Project Shadowfax

Ah I see what you mean! Unfortunately that wouldn't help. My description of the problem probably could have been better.

It isn't that the right angle, hooking over top of the bed rails, is straightening out. The issue is that the vertical sheet metal is bending back, towards the inside of the bed.

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That makes sense! Thank you for the update.
 
Thanks for the clarification @ccw is that where you would have gussets added then?

You can get some pretty thick aluminum angle... cut off four sections and rivet or bolt it like this. It might be all you need:

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Thanks for the clarification @ccw is that where you would have gussets added then?

You can get some pretty thick aluminum angle... cut off four sections and rivet or bolt it like this. It might be all you need:

View attachment 50765


Those would work... I was looking at either one of these and it wouldn't take more than 1' cut into four pieces. Either one would be pretty rigid:

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That's a good idea! Will need to get out and take some measurements to see if I can get the right dimensions pre-cut, but that would be slick to rivet on.
 
This may be a great excuse for that tig welder purchase that's been on your must have list 😂

At least that's what I'm telling myself for my imaginary crossbin 😅
Honestly, I've essentially never welded before (did once as a kid for about 5 seconds at a family friend's place). And there's a part of me that really wants to learn...

But I don't need another hobby! I already have close to 80 hours into SAR this year! 😬
 
Honestly, I've essentially never welded before (did once as a kid for about 5 seconds at a family friend's place). And there's a part of me that really wants to learn...

But I don't need another hobby! I already have close to 80 hours into SAR this year! 😬
Welding could be looked at as a time saver, though!

Instead of drilling, bolting or riveting - weld

Instead of driving somewhere to have something welded for you - weld it yourself

I don't see how you can avoid it really :p
 
Time for another update on the computer's mileage accuracy after setting my AFE Bias! I've completed 39 fill-ups total so far, with 29 of those occurring after the AFE Bias update. Previous two posts in this series (in chronological order):



No table this time, as it's getting pretty long. Instead I will just show the graph. In summary: the computer has remained incredibly consistent with my hand calculations. I highly recommend performing the AFE Bias update and, if you aren't as weird as me, you don't need to continue tracking your mileage.

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As for the variance around my fill-ups on March 14 and 20th, I know on the 14th I forgot to take my pictures immediately when I filled up. Instead I took a picture of the dash and reset my trip odometer a minute or two after driving away, and remembered the price of gas so I could work out the gallons retroactively. So the disconnect for the 14th and 20th likely represents that error.
 
Welding could be looked at as a time saver, though!

Instead of drilling, bolting or riveting - weld

Instead of driving somewhere to have something welded for you - weld it yourself

I don't see how you can avoid it really :p
Yes! Learning to weld has been on my list for some time. Finally got a small beginner welder from Yes Welder and I hope to start fooling around with it in a few weeks. I’m finding that I’m enjoying more and more learning skills and doing projects in my spare time, vs playing golf or other things like that.
 
Yes! Learning to weld has been on my list for some time. Finally got a small beginner welder from Yes Welder and I hope to start fooling around with it in a few weeks. I’m finding that I’m enjoying more and more learning skills and doing projects in my spare time, vs playing golf or other things like that.
I think that it's a great idea! I read very often and I hear that it would be cool if you had a welder at home. I agree with it. but I had no clue, how to start my welding "career". Glad that you found a hobby! Upd. I've purchased this Hobart - https://weldzone.org/mig-welder-under-1000/#product2 .
I only need to learn how to use it
 
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I do not know enough about the interface with the bedrail and the cover itself, but I think @BroncoHooves was referring to something like this extending the full length of the "lip." You could apply this technique either on the inside or the outside of the bend depending on where you have available clearance.

View attachment 50753View attachment 50754
I added this and am currently loading up the bin with ‘necessities’ and can be a Guinea pig for this…
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The idea came from this thread and I happened to have the aluminum angle iron laying around from an old project.
 
I added this and am currently loading up the bin with ‘necessities’ and can be a Guinea pig for this…View attachment 51397View attachment 51398
The idea came from this thread and I happened to have the aluminum angle iron laying around from an old project.
Nice job! Looks good and definitely should help to support the load...
 
This weekend a new toy showed up for Shadowfax: Weigh Safe hitch! Purchased through none other than @Nick@ApolloOptics here on the forum, of course. :D

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I've been doing some miscellaneous towing recently and had to borrow a hitch from a friend, so I knew I needed to get a permanent solution for Shadowfax. Here's what I went with:
  • Weigh Safe 2.5" shank
  • 8" drop
  • Steel - purely to be able to run the pintle adapter. I would have far preferred the weight savings of aluminum, but the pintle adapter isn't compatible.
  • All three ball sizes: 2 5/16", 2", and 1 7/8".
  • Pintle adapter.
  • Keyed-alike locking pins.
This thing is a beast. It weighs an absolute ton, but seems extremely well built.

