Mach'er's F-250 Lariat Tremor Build Thread

[Mach'er]

I'm likely going to be starting this weekend, so I figured, what the heck, start a thread of what I'm doing or done, and what I'm planning on doing sometime in the future. So, I'll start out with my plan.

I really like the CGS Performance SEMA truck from 2019. Therefore, eventually, I plan to go for that general appearance, along with a several other touches. But it'll be a slow time coming. Without further ado, here's the plan:

Near term (ASAP. First Month or Two, and concrete as far as plans go):

• Done. - Drop Step for my short wife. I have a Go Rhino! step in hand, and have plans to do this work this weekend. Passenger front door only. (Post #6 in Thread)
• Done. - Rear Wheel Well Liners. Parts in hand, I'll probably do this install this weekend as well. (Post #4 in Thread)
• Done. - Agate Black Painted Lariat Sport Grill. Parts in hand. I'm not sure when I'll put this in, but maybe very soon. (Post #13 in Thread)
• Done. - Agate Black Painted F-250 Lariat Fender Vents. Parts in hand. I'll throw these on as soon as I do the grill. (Also in Post #13 in Thread)
• Front Wheel Well Liners. Parts in hand, but I'm going to procrastinate on this one and decide if I really want to put them in.
• Done. - BuiltRight Bed Side Rack System. Purchased during the October Group Buy. I'm going to install these as soon as I get my truck back from it's current secret location (okay, not so secret if you read below about the paint work). (Post 34 in Thread)
• Done. - RetraxPro XR Tonneau Cover. Parts in hand. I'll be installing this after the BuiltRight bed side racks are in. (Also Post 34 in Thread)
• Done. - Rhino Rack Crossbars. Parts in hand already to put on the Retrax. I also have some attachments already from my previous truck. (Not really covered in build thread, but installed during Post 34 work)
• Done. - Rotopax Fuel Container. Mounted to the BuiltRight. Parts now in hand... (Installed during Post 34 work, comment and question in Post 35.)

Medium Term (Giving myself at most a 1 year window for these items, and still some flexibility in the plan):

• Done. - Black Accent Paint Work. Side Stripes, Tailgate Accent Fill, and maybe a Hood Accent. This is obviously the strongest tie to the CGS Performance truck. I'm having a hard time finding a custom paint shop to do this. (11/5 update: Not anymore. The truck will soon be off to paint, and will likely be done sometime late next week. Can't wait to see it when it's done!) - Picked up from paint on 11/13. I think it looks awesome. (Post #32 in Thread)
• Done. - SDHQ A-Pillar Lights with amber Baja Designs LP4 Lights. I wanted to go with a KC HiLiTES M-Rack & Gravity 6Pro Lights, but I have clearance lights, and I'm not banking on them coming out with a compatible M-Rack. So, this is my plan. (11/11 Update: My order is in for the mounts and LP4 lights. I thought it was awesome that SDHQ does military discounts, and offers to donate the discount to a veteran charity. I sent my discount off to "Race to Erase 22", a charity dedicated to mental health and suicide prevention in vets. Hats off to SDHQ for even offering this option.) (Post #47 in Thread)
• Ford Performance Products 12,000 lb Warn Winch. If it ever actually is available to those of us who didn't get it as part of our factory order. I was recently told Winter 20/21 availability for after-sales accessory purchase of the winch through dealers. Also, I was told that the part number will be something like M-something, rather than the LC3Z-19E536-AA. Something about a Ford Performance part number for after-sales accessories, rather than a production part number.
• Flush Mount Reverse Lights. Cut and install in the rear bumper, wired to an Upfitter switch. Doing amber Baja Design S2 Pros, I think. Haven't bought yet - but I did sell the Rigid lights that I previously had for this purpose.
• Powder Coat Bumpers. I plan to do each bumper in coordination with the above two actions. So, front bumper & winch at the same time - so I only have to recalibrate the adaptive cruise radar once. Rear bumper and reverse lights at the same time - so the cutout gets properly treated during the powder coating process. Front and rear will be either simultaneous, or nearly so.
• aFe Power Rebel Series Cat Back Exhaust. I like the look of the side exit in front of the rear tires, and maybe the sound. They are only available for pre-order, shipping in mid-December, and aFe wasn't able to provide any sound files other than neutral engine runups - which I thought sounded good. But, of course other options may come out in this sort of timeframe - and ultimately, I'd rather have 304 stainless here in Michigan - so final choice is still kinda up in the air.

