Tom’s 2014 XLT 4X4

[ExplorerTom]

I love this rack.

 

[ExplorerTom]

Tap tap….. is this thing still on?

Well, believe it or not but I’m still here. I still own the 2014. I still really enjoy this thing. The 2014 has basically been been just churning along without much attention. We’ve taken it on several road trips from Denver: SW Utah, Chicago, Minneapolis, Little Rock, and Lubbock. It’s fantastic on the highway- so smooth and quiet. And if you can drive slow enough, decent gas mileage. On a recent trip to Lubbock, I set the cruise roughly 5 mph under the speed limit. I got 18 mpg on the way down. I was thrilled. I towed a car back from Minneapolis into a headwind and got 9-10 mpgs the whole way.

The Cooper tires I put on back in February 2020 were pretty worn out in March 2022. I only got 42k miles on them. Their snow traction took a nose dive and while driving to Minneapolis in March 2022, they nearly killed me- twice. I also wasn’t thrilled with my factory wheels. I searched Marketplace for some F150 wheels and found a set with some nearly new Michelin Primacy tires. I really like the look of the F150 tires (and yes I had to trim the rear axle shafts). Since the Michelin tires are more of a highway tire than the A/T nature of the Coopers, they are even more smooth and quiet. Also, my average MPGs are trending upwards since switching.

 

[ExplorerTom]

I upgraded the factory radio and ditched the SYNC. I got a Pioneer head unit from crutchfield.com. I got the wire harness that retained the steering wheel controls. This head unit has Apple Car Play- which is fantastic.

And I got a Trackform phone mount that is rock solid. Yes I had to drill into the dash to secure it, but it is solid. Very happy with it.

 

[star-art]

My Winter tires (my first set were Cooper) are quite "sticky" compared to my Summer tires. I lose 10mpg when those are on. If you want better mileage, a smooth-riding tire is a must.

 

[ExplorerTom]

In my opinion, the cigarette lighter 12v plug in the dash is pretty worthless. There’s another one on the back of the center console and another one in the rear cargo area, so having a third in the dash is overkill. Sure I can get USB adapters, but my experience with those is hit or miss.

I picked up an extra 12v plug from a junkyard. One reason I got an extra is so if I boogered it up really bad, mine wasn’t ruined. The other reason was to get practice removing it: it’s not easy.

I bought a Blue Sea Systems (#1045) dual USB charger. I’ve used these on other vehicles with great success. They are quality pieces.

I had to trim some of the 12v plug plastic away, but I got the Blue Sea Systems to fit in there like it’s supposed to.

 

[ExplorerTom]

My IWEs were making