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Best modifications under $50

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Old 02-01-2013, 01:46 AM
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Originally Posted by cwsartain
I took my factory antenna off, then I took bolt cutters and cut about 4 inches off so it wouldn't hit the garage door as I pulled in the carport. After I cut it, I took a grinder and grinded the edges down at the tip so I could then reinstall the ball. Very simple and took under 15 minutes to complete. The radio reception is just as good as before.
I did this exactly...
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Old 02-01-2013, 07:23 AM
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Originally Posted by jheizer
Yeah I mean I could pick up the stations that were < 10 miles away but the ones 30+ miles away were gone.
I put on a shorty,I live in a rural area and have no problem picking up stations 60 to 80 miles away. Must be the brand of antenna.
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Old 02-01-2013, 07:31 AM
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Originally Posted by MediumPimpin
The length of the antenna is important. Radio waves are specific lengths per frequency range - the lower the frequency the longer the "wavelength" and shorter for higher freqs.

The antenna on our trucks are a 1/4 wave antenna at around 33 inches. If you cut it you need to calculate the correct length.

For a quarter wave antenna on the low end of the dial, 26 inches; mid dial, 29 inches; and upper dial, 33 inches. I wouldn't cut it less than 26 inches.
This is 100% correct. If you already had acceptable reception on your normal drive and you're within say, 20-30 miles of the tower chances are your reception won't suffer much but it absolutely does suffer.

You'd be better off with 2 smaller antennas diverging from the head unit and it becomes a dipole 1/2 wave antenna.

Being in a major city doesn't help your reception either due to mutli-path distortion.

I used to tune 490 1/4 antennas for local law enforcement agencies and we knew we had the antenna cut to the exact length if it swamped out a boom box 10 feet from it on a particular frequency. We were making 1/8" changes. It really is that critical.
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Old 02-01-2013, 06:57 PM
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Im Sure people have said this, but the best Free mod is to take off the Lower front air dam! On my 2wd it would scrape all the time and I didnt like how low it makes the front of the truck look. Two 15mm bolts later and its gone!
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Old 02-01-2013, 07:10 PM
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Originally Posted by red1994ford
Im Sure people have said this, but the best Free mod is to take off the Lower front air dam! On my 2wd it would scrape all the time and I didnt like how low it makes the front of the truck look. Two 15mm bolts later and its gone!
They look so much tougher with it gone. I regret it taking so long for me to take it off my 2011, it was the first thing I did to my 2012
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Old 02-02-2013, 07:41 AM
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Originally Posted by borjeb
They look so much tougher with it gone. I regret it taking so long for me to take it off my 2011, it was the first thing I did to my 2012
Isn't that thing needed to blow cool air into the engine? More so on the Ecoboost.
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Old 02-02-2013, 07:52 AM
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Default Those are some great ideas
I will be buying a 2x6 on my next day off. That is a great idea.
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Old 02-02-2013, 09:14 AM
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Originally Posted by a12snake
Thanks! Yes I fabricated the mount installed and wired all in about 2 hours. @BoostedXLT had a nice write up that I followed pretty closely. Ill try to link it.

https://www.f150forum.com/f38/raptor...ts-mod-109240/
I also used @BoostedXLT Instructions they were perfect.
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Old 02-02-2013, 09:19 AM
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Originally Posted by Bluesbr
Installed two 12" subs for $11.77
Dude that is awesome, It actually made laugh.

Thanks,
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Old 02-02-2013, 09:27 AM
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Originally Posted by waverider969

Isn't that thing needed to blow cool air into the engine? More so on the Ecoboost.
No, it's for aerodynamics, your gas mileage might get a tad worse if you remove it but you're driving a truck not a prius. Air flows into the engine compartment through the radiator.
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