Long Term (Within the first 5 years of ownership, so flexible it could be a circus freak):

• On Board Air. This may come much sooner. I thought about putting it in the Medium Term category, but it would have been at the bottom of the list there. So I'll just put it first here.
• Grid GD13 wheels and 37" tires. Not sure yet about the 37's, and there's no way I'm doing this till the OEM tires are worn down to the point of actually needing replacement.
• Whipple Supercharger. Fuck yeah. That is all I can say about that. Red powder coated to match the exterior of my truck.

Other potentials, that didn't make any of the lists above:

• Done. - Vinyl inserts for the hood/tailgate/dash lettering. Parts ordered from Tufskinz for hood and dash. Not going to do the tailgate.
• Hammerlocks for the trailer safety chain attachment points. Waiting till I try all my trailers to see if I need them.
• Amber chase lights. We'll see... On my radar, but not a priority for now. Much like George Thorogood, I wheel alone. We'll see if that changes.

Finally, the last few items of note... I have to get an Army Veteran and a Bucky Badger sticker, each for either side of the back window. Done and Done along with the FORDTREMOR.COM sticker. (Post #23 in Thread)

That's my plan. I'll track progress, or changes, here. Hopefully with pictures as we go, and if I'm lucky, some fun on and off topic discussions. We'll see how it all turns out. What actually happens, what I change my mind about, and what gets added.

Thanks.

 

[Iron Man]

I'm likely going to be starting this weekend, so I figured, what the heck, start a thread of what I'm doing or done, and what I'm planning on doing sometime in the future. So, I'll start out with my plan.

I really like the CGS Performance SEMA truck from 2019. Therefore, eventually, I plan to go for that general appearance, along with a several other touches. But it'll be a slow time coming. Without further ado, here's the plan:

Near term (ASAP. First Month or Two, and concrete as far as plans go):

• Drop Step for my short wife. I have a Go Rhino! step in hand, and have plans to do this work this weekend. Passenger front door only.
• Rear Wheel Well Liners. Parts in hand, I'll probably do this install this weekend as well.
• Front Wheel Well Liners. Parts in hand, but I'm going to procrastinate on this one and decide if I really want to put them in.
• Agate Black Painted Lariat Sport Grill. Parts in hand. I'm not sure when I'll put this in, but maybe very soon.
• Agate Black Painted F-250 Lariat Fender Vents. Parts in hand. I'll throw these on as soon as I do the grill.
• BuiltRight Bed Side Rack System. Purchased during the October Group Buy. I'm going to install these as soon as they are delivered.
• RetraxPro XR Tonneau Cover. Parts in hand. I'll be installing this after the BuiltRight bed side racks are in.
• Rhino Rack Crossbars. Parts in hand already to put on the Retrax. I also have some attachments already from my previous truck.
• Rotopax Fuel Container. Mounted to the BuiltRight. Gotta get it ordered.

