2016 King Ranch EL Lift and Wheels

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eddytheexpy

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I'm not gonna rule that out haha. Engine skids should arrive today so hopefully by tomorrow I have a better idea if any further adjusting is needed. Appreciate all the advice and tips on this guys.

Edit: For the transmission skid plate, it came with a back plate that the directions said to insert into the crossbar of the frame but then there weren't holes that lined up appropriately. I was able to install the transmission skid by just adding a speednut/quick fastener/clamp nut or whatever it's called in 2 holes on the crossbar and it lined up well.

yeah there were 3 holes on the backside of the trans skid plate but only 2 holes in the expy frame. It sounds like they might just be a little misguided with the differences with the expy and F-150. If you measure it up and drill another hole in the spacer they provided you'll probably be in good shape. But, if you're cool with the fix you did on the exhaust situation, let it ride!

I did not have any rattling on our 15 or 17. Just saying. I don't remember a spacer, and all hardware I needed was there.

Could it not be the plates issue, and the fact that the exhaust might need to be adjusted?

There was a fair gap when installed cold without the spacers but once it heated up and expanded there is just enough gap to let the slightest sliver of light pass between it. So, with literally any quantity of vibration it was enough to close the gap and it sounds like rapid fire on terribly crafted gong. So, yeah a very slight adjustment would probably fix it but I needed spacers up front anyway so it just took an extra 10 minutes to cut out and drill another spacer. Super jealous you didn't run into any issues with the front plates! Though it was a bit of a fun journey to solve the problem with a simple and relatively elegant way (for my inexperienced hand at least).
 
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16ranchel

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lower radiator.jpgpassenger close up.jpgskids installed.jpg
Got the engine plates installed fairly easy this afternoon. I worked back to front since I'd already installed the transmission skid plate. After removing the flimsy plastic piece plus the air dam, I had to remove the bolt holding on the lower radiator cross-bar (pic 1) and then bolted the skid plate pieces on top of it (pic 2). All in all, way easier this time around although I did install the very front skid plate via it's 2 rear bolts first just to see where it was actually going to line up for the front attached pieces.

You could probably reinstall the air dam with some trimming but not worth it for me. Hopefully this provides a little bit more for the next guy searching.
 

eddytheexpy

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Did you get both of the upper bolts into the mount that the plate seats to? It looks like you were missing the forward speed clip. if everything lined up right including that bolt, I'm super curious why my expy has this issue since the consensus is that mine is an outlier. At first I'd wager a guess that the frame is bent from the previous owner(s) but the problem was perfectly symmetrical so who knows. BTW the front bolt/nut/washer combo is different from the other 2 because that was a random bolt to match the threads of the speed clip I picked up from NAPA. I don't believe its the same grade but is worlds better than not having it.
 
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16ranchel

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Are these the bolts that you were asking about? This view is from passenger side. The forward bolt went right into the speed clip that was there from the air dam. I did put one of the RCI supplied washer in between the plate and the frame just to try and make it slightly more even with the rear bolt/mount. I used one of the RCI bolts for the rear one vs. the OEM bolt that was holding the lower radiator only because it gave about 1/4" more thread so it grabbed sooner when I was screwing it in.

I didn't require any spacers for the engine plates. Only issue I had with all of the RCI skids was the exhaust contact at the rear of the transmission skid but got that sorted (explained in a previous post).

Maybe ford put some holes or left some out between expy and f150 over the years during manufacturing. That's my only guess since there'd be no reason for them to document it for consumers.
 

eddytheexpy

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Huh yeah that’s the bolt I was talking about. In the package I got it only had 2 speed clips and 4 bolts for that mount. My research tells me that’s the norm unless you request the extra pair of clips for mounting on an expedition.

In the pics you posted it didn’t look like the speed clip was in there but I guess it was hiding behind the mounting plate. Well, glad you have everything you needed and sorry for preemptively stressing you out!

Idk why mine was such a weird one. I tried putting it all on several times thinking it was hung up somewhere I wasn’t seeing but kept getting the same result. So that’s when I decided to roll up my sleeves, crack out the calipers and start take measurements of everything and figure out what the hell to do. I’m an engineer so if I’m going to do it, I’m going to over-do it hahaha. So, I didn’t go by eye on any thing and by my calculations, there was certainly interference with the differential. So I built a spacer accordingly to give me the clearance I needed. It’s strange to me that this appears to be a unique issue that I faced especially considering that it’s mostly frame related which was more than likely build by robots. I guess that points to the skids I got just being out of spec since that was probably made by an actual machinist. The problem I had was 2 fold, it interfered with the differential even without any of the other plates plus they didn’t line up.

Wow. Now that I actually wrote my thoughts down, I figured out what was wrong. The bends in the rear engine skid plate must have been off. If they were bent just a few more degrees, it would have cleared the differential and that would have shortened the length profile enough to meet the transmission skid plate properly. That’s the most simple explanation and is totally consistent with my problems. Glad we got to the bottom of this haha
 

LokiWolf

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Great documentation ya'll!!!

Glad you got it, and have MUCH better protection.
 
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