Ford OEM Wheel Well Liners
03-31-2012, 03:14 PM
#1
Ford OEM Wheel Well Liners
Just got these shipped to my dealer and I put them on. What an unbelievable pain in the a** that was. While it isn't "necessary" to remove the rear wheels to do it, it would have helped me a lot. Also the instructions kind of sucked.
All in all it was worth it as it really cleaned up the appearance back there. They fit like a glove, an incredibly tight one! My hands look diseased as they took quite a beating. I'll get some pics up shortly.
All in all it was worth it as it really cleaned up the appearance back there. They fit like a glove, an incredibly tight one! My hands look diseased as they took quite a beating. I'll get some pics up shortly.
03-31-2012, 10:41 PM
#5
Senior Member
Alot of us just painted them. Simple and cheap. Looks good.
03-31-2012, 10:51 PM
#6
Deer Slayer
I installed my Rugged liners (not ford brand) when it was cold out.. Did it with tires on and it was a major pita!! would have been easier if they were warmed up and more pliable..definitely a secure fit though..I'll probably take them out once a year to rinse out the wells good and then reinstall
04-01-2012, 09:02 AM
#7
Senior Member
Just got these shipped to my dealer and I put them on. What an unbelievable pain in the a** that was. While it isn't "necessary" to remove the rear wheels to do it, it would have helped me a lot. Also the instructions kind of sucked.
All in all it was worth it as it really cleaned up the appearance back there. They fit like a glove, an incredibly tight one! My hands look diseased as they took quite a beating. I'll get some pics up shortly.
All in all it was worth it as it really cleaned up the appearance back there. They fit like a glove, an incredibly tight one! My hands look diseased as they took quite a beating. I'll get some pics up shortly.
Sounds like your experience was similar to mine. For anyone else considering this mod, here are my notes from the other thread:
Here are some tips and lessons learned from installing my Ford accessories wheel well liners (Note, some of these instructions do not apply to the eBay/Rugged liners):
- Secure plenty of snacks, thirst quenchers, and lubricants (beer) beforehand.
- Make sure the kids are absolutely clear that you are NOT building them a kiddie pool (it looks just like one when you put the 2 clam shell halves together!).
- Wash and scrub the wheel wells the day before you start this project, or at least the morning of if you're expecting a warm sunny day. That way everything will be dry by the time you're doing the actual install.
- Do not plan to do this installation on your anniversary, if you value your marriage (thankfully my wife is very understanding and supportive of my hobbies). I was deceived by posts on here claiming the job could be done in 30 minutes per side. It easily took me 3 times that long because I was being very careful not to damage any paint, etc. And I even studied the instructions and re-read this thread the night before to prepare for the big event (the liner installation, not my anniversary LOL).
- If you are like me, and are obsessive about protecting your vehicle from scratches or collateral damage, take the time to protect your fender lips with blue painter's (masking) tape. It will be worth the extra 10 minutes. I even went to the extra trouble of washing my fender lips too, so there was no grit that could get caught between the liner and fender and scratch the paint.
- Find a buddy with a lift if you want to make this job a breeze. I'm still aching from crawling under the truck with a creeper, and this job would be much simpler and faster if everything was at eye level or at least waist high.
- Consider taking the rear wheels off, especially if your truck is lowered in any way. If you have a Harley Davidson edition or Lariat Limited with the lower factory suspension like me, the installation can be done without taking the wheels off, but it will be harder. You might want to jack the rear of the truck up and let the wheels hang free, or do what I did and just park angled on a sloping driveway or hill crest so that 3 wheels are up (suspension compressed), and the wheel for the corner you're working on is down (extended suspension travel). Please remember to use the parking brake and some wheel chocks for your safety! I only had about 6" of clearance (between the fender lip and tire) when the truck was flat, but gained another 2" with the parking method above. The extra 2" was VERY helpful in squeezing the liner inside the fender well. I don't think the liner would have even fit over the tire with only 6" of clearance without serious malformation or damage to the fender lip (in fact, I had to first line up the liner rotated toward the front of the truck, at 10 o'clock position if looking at driver side, then rotate back to center after inserting the liner into the wheel well cavity).
- A deep socket (10mm) will be your friend (a normal short socket won't give you the clearance to turn your handle). Or if you don't have a deep socket, at least use a short extension. A swivel socket or elbow may also help, but I was able to do everything with just a standard deep socket.
- As someone else posted on here before, you DO NOT have to completely remove or loosen the fender support rods. You only have to remove the bottom bolt and the INBOARD top bolt from the front fender support rod (it will still be attached by 2 other bolts, the outboard top bolt and one by the frame/bed). You only have to remove the bottom bolt on the rear fender support rod (leave the top one alone!).