Medium Term (Giving myself at most a 1 year window for these items, and still some flexibility in the plan):

• Ford Performance Products 12,000 lb Warn Winch. If it ever actually is available to those of us who didn't get it as part of our factory order.
• Flush Mount Reverse Lights. Cut and install in the rear bumper, wired to an Upfitter switch.
• Powder Coat Bumpers. I plan to do each bumper in coordination with the above two actions. So, front bumper & winch at the same time - so I only have to recalibrate the adaptive cruise radar once. Rear bumper and reverse lights at the same time - so the cutout gets properly treated during the powder coating process. Front and rear will be either simultaneous, or nearly so.
• aFe Cat Back Exhaust. I like the look, and the sound. But, of course other options may come out in this sort of timeframe.
• SDHQ A-Pillar Lights with Baja Designs LP6 Lights. I wanted to go with a KC HiLiTES M-Rack & Gravity 6Pro Lights, but I have clearance lights, and I'm not banking on them coming out with a compatible M-Rack. So, this is my plan.
• Black Accent Paint Work. Side Stripes, Tailgate Accent Fill, and maybe a Hood Accent. This is obviously the strongest tie to the CGS Performance truck. I'm having a hard time finding a custom paint shop to do this. One referred me to a vinyl wrap place. So I guess I'm considering that as well. In fact, I was going to call the guy this afternoon. I'll see what I see, but I wanted it painted, not vinyl.

Long Term (Within the first 5 years of ownership, so flexible it could be a circus freak):

• On Board Air. This may come much sooner. I thought about putting it in the Medium Term category, but it would have been at the bottom of the list there. So I'll just put it first here.
• Grid GD13 wheels and 37" tires. Not sure yet about the 37's, and there's no way I'm doing this till the OEM tires are worn down to the point of actually needing replacement.
• Whipple Supercharger. Fuck yeah. That is all I can say about that. Red powder coated to match the exterior of my truck.

Other potentials, that didn't make any of the lists above:

• Vinyl inserts for the hood/tailgate/dash lettering.
• Hammerlocks for the trailer safety chain attachment points. Waiting till I try all my trailers to see if I need them.
• Amber chase lights. We'll see... On my radar, but not a priority for now. Much like George Thorogood, I wheel alone. We'll see if that changes.

Finally, the last few items of note... I have to get an Army Veteran and a Bucky Badger sticker, each for either side of the back window.

That's my plan. I'll track progress, or changes, here. Hopefully with pictures as we go, and if I'm lucky, some fun on and off topic discussions. We'll see how it all turns out. What actually happens, what I change my mind about, and what gets added.

Thanks.

I’ll match your quote “Fuck Yeah”
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Good luck with your build. I’m excited to see pics of the progress

 

[PapaRaptor]

ambitious! can't wait for some photos.

 

[Mach'er]

Typing this plan out yesterday inspired me to get started. I mean, why wait for the weekend? So, I went out and installed the rear wheel well liners. It was so easy, a caveman could do it, and it only took like 20 minutes, if that. Passenger side on the left, driver's on the right.

Super easy, I'd say a 1 on a 1 to 10 scale of difficulty. Anyone can do this one.

 

[inthegap18]

I can't wait to see how many beers in when that grill gets installed

 

[Mach'er]

It was a really nice afternoon, but is supposed to get stormy late this evening, and be much colder tomorrow - so I went out and knocked out a bit more. I put in the drop step for my wife. I'm looking forward to her getting home, so I can see if it's to her liking. But, since I drilled 3 holes in the passenger side running board, I'm saying the correct answer is, "Yes, it's going to work fine!"

Many shout outs to @WA-TREMOR who shared his work. I'm just borrowing with pride.

But, here's how it went for me.

The Go Rhino! RB20 Drop Steps come as a pair. I don't know which is supposed to go on which side, so I used the one that I thought was working the best with the running board mounting bracket that is just forward of the drop step's final location.

That said, I do have one more, just sitting in my garage, and I'd be happy to pay-it-forward if someone wants to try installing it on their truck. Send me a private message. No longer available (it's been claimed by another with a vertically challenged special someone). Anyway, here's where I decided to mount it. This position allowed the step's mounting flanges to be away from those holes in the truck's running boards - and the front flange fit between the holes and the main support bracket on the running board.

