glad I did all this right when she got it, or if it got a flat we woulda been screwed.

I buttered everything up with antisieze after cleaning off all the corrosion on the hubs, and rotors, wire brushed the existing studs. Bought all new lug nuts, and buttered that up too. I even buttered up between the rotors and hubs because they were rusted solid from flange to flange. She never had an issue in the 70K she put on the van, and nothing ever loosened up, got wonky, etc. I had no problem ever taking any of it apart after that when I needed to get it apart. I use an impact gun to get it apart, and a 4 way spanner to put it together.

I get what your saying but this works just fine for me. The engineers say this is wrong. Well i have worked with engineers before. They dont live in the real world. They live in a "perfect" world where corrosion is not an issue. Heres a bit of a backround on me. I work in commercial Aviation MTX. You should see email traffic that goes back and forth from my desktop to the "smart guys" as I call the engineers. I have a lot of structural repairs I have drawn out that are approved by the manufacturer with no changes, and then 6 months later end up in the aircraft structural repair manuals as standard repairs. Or the common corrosion issues I come up with permanent fixes for that either get adopted by the airline as engineering documents, or by the manufacturer, or both.

I am not an engineer by any means. No formal schooling past high school, and aircraft mechanics trade school. The engineers crunch the numbers on this stuff I submit, and give it a yay, or nay. 90% of the time its accepted with no changes. The other 10% of the time they may change material thickness or require some additional fasteners. I am self taught, plus I have a natural intuition for stress/strain analysis of this stuff by looking at it. I credit my high functioning autism for this. Never had any issue whatsoever in almost 37 years on anything using the antisieze practice I use.

I also give you a litmus test. My 94 Chevy Silverado I have had since new. Its had antisieze on the studs, and flanges since its first brake job. Its now 28 years old. Nothing wrong with the lug studs, nothing wrong with the lug nuts. Never had any wheels ever loosen up, fall off or anything like that fail ever on this thing, and it's got an awful lot of miles on it. It comes apart really nicely when I need it to.

BTW thanks for the Cuda Kudos. This car has been a long slog. But it's getting there. Hot rodded old skool 318 300hp , 42RH overdrive from a Dakota, 1999 ford explorer 8.8 with 3.73s and a locker narrowed to fit. 4 wheel disc brakes with 12" cordoba rotors in front, ford discs in the rear. Car will appear outwardly like a stock 69 340-S when done. Mopar and Ford same bolt pattern. 5 bolt 4&1/2.

 

[JBryant]

Custom wheels or alloy wheels in general. I have had water get between rims and brake rotors and damn near corrode these parts together to where you cannot remove the wheel from the vehicle. I am installing custom wheels, however anybody installing aluminum wheels should do this.

Brush anti seize compound on the rotor mating flanges so if moisture gets between the rim flange and the rotor, you can still get them apart. My aftermarket rims use aluminum hubcentric rings. I buttered these up with permatex antiseize as well. Truck needs a 3" lowering job now to ditch the 4x4 look.

Rims are Circuit performance CP30 18x8.5 with a 35mm offset. Tires are 245-55R18. Same outer diameter as stock.

Is there a place where I could pay someone to make both the front and rear trash cans. I am in my seventies and physically not able to do much, but sure would love to have a pair of these. I would not even mind driving to Abilene to pick them up if necessary. I live about two and a half hours away.

 

[Barracuda340]

Is there a place where I could pay someone to make both the front and rear trash cans. I am in my seventies and physically not able to do much, but sure would love to have a pair of these. I would not even mind driving to Abilene to pick them up if necessary. I live about two and a half hours away.

A member on here by the name of Trentobean lives in Waco. He made them for me. The rear can with removable soft drink lid was a collaboration between him and me. I cant remember what he charged me to make them, but it was not a whole lot. My rear trash can sits on top of a weathertech mat. The fits slot on it could be maybe 1/8" to 3/16" lower to make it fit in better on the fits slot on the console with the weather tech mats. If he cannot do this for you, these pieces are on www.thingiverse.com . Look up ford maverick on there and search. Maybe somebody local to you can print them out for you. I dont have a 3D printer.

 

[wax87]

Here is the butchery that had to come out. They even cut the bottom off the trunk hinge supports making them useless. Thank God for donor cars.

do not have a Mav yet, but I bet all that is needed for the tires is a 1/2 football size hump/

 

[JBryant]

A member on here by the name of Trentobean lives in Waco. He made them for me. The rear can with removable soft drink lid was a collaboration between him and me. I cant remember what he charged me to make them, but it was not a whole lot. My rear trash can sits on top of a weathertech mat. The fits slot on it could be maybe 1/8" to 3/16" lower to make it fit in better on the fits slot on the console with the weather tech mats. If he cannot do this for you, these pieces are on www.thingiverse.com . Look up ford maverick on there and search. Maybe somebody local to you can print them out for you. I dont have a 3D printer.

Thanks a million and have a great week. I will try to reach him.

 

[JBryant]

A member on here by the name of Trentobean lives in Waco. He made them for me. The rear can with removable soft drink lid was a collaboration between him and me. I cant remember what he charged me to make them, but it was not a whole lot. My rear trash can sits on top of a weathertech mat. The fits slot on it could be maybe 1/8" to 3/16" lower to make it fit in better on the fits slot on the console with the weather tech mats. If he cannot do this for you, these pieces are on www.thingiverse.com . Look up ford maverick on there and search. Maybe somebody local to you can print them out for you. I dont have a 3D printer.

Cannot find him on the forum and no luck on thingiverse. If there is anyone who reads this that could make these for me, let me know.

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