It can be done!

[sandbuster]

I just finished (mostly) my winch install on my 2017 Expedition - it only took me 6 days..... First I had to engineer in my mind what so many have said can't be done - it can. Secondly it's in the 90s here in Florida - and I'm in my 80s so not a righteous combination of numbers. Every hour of install was followed by an hour break. There's a ton of details I can share but only if there's interest as right now it's the end of the day and I have to work on my obituary...

 

[JasonH]

How did you remove the bumper cover? There's a weird clip in the corner and it's so hot here my patience is thin. But I'd like to get this intercooler installed.

 

[sandbuster]

Jason, I can’t help you on that as it was not necessary for me to remove the bumper. I did have to remove the grill - the lower retaining tabs holding in the grill are a pita to deal with. Good luck on your project!

 

[JasonH]

Jason, I can’t help you on that as it was not necessary for me to remove the bumper. I did have to remove the grill - the lower retaining tabs holding in the grill are a pita to deal with. Good luck on your project!

Did the grill have the rivets on top, or was it screwed in? I can access the top bracket for the intercooler from either the bumper or grill, but one video I watched on an earlier model year had the grill riveted in. I don't want to buy a tool for this.

 

[sandbuster]

No rivets but not friendly to remove.

 

[ClarkD]

sandbuster, I'm interested is knowing how you completed this install!

 

[BlackBetty]

How did you remove the bumper cover? There's a weird clip in the corner and it's so hot here my patience is thin. But I'd like to get this intercooler installed.

You mentioned an intercooler install… put the Full Race intercooler in my 2016 from underneath the vehicle. Pushed it up in between the radiator and bumper/ grille without removing anything except the small bracket behind the blue oval (gained access to this component from the top/ front of grille) that there for extra support. It’s not necessary.

A few more details… jacked the front of the vehicle up, and removed the OEM intercooler hardware, mount, and intercooler itself. Slid new component up into place. Followed by the new mount. Made slight modification to the OEM mount hardware (had to “slightly” grind down the crown on bolts top-hat area for clearance). Re-attach your hoses and you’re done.

 

[tskrypek]

Jason, I believe you can pull the intercooler out of the bottom after you remove the air dam. So says my son who has done it twice.

 

[JasonH]

Thanks all. So it seems as though there's no mounting bracket on top like with the F150. I didn't see one, but wanted to confirm before taking anything apart. Most install videos cover the F150 rather than this gen Expedition.

 

[sandbuster]

sandbuster, I'm interested is knowing how you completed this install!

Clark I am currently on a mountain top in TN with little to zero cell coverage. I’ll be home Saturday where I can provide more details. Basically I had to reposition the inter—cooler. It is rubber grommet mounted and pretty easy to about 20 degrees back by cutting the front retention bar (look at pictures). I used a harbor freight winch mounting plate coming up from the bottom but I would have been far better off using a F150 (2014ish) than the universal. More later.

 

[Jbevs]

So you mounted the winchplate to the vehicle using the recovery hook bolts. Is that right?

 

[sandbuster]

That is correct but I did not use OEM bolts as they would be too short to go through winch plate, spacer and J bolts. So I used (4) 5" 1/2" grade 8 bolts and that seems to be pretty solid. If you do this you'll have other questions - I'll help you along as needed. What year is your Expedition?

 

[sandbuster]

The first picture shows a ratchet strap used to bring the inter-cooler back towards the radiator. Note the cut-off crossbar in the second picture used (on both sides) to retain the inter-cooler at it's new angle. Also note that I modified the clutch handle as I did not want to cut out a window in the grill to engage/disengage the winch clutch - this took a little engineering to come up with this mod BUT it works. That's about a 20" 3/8th extension bar that is secured midway by a chain link. So it is necessary to pop the hood when you need to lock in or free up the winch spool which is no real hassle.




.

 

[Jbevs]

I really like this. Simple is best, and there A LOT of room behind that lower valence. 2013 so no intercooler for me.