Man, there are a ton of different makers of these things. Most are synthetic and some use real wood. Prices are all over the place. eBay has them from $130 up to $200 and none of the sellers have impressive ratings from their buyers. Other Internet retailers and manufacturers are anywhere from $170 to $300.

Has anyone added a wood kit to their Expy?

How about an OEM steering wheel replacement with the wood trim? I don't have the Eddie Bauer, so my steering wheel is a plain Jane type. I really miss the leather wrapped version.

Any general comments or experiences on these add-ons?

Thanks,

 

i just bought the top of the line kit from nycdashes on ebay, it should arrive sometime in the next week. i will let you know how it went on and how it looks. i believe the part number was frd-24d. i was in the same situation you were in, some of the other ford parts sites i had been to wanted almost 400 for a wood kit, so i thought i would try this one for 162.00. if it doesnt look good i wont install it. ill let you know how it goes.

 

Thanks!

I'm looking forward to hearing your results.

 

I got a synthetic kit off ebay 2 years ago. Didn't like it so I got a real walnut wood kit. I love it. I then picked up a used navigator steering wheel. They look great. Just don't expect the steering wheel controls to work.

Eric

 

I put the $162.00 kit on mine and it just looks okay. I figured it looks better than the bland plastic dash. I'll probably save my pennies and buy genuine wood down the road.

 

i got a wood dash u can see it on the truck at members.cardomain.com/mustbenice

i also got a wood wheel from a company called b&i trim and it is awsome it is a ford wheel that they add wood to just like a lexus wheel it is so nice then u send your old wheel back for the core.

 

my god- dont ever purchase that dash kit i was talking about earlier. i got mine in today and i was totally disapointed. the pieces dont fit very well, they dont stick very well, and look totally cheap. its honestly worth about 30.00. i will be calling NYC dashes first thing monday morning.

 

i got mine on ebay nyc dashes it better than the others ive seen real easy job start with smallpieces first at the end you will be a pro

 

I purchased mine from www.exoticwooddash.com I purchased separate molded pieces in synthetic. I didn't want real wood because my truck sits outside my garage and the synthetic holds up better.

I really like my dash. I have the medium burlwood kit. I think you have to choose the right pieces so your dash doesn't look gaudy. I have the molded piece that surrounds the radio/ac controls and then four pieces which cover the power window and lock switches. That’s it.

I did purchase some extra 3M tape from a hardware store just for extra measure when applying the trim. Also, do not use the extra adhesive enabler liquid given with the kits. It will eat those the sprayed on color coating that on your dash. For those that don’t know, the Expy dashes have a color coating on them. The plastic is not solid color all the way through.
.

 

NOTE: 2003+ Expedition owners

I bought simulated (fake) burl wood dash trim from DASHTRIMS (eBay)(these guys have numerous names --all same product-2003 FORD EXPEDITION (FRD-EXP-51A). It looks good for the price but here's the scoop. You'll know the 5-6 kit people on ebay because of the Dentyne Ice gum in the change area on the web pic.

1. They say that they are the manufactures and will custom make the pieces (manual vs auto climate control, etc). I put in an email before bidding because I have AdvanceTrac wanted to make sure the center piece fit, Answer from them-yeah we'll make it. But the piece didn't have the cut out for it so to this day that piece is not installed. I need to cut out a hole for it but not sure yet the best way to go.

2. The kit they send for overhead is for sunroof only. They don't have another kit even though they are custom manufactures.

3. If you install, note the following.
---In addition to good prep for the adhesive I used only isopropyl alcohol pads-some are provided. It will take some color off dask if you rub too hard. I never used Armour All on dash (my car was almost brand new and I knew I wanted a kit).
--For the window control sections I popped off the plastic to get a better fit.
--The driver side window controls are the least "tight" specs, there is some space in the controls for window, seat memory but not too bad unless you demand perfection for 1/2 price of other kits.
--AdvanceTrac owners-make the hole yourself or don't apply at all or buy from someone who made the template (I sent them pictures of the button but they couldn't do it)
--There are removable tabs in the wood for the heat/cool seats tough
--Sun roof-already discussed above
--For the rear (3rd row) cup holder wood trim is bent at an angle- it will come undone in a hot car unless you add adhesive (superglue or auto adhesive trim glue) or do something special

4. The kit is easy to work with in synthetic, leave in sun for an hour or place on hood before starting to allow plastic to warm up. Wodd kits need a heat gun/blow dryer to prevent cracking when shaping the wood to dask. One more reason for synthetic.

5. All in all good merchants-they gave me a $20 credit for the kits problems. I was cool with that.

 

I just ordered the Carbon Fiber Kit from these guys. I plan on doing a complete write up on product quality, ease of install and service on my FTE website and posting it for all the world to see.

Hope they got their act tgether.

 

Can you buy navigator parts and just install those?

Aside, I had my wheel re-wrapped with my name in it, as well as the seats re-done with 2 tone leather & name in the headrest - I would check around at audio shops, you should be able to get your whole interior done for around $800 - $1000

 

Real Wood steering wheel - nice

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...category=33704

or go to ebay and search for 2428379281

 

I got that one on e-bay... They are hard to deal with the Q is ??? seams don't even come together around the air bag. The wood looks like some cheap pine. I know for the price? But what made me really tictoff was it was suppose to take 14 day till i get it took me over a month with **** poor retuned e-mails if I got any.. I've done over 90 e-bay buys and this guy is in the bottom 10%. Watch yourself with this on!!

 

Hey Southprk, Can I See A Picture..it Sounds Real Good...i Was Thinking C-fiber Also Since I Have The Gray Interior On My 04...steering Wheel Idea Sounds Real Cool....