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Thanks for the kind words everyone. Like I said in the 7.3 forum, it is inspiration from those who did it before me. Also, if you spend more money because of this, it’s Nicmke’s fault. His F650 dash is what nudged me off the cliff. I do like how this project turned out though.
Problem is, my Ex didn’t come with factory fog lights.
Nicmike to the rescue. The Gold Mine provided fog light brackets. Mike, being the awesome guy he is, also pulled the wiring harness complete, and the factory light switch with fog light function. I thought long and hard on this, but decided on an independent fog light switch when I did the F650 dash.
Went with the Rigid SAE fog lights. I also used their Superduty mounting bracket. They were on backorder for a while but showed up after nearly a month. Still waiting on my backup lights... Light kit includes generic mounting bracket and wiring harness with relay and switch. Didn't use the switch or generic brackets, but the harness with relay made the wiring relatively easy for my electrically challenged self.
I won’t duplicate luisv’s post so won’t cover the whole install...just issues I had that were unique. Tightening the mounting screws for instance. Luis said he used a thin 10mm wrench to hold the nuts from rotating. I had none. It turns out that my Riffraff HPOP disconnect tool is ~10mm and thin enough to fit between the cooling fins so I could tighten the mounting screws sufficiently.
The fog lights hit the plastic bumper cover so had to trim some away. Ended up removing about 3/8 of an inch from both sides with the Dremel.
Freshly trimmed.
Mounted lights. I removed my front license plate holder because I thought the lights might reduce my cooling some. Turned out to considerably help install because of the greater access.
Not knowing diddly about proper wiring, I couldn’t figure out how to connect wiring leads to the battery. I eventually just clamped the ring terminals on the battery clamp bolts with additional washers and nuts. Don’t know if this is proper technique.
Regular low beams.
The Rigid SAE Fogs. The auto-exposure on my phone just doesn’t do it justice. It is immensely brighter. I’ll give it a real life tryout in the morning.
Curious, did you also refer to White Buffalo's thread in the tech folder?
Stewart
Nope, completely missed that one. I’m usually pretty good about checking the tech folder first, but for some reason didn’t even think of it for the fog lights.
I went back and looked at the White Buffalo fog light mod, and 1L243’s that inspired him. Problem with both of them is the Photobucket picture issue. Makes both of them less useful.
Nope, completely missed that one. I’m usually pretty good about checking the tech folder first, but for some reason didn’t even think of it for the fog lights.
I went back and looked at the White Buffalo fog light mod, and 1L243’s that inspired him. Problem with both of them is the Photobucket picture issue. Makes both of them less useful.
Apparently there is a hotlink fix for Photobucket. Google it regarding whatever browser you use. It worked for me.
Apparently there is a hotlink fix for Photobucket. Google it regarding whatever browser you use. It worked for me.
I can’t find one for my iPhone/Safari browser. Pisses me off!
I have dual 12” Oznium LED bars mounted under my full replacement bumper, there’s lots of room under there!
Apparently there is a hotlink fix for Photobucket. Google it regarding whatever browser you use. It worked for me.
99% of my surfing is on iPhone/Safari, so no help that I can find.
Update on the fog lights: 1st off, when aiming the lights, remember they are mounted more than a foot lower than the headlights. From about 15 feet I had the top of the fogs cutoff pointed at the same level as the top of my low beam pattern. Driving in the next morning it was clear they were pointing too high. Much higher than high beams even. I pointed them lower and the lighting was great, especially to the sides. Considering the suicidal deer around here, this may be a bumper/grill saver. Light output is awesome for such a wide beam spread. They project way further down the road than my aftermarket low beams, and nearly as much as the high beams. Eventually, when these headlights start leaking, I’ll probably replace them with 2005’s.
Well...today marks one year of Excursion ownership for me. What a journey its been! It has been relatively trouble free...
Random thoughts:
Looking back, what I didn't know when I bought this Excursion is mind boggling. That said, the only way to really know these things is to own one and learn. No amount of reading on forums will prepare you for what is ahead.
In that year I've done or had done ~$10,500 worth of maintenance and or upgrades. With the exception of tires, springs, and sealing the rear window, I did everything else. I went from someone who only really changed oil and filters to feeling confident in doing almost anything on this Ex. Thanks FTE for showing me how.
Favorite mod: F650 dash and gauges.
Should have done first mod: Hutch/Harpoon.
Most useful mod: new stereo (love Apple CarPlay).
It takes me 3x longer to do a project than a normal human.
PMS (Powerstroke Mod Syndrome) is real. I had only intended to do a little maintenance and drive this thing. Last fall I thought I was almost done with everything I wanted to do, but magically my to-do wish list is still about about 10 items deep.
In hindsight:
If I knew I was going to do ATS springs ahead of time, I wouldn't have bought new spring wrap snubbers to replace my rotted off ones.
No need for the Arkon tablet holder if you do gauges. I'll just put some velcro on the back of my tablet and put it on the hump carpet so I can still track EOT.
I would have done 2005 headlights instead of the eBay MY 2000 aftermarket replacements. They aren't leaking or anything, just not much light.
Would have done the non check-valve high-flow HPOP fittings instead of the HPx. Does the same thing and cost about the same. It would have saved me time and money over replacing o-rings and chasing leaks though.
If I had done my stereo replacement first, I would have just plugged my backup camera into it instead of getting a mirror that has the backup display. I needed a new mirror, but it would have been much cheaper without the display.
I've really enjoyed the journey so far working on the Ex. I've learned a lot and it has kept me sane. There have been a few speed bumps along the way, but that's life.
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