- After you've removed the bolts, be sure to clean their threads and washers with a small brush as they will likely have accumulated gunk like dirt, sand, and debris.
- Use the brush to clean out the bolt holes too, and spray some quick detailer solution on a rag and wipe the washer mating surfaces clean on the body of your truck so that you're not scratching and marring your paint with the loose grit when tightening the bolts later (yes I know nobody will see under the washers once installed).
- Use a small pry bar or the tip of a flat-head screw driver to remove the 4 pesky U-nuts (Part C in your instructions) off of the bottom corner of each fender lip, as they have an angled loop that helps keep them anchored and centered in the hole that the bolt passes through. You have to re-use these U-nuts so don't lose them!
- Remember to install the 2 new U-nuts (that come with the liner hardware) in the INBOARD position on the rear wheel well cavity (there are 2 holes you can use).
- Before you start tucking any part of the liner behind the fender, make sure your liner is correctly positioned and aligned first, or else you WILL have to remove the liner and start all over again. This means making sure that the front edge of the liner is resting ABOVE the top of the shock absorber's mounting bracket (otherwise you will not be able to force or wiggle the liner into the proper position later).
- A plastic trim removal tool was very helpful in massaging the liner behind the fender, but sometimes more force was required from a taped screwdriver or pry bar.
- Don't be afraid to grab the bottom or side of the fender and pull outward (toward you) in order to gain the clearance needed to fit the liner behind it. This is one time when Ford's super-thin sheet metal in the F150's body panels are your friend. You can move or deflect the fender lips almost half an inch in either direction without damaging anything but the skin on your knuckles LOL.
- Before you start re-installing and tightening ANY bolts, be sure to make sure that your liner, fender support rod, fender, fender splash/rock guard (if you have one), and fender lip trim (if you have one) are in the correct order. This is the correct order (imagine a sandwich from top to bottom):
- Wheel well liner (with re-used original U-nuts from the bottom corner of each wheel well)
- Fender support rod (where the U-nuts were taken from)
- Fender (body panel)
- Fender splash/rock guard (if equipped)
- Fender lip that goes around the wheel well (if equipped)
- I personally didn't use a torque wrench to tighten the bolts down to 6 ft-lbs as the instructions indicate, but I think the point is to not overtighten as I imagine that your body panel could theoretically deform and cause the paint to crack if you used excessive torque. I got mine pretty snug but backed off before I started hearing metal popping, groaning, and cracking. I also didn't re-apply blue threadlocker as there still seemed to be enough leftover from the factory bolt installation (I'm sure someone thinks I committed sacrilege).
- Use a long pry bar (if you left your tires on) to help raise the liner high enough to insert the clips (Part E in your instructions) over both the boxed framing under the bed and bottom lip of the liner. The clips are VERY tight, so I had to use a couple of pliers to make the mouth wider on 2 of them so that they would fit in the rear-most clip position.
- Do not sob when your wife and kids come outside to see the result of your handiwork the past few hours, and they claim they can't see or notice any difference from how the truck looked before. Just remember that you and maybe 200 other F150forum members will know the liners are there!
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Rizzy (06-15-2017)
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04-01-2012, 09:04 AM
#8
Senior Member
I could have paid $19 to have both of mine installed by the dealer, but I have no doubt I would have regretted the experience and came back with collateral damage. I'm not suggesting all dealer techs are unqualified, I just know I would take my time and take better care of my vehicle than anybody else would.
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amascio (07-03-2013)
04-06-2012, 02:22 AM
#9
Senior Member
i'm the same way... it seems that some people work on vehicles with a pickaxe. it drives me nuts.
it's hard to find good work these days. everything's billed by the hour and everyone wants to finish in the least amount of time so they can start the next project. not to mention... they don't CARE because it's NOT THEIRS.
it's hard to find good work these days. everything's billed by the hour and everyone wants to finish in the least amount of time so they can start the next project. not to mention... they don't CARE because it's NOT THEIRS.
I could have paid $19 to have both of mine installed by the dealer, but I have no doubt I would have regretted the experience and came back with collateral damage. I'm not suggesting all dealer techs are unqualified, I just know I would take my time and take better care of my vehicle than anybody else would.
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amascio (07-03-2013)
04-06-2012, 09:52 AM
#10
I don't disagree, yours does look good, no doubt. But merely painting them like you did is nothing compared to using the liner. You still have to deal with all the grime, dirt, mud and such that gets all under there in all the nooks and crannies. With a liner it protects all that and is very easy to clean.