They also came with the mounting hardware for putting the steps on Go Rhino!'s own RB20 running boards (that look sorta Raptor like). I decided to use part of their mounting system, just to get an additional 5/8" drop out of it. I drilled out the threaded holes, so that they'd be through holes for the bolts I was using.

Holding the step where I wanted it, I used a spring loaded center punch to mark the location of each hole on the bottom of the running board. Then, using a 1/8" drill bit, I drilled a hole through the running board at each hole location. At this point there was no turning back. I switched out to a step bit, and also moved to the top of the running board, and increased each hole to the final desired size.

I chose to use Grade 5 bolts. I wanted them to be strong, but am always hesitant regarding the brittleness of Grade 8. So, from the top down, it goes: Bolt, washer, running board, 5/8" spacer, lock washer, nylock nut.

I ran the three bolts, tightened, and then used some masking paper and some tape to cover up against overspray - then hit the bolt heads with self etching primer, and then rattle can bed liner spray.

After taking off all the tape and paper, here's what it looks like. And, someone asked about whether it juts out, and how far, so here's a shot of that too.

Finally, here's how much drop I got out of all that effort. Again, it better be good.

Anyway, that's that. I'll be paying special attention to the fasteners to make sure they don't loosen up. As well as any ill effects from potential increase in bending force on the running board mounts. But, I'm crossing my fingers that it all works out okay.

Thanks for reading. Have a good Friday evening. Go Badgers.

 

[the_doc]

Looking forward to following this build, sounds like you have some very tasteful upgrades planned

 

[the_doc]

• Front Wheel Well Liners. Parts in hand, but I'm going to procrastinate on this one and decide if I really want to put them in.

I ordered these from the ford parts site October 8th ... CRICKETS since then. No tracking number, but I've ordered some other stuff and it shipped fairly quickly, so I'm jealous of your PARTS in hand

 

[Mach'er]

I ordered these from the ford parts site October 8th ... CRICKETS since then. No tracking number, but I've ordered some other stuff and it shipped fairly quickly, so I'm jealous of your PARTS in hand

@the_doc: Did it make you pick a dealership when you did the Ford Parts order? On my wheel well liners, it told me they were shipping to my home when I ordered, but they actually went to the dealer I had entered during that step of the ordering process. They eventually called me, and I went and picked them up. Maybe that's going on?

Good luck getting your parts.

 

[the_doc]

@the_doc: Did it make you pick a dealership when you did the Ford Parts order? On my wheel well liners, it told me they were shipping to my home when I ordered, but they actually went to the dealer I had entered during that step of the ordering process. They eventually called me, and I went and picked them up. Maybe that's going on?

Good luck getting your parts.

Interesting, sounds like I'm going to the dealer today to ask around. Good advice.

 

[Cococounty]

Typing this plan out yesterday inspired me to get started. I mean, why wait for the weekend? So, I went out and installed the rear wheel well liners. It was so easy, a caveman could do it, and it only took like 20 minutes, if that. Passenger side on the left, driver's on the right.

Super easy, I'd say a 1 on a 1 to 10 scale of difficulty. Anyone can do this one.

View attachment 7557

It’s crazy how some of these trucks came with wheel well liners and some didn’t my window sticker did not show them but the truck had them some window sticker show them

 

[Iron Man]

It’s crazy how some of these trucks came with wheel well liners and some didn’t my window sticker did not show them but the truck had them some window sticker show them

When I did my research on what truck trim I wanted,I noticed that the Sport or black Lariat Package comes with rear wheel well liners only. Comes with the package Don’t have to order it. You could not add the front though.
But on my Platinum build I was able to order front and back at a cost of course. That was another reason I went with Platinum trim. The other reasons I went with the Platinum trim was massage seats were not available for Lariat which doesn’t make sense. Plus that Platinum seats are great looking. And the steering wheel is better than the Lariats
Also the wood Faux trim on doors and ash tray looking phone Charger area was in black on the Platinum. All other trims has it looking like brown wood. I also love the Platinum tail gate badge. Although I went with the Iconic Silver F-350. Any other color would be better choice for that big Platinum Badge Plate on the tail gate. It gets lost with the Silver color of the truck. Of course who doesn’t LOVE the Blacked out package the Lariat offers.
So I had a hard time Not going Lariat Black Out and instead stuck with the Platinum. I hope someone reading this that didn’t order their truck yet gets a bit of knowledge from deciding weather to go Platinum or Lariat Black package. Either way both sick ass trims in my opinion.
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[Mach'er]

Another day, another project. Or two.