So I have somewhere to store it, I've now ordered a Pelican case with custom foam. That will keep all the bits together. Specifically I've ordered the 1550 protector case.

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The custom foam site is really cool, though a bit tedious. Probably took me an hour to get everything dialed in. Also pro-tip: purchase the case on the main Pelican site, not with the foam. If you purchase it with the foam it skyrockets the shipping cost, but on the main site shipping for the case is free.

Links:
Edit: Follow-up post with the final result:

https://www.fordtremor.com/threads/project-shadowfax.6005/post-219670
 
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Update to my modifications post, back on the first page of this thread:


I've changed the Forscan table to be more technical in nature. It now includes the exact values I changed to make it easier for others to make the same changes to their truck. As noted alongside the table: it's not a guide. This is merely intended to be a reference of what worked for me.
 
This weekend a new toy showed up for Shadowfax: Weigh Safe hitch! Purchased through none other than @Nick@ApolloOptics here on the forum, of course. :D

View attachment 51683

I've been doing some miscellaneous towing recently and had to borrow a hitch from a friend, so I knew I needed to get a permanent solution for Shadowfax. Here's what I went with:
  • Weigh Safe 2.5" shank
  • 8" drop
  • Steel - purely to be able to run the pintle adapter. I would have far preferred the weight savings of aluminum, but the pintle adapter isn't compatible.
  • All three ball sizes: 2 5/16", 2", and 1 7/8".
  • Pintle adapter.
  • Keyed-alike locking pins.
This thing is a beast. It weighs an absolute ton, but seems extremely well built.

So I have somewhere to store it, I've now ordered a Pelican case with custom foam. That will keep all the bits together. Specifically I've ordered the 1550 protector case.

View attachment 51687

View attachment 51686

The custom foam site is really cool, though a bit tedious. Probably took me an hour to get everything dialed in. Also pro-tip: purchase the case on the main Pelican site, not with the foam. If you purchase it with the foam it skyrockets the shipping cost, but on the main site shipping for the case is free.

Links:
Man, that setup looks beefy brother! Turned out great! Thank you for your patience and support! And that pelican idea is great...I just leave mine in on all the time. Just blame the Houston drivers with no insurance for that lol
 
Next up is the block heater cord. My main goal was to install the Noco outlet; however, once I got under the truck I saw that the block heater cord was routed in about as low and vulnerable way as possible. You can see it here running just above the height of the air dam.

Also in this picture, you can see (right in the foreground) a connector hanging nice and low. This appears to be for the winch.

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So a new goal was to reroute the block heater cord and move the winch connector, in addition to installing the Noco. I ended up following some existing wires from the winch that go underneath the radiator, using zip ties to hold things in place. At the other end I was able to use the existing Christmas tree connector on the end of the block heater to hold it up and out of the way. The winch connector I was able to move up and out of the way.

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The Noco itself was easy to install. As noted elsewhere, just takes a 2" hole saw and the self tapping screws hold strong. Only complication was the little clips that hold the trim piece on weren't holding well after I had the trim piece off. Bent them back open and they're holding well again.

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Parts:
did you have to take the trim piece off to make a 2” hole or drilled the piece while it was on? Not sure whats behind there, assuming its easy enough to take off but should i do it or leave it on.
 
did you have to take the trim piece off to make a 2” hole or drilled the piece while it was on? Not sure whats behind there, assuming its easy enough to take off but should i do it or leave it on.
I took it off. Don't think there was anything particularly concerning behind it, but it's so easy to remove you might as well.

It's just held on with some metal clips. Easy to pull off and, if you need to, push from behind to get it started. A couple of the clips weren't grabbing well when I tried to reinstall it, but all I had to do was bend them a bit and then they held great.
 
I took it off. Don't think there was anything particularly concerning behind it, but it's so easy to remove you might as well.

It's just held on with some metal clips. Easy to pull off and, if you need to, push from behind to get it started. A couple of the clips weren't grabbing well when I tried to reinstall it, but all I had to do was bend them a bit and then they held great.
Thanks ccw! I just realized that i don’t have a 2 inch hole saw, so this is a project for tomorrow night.
 
Thanks ccw! I just realized that i don’t have a 2 inch hole saw, so this is a project for tomorrow night.
No problem! And ya I was in the same boat! Don't know why, but 2" wasn't even in that many sets at Home Depot when I went to buy mine.

Good luck with the install!
 
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