Good job with the up keep. Did you find a yellow piece of plastic floatin around the tranny pan at all? If so thats the dust plug they use at the factory. More than likely if it wasn't in there, fluids been changed before.

 

I forgot to mention that. Yes that was in the pan. We didn't put it back in lol

 

Good.

 

Been awhile since ive done anything to the truck, I guess its a great time for an update.

When i purchased the truck the rear bumper was pushed in, and bent to hell.


I found a used rear flareside bumper on ebay. It needed to be repainted, but it wasn't dented and overall it was in good shape. I left it at the body shop for 2 weeks and 175$ later, here was the result.


So on saturday i decided it was time to tackle this project, and started tearing it down. It was a challenge trying to figure out how it was mounted. After looking it over carefully we found that the mounting bolts were under the plastics on the bumper itself. I tried to be careful here, but i eventually came to the conclusion that i would have to replace these plastic pieces anyway because the tabs broke off and the center part was damaged.


This pic shows a part of the damage


The impact pushed this bracket into the hitch, and we were unable to get to the bolt head.


so we cut...


And she finally came off



We placed the new bumper on the truck but nothing lined up on the impact (driver) side. It was apparent that it was slightly bent. We dont have access to a frame machine (frame itself is not bent, just the bumper mount) so we had to improvise. We ended up tying the outer edge of the bumper mount to a telephone pole, putting the truck in 4 low, and "snatching" it into place. We measured after each pull and managed to get it where it needed to be on the 3rd try. The new bumper on and lines up nicely.


I ended up reusing the center plastic because i needed something to mount my tag to. On monday i will order new bumper plastics and it should look good as new

(truck is dirty)

Ill snap some pics when i get the new plastics. Happy to get this done, that old bumper was such an eyesore.

 

Love the amount of up keep on your truck. Looks great. How much do all the fluids cost? I've been looking to put some money into my truck. I've looked at exhausts, tint, etc. but never thought about fluids. How much has it cost you and what benefits have you seen? I'm looking at tint, maybe an edge like you have, and Cragar wheels. Some speakers would be nice and a new radio in the dash. Over time my dreams will come true.

 

I need to hit my spark plugs, and fluids throughout also. 110k miles on my' 07. I keep trying to tell myself, maintenance>mods. But damn its hard to resist . I have my exterior just about where I have wanted it at least!

 

Just under 60K on my '07 regular cab V6 with 6K of those being mine. Wish I had a V8 for the exhaust note and extra power for towing. I've thought about putting some sort of off road tires on my truck but it's a 2wd DD and odds are I won't go off road much. Maybe I would. First comes a new front bumper and alignment. Being an idiot in the rain is not a smart idea

 

Nice job with the bumper!

 

It was a few hundred bucks for the fluids, plus my time. I really haven't noticed much difference, just piece of mind. Idk what the prev owner did/didn't do to the truck.

My advice to you is get them done. Like I said, it's hard to say what the previous owners did as far as maintenance. The exterior looks great btw

Thank you! It ended up working out in the end.

 

what other mods/maintenance do you have planned?

 

Nice truck! I love them flaresides. I need to change my axle, trans, t-case and coolant this summer. I hate the smell of gear oil, and filling them sucks

 

Thanks! I'm comfortable with the truck for now but still want to update everything since I have racked on miles/age. Truck was previously owned by a local company as a corporate vehicle, the CEO used it mostly as a highway meetings commuter and such. I got a loaded bible of dealership maintenance history when I got the carfax when I bought it in 2011, pretty comforting seeing all thats been done for the most part.

 

I got a price today for the bumper plastics. My cost is 225$ for all 3 pieces. Ford sure is proud of them. Im not sure what retail is on them, but its not cheap.

They will be here thursday

At some point id like to throw a set of longtube headers on there and do a full exhaust. But before that im going to clean it up a bit. Probably going to hit the fender flares, bedrails, and cowl with some plastidip because they are fading bad.

Thanks, yea the smell of gear oil sucks, but a necessary evil

Its a little different if you have documentation backing it up. I bought my truck with no receipts or anything. Just a clean carfax and a gay pride sticker on the back window.

 

The parts showed up and I installed them last night. All the same part numbers as my old plastics.



The install went straight forward.


But for some reason the backup sensor holes didnt line up...




Unfortunately I have everything snapped in, so I can't take it back to the dealer. Tonight I'm going to grind a little on the holes in the bumper so the sensors fit in there. The center parts have the same part numbers, and my old plastic lines up with the holes in the bumper perfectly. I think it might be a defect from ford.

 

I have a friend who is a Ford tuner out here. He says the Edge tuners are great but for the F150's the SCT have a better programming. i bought one and have never b een disappointed. Just an FYI