My Expedition Modifications and Write-Ups

sgtowing said:

I love the look of your interior trim pieces.

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Thank you, sir!

I'm back again... I worked out a deal with JL on a 3rd gen Expedition EL stealthbox. I have a 2007 standard length model. The deal was basically that if this thing doesn't fit, I can send it back.

The other reason they are letting me do this is, if I can make very minor changes to what they already have in order to make it fit, they may update their production or website/instructions. Obviously, this means more money for them because of another vehicle fitment.

This thing bolted right in. Not 100% positive why JL said it wouldn't fit but it definitely does. The only real problem I encountered was with the grille. The EL panel is a little bit longer giving the grille a bit more room to take up on the panel. It doesn't want to fit all that well on the standard length model. I may go back and try to find a way to mount this.

Also, the bass performance was awesome with the storage tray out of the panel and with the seats down and cargo out of the truck. I'm not sure which one is robbing me of bass but I plan to find out. If it is the storage tray in the top of the panel, I'll build a small grille to take place of that tray since it never gets used anyway.

If it is the seats or the cargo, I guess I'll just have to tune around it.

I'll be updating this thread with more findings over the next week or so.

What kind of amp are you running that stealth box with?

I'm running everything off of a JL Audio HD900/5.

This is what I ended up doing for a grille. I never liked the idea of that square grille for mine to begin with... thought it looked cheesy.

Mine is made up of a JL 10" trim ring with a grille mounted in it. You can buy the grille separately but the trim ring you have to get from a local dealer or call JL direct. The other option is to take the trim ring you get with the stealthbox off since it is behind the panel anyway then mount the grille in it.

I popped the plastic rivets out of the rear side panel in the corner locations which just happen to fit every other hole of the trim ring almost perfectly. Then I used those little... I dunno, I call them speed clips... the little clips you always get with new speakers that you place on the metal and run the screw through. I put those on the plastic so I had something to screw into and DONE. I have no rattles and amazingly, while it is about twice the depth of the supplied grille, my third row actually folds past it by maybe a 1/16th of an inch.

I removed all of my cargo and left the second row seats up and the majority of the bass that I had lost is back. I may still pop that storage tray out and see if I get any further improvement.

My Expedition

Really liked your results with the dipped trim. I was thinking of doing mine as well recently, just not sure yet...


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CJ0920 said:

Really liked your results with the dipped trim. I was thinking of doing mine as well recently, just not sure yet...


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I think the last time I did it, going rate on a can was like 6.50 and I think I used 8 or 9. Well worth it to be able to peel it off if you don't like it. I'm going to invest in a sprayer system and buying gallons of it this summer so I can do full car dips and hopefully get better adhesion on my trim so it lasts longer going through car washes on regular occasion.

I saw you also took off the running boards. Mind me asking what your gonna do with them? If I dip my trim I'd probably have to remove the running boards as well, the dip wont hold up to foot traffic.

They are just chillin' in the attic. Didn't like them to begin with so they are staying off. The dip definitely won't hold up to the foot traffic. I had my whole back bumper dipped and it held up to me climbing in and out of the back for a couple weeks but I ended up peeling it off the step section.

I just ordered what should hopefully be all the LEDs needed to convert all of the interior lighting as well as the license plate lights and the puddle lamps on eBay. Total investment into the project so far is like $27. If this goes well and when funds permit my projector retrofit, I'll also be swapping the rest of the exterior bulbs to LED. The front signals will be the switchback style. When parking lights are on they light up white and when the turn signal is engaged the white cuts out and the amber section flashes until the signal is turned off. Most of the I've got tracking information on 2 of the items so far and should start seeing them towards the beginning of next week.

That's kool. I'd like to do go to full LED's as well.

RockyF150 said:

That's kool. I'd like to do go to full LED's as well.

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I should have looked at bulb orientation in the housings before I started ordering. Some of them won't fit the way I thought they would. I'll have pics up and links to the eBay pages once they get here and I get them in.


EDIT:
I started my bulb conversion last night but was too pissed to take pictures. I found the wrong way of removing the mirror cap on the driver side mirror... So I now need a new one of those

I also found out that the bulbs most of the replacement guides show for our puddle lamps are incorrect. They are not a 194 insert style bulb. They are approx 31mm festoons. I'll be ordering a set of those today because I'd like to finish this.

If anyone is interested, since I've decided to keep my A4, I've decided to do a FULL LED conversion, inside and out. I'll post a link to the new photobucket album when I get around to making one.

Here ya go everyone! LED interior and license plate lights are done... waiting on the new puddle lamp bulbs to come in. The cargo area bulb is definitely a bit more blue (closer to 6000K) than the other bulbs are but its not that noticeable since the only place that bulb goes is in the rear. This is also the only bulb out of the batches that I ordered that stays dimly lit for a bit after the lights turn off... not a big deal and I might make a resistor pack to offset this.



\/ LINKS \/
10 Pack of 168/194s (front and rear map lights... Will also fit the license plate lights)

2 Pack of 168/194. (License plate lights... can also be used in main map lights) When I purchased them, they were 1.88. He updated the listing and made a typo on the price. Keep an eye on it.

4 pack of 42mm bulbs. (Cargo Area)

4 pack 31mm (puddle lamps) Hopefully they get here quick. I'm super anxious.

I finally got the replacement parts in for my mirrors. The bulbs came in quick sometime last week and the new mirror cap and bulb housing came in yesterday. The puddle lamp bulb is not designed to be replaced. The clear cap is sealed to the housing. With some effort you can get them apart and the 31mm festoon bulbs will fit fine. I ended up not using the new bulb housing and am keeping in case I need it for some reason. I wanted to be able to get the housings apart again later if I needed to so I used black hot melt glue.



I got tired of looking out the window and seeing the amber lenses on my mirrors. I had a can of VHT Nite Shades lens tint spray left over from another project and decided to spray those suckers down. I think it looks a million times better now.

looks good

Since I ordered an overload of red 194 bulbs for my A4, I decided to tackle the third brake.

Removal is pretty basic... pull the two screws and yank. To do this swap, you'll have to pull the washer line off the housing and disconnect the light harness.

These are the bulbs I used


You'll have to drill the holes for the bulbs in the housing in order to fit the base of the new bulbs. I believe it was 3/8 but I'm not sure... I just grabbed a bit and went to town.

Welp... progress is now stagnant thanks to the warmer weather allowing me to have fun with my A4. The LED conversion with that car was a trip to say the least.

I love the look of the dash, my wife hates her wood in our 2010. What exactly is the stuff you used and where can I get it?

kjbtsi6686 said:

I love the look of the dash, my wife hates her wood in our 2010. What exactly is the stuff you used and where can I get it?

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Thanks. The process is called hydrographics. You can do it yourself if you want to take the time to learn the process and source all the materials. I was originally going to go this route but was quoted in parts and labor at a shop just a little bit more than it was going to cost me to do it myself and I have a finish warranty.

The process is making a lot of headway in areas around the country. My suggestion for finding someone that can perform the work is to call custom paint shops that are well respected in the area. The pricing might not be cheap but the machines that they use to do it are very costly.

You can view a large selection of different patterns here - TWN Transfer Printing

My motorcycle is sold and I paid my A4 off this morning.

That means that I now have a few extra dollars to play with. I called up the guys at The Retrofit Source this morning and have a full Morimoto Mini 6000K kit on its way to me. As per the usual posting, I'll have pictures of the modification up this weekend/early next week.