Here's the before:

On the docket today, putting in the Sport grill, and the sport quarter panel vents.

I found this tool invaluable. It really made taking off the radiator cover a piece of cookie. I have it as part of a kit that includes a bunch of trim tools. Used several from this kit on this project. Always nice to have an excuse to acquire tools, and then to actually use them is an added bonus.

Anyway, I did get the old one out. And then prepped to put in the replacement...

After getting the new one in, and replacing the two side front fender vent emblems, here's what she looks like now.

Keep in mind, I do plan to have the bumpers powder coated to body color. However, I have no current plans to replace the headlights with Sport LED headlights. I have the LED option already, and replacing them with the blacked out would be like MSRP $1660 for EACH headlight - OUCH. So, I'm keeping these.

This was not anywhere near as easy as the rear wheel well liners. I'd rate this as a 5 out of 10 on the 1-10 difficulty scale. Take your time, get some decent instructions and the right tools, and it goes pretty smooth. If anyone is going to attempt this project, PM me for my lessons learned. I'd gladly help a brother out.

Oh, and for @inthegap18... 2. Two beers. That's it. But I did start working on the truck before noon - so maybe three if I hadn't?

 

[Mach'er]

Now, I'm kinda stuck in a holding pattern until the BuiltRight bed side rack stuff that I bought as part of the October Tremor Group Buy are delivered. I want to get that in before I put the Retrax tonneau in. So, Miller time. Or scotch.

Or maybe see if the family wants to do something. Yeah. That sound best. Have a good weekend, all!

 

[Iron Man]

Now, I'm kinda stuck in a holding pattern until the BuiltRight bed side rack stuff that I bought as part of the October Tremor Group Buy are delivered. I want to get that in before I put the Retrax tonneau in. So, Miller time. Or scotch.

Or maybe see if the family wants to do something. Yeah. That sound best. Have a good weekend, all!

That looks amazing. Great look.

 

[Big John Son]

Fun thread to follow! You are quite ambitious!

 

[IceSoldier88]

I am in need of those tools your got. What kit is it. I always break those clips when I take them out.

 

[Mach'er]

I am in need of those tools your got. What kit is it. I always break those clips when I take them out.

https://www.amazon.com/AUTOXEL-Retainer-Fastener-Terminal-Adhesive/dp/B085XSSR88/ref=mp_s_a_1_3?dchild=1&keywords=AUTOXEL+88+Pcs+Trim+Removal+Tool&qid=1603576788&sr=8-3

$25. There's smaller sets, which would have the important stuff - but this is what I have.

 

[Mach'er]

I've got nothing Tremor related, because I'm on a business trip this week - but I did get a picture from our builder this morning. We're having a pole barn put up in our woods up north, and they're supposed to get it done before deer season. I'd say, barring weather issues, they're going to make it. Roof's on as of yesterday.

I think I'll drive up this weekend, drive the trails, and check the progress. Plus, it looks like there might be some good mud.

 

[Cococounty]

I've got nothing Tremor related, because I'm on a business trip this week - but I did get a picture from our builder this morning. We're having a pole barn put up in our woods up north, and they're supposed to get it done before deer season. I'd say, barring weather issues, they're going to make it. Roof's on as of yesterday.

I think I'll drive up this weekend, drive the trails, and check the progress. Plus, it looks like there might be some good mud.
View attachment 7941View attachment 7942

What are you going to be putting in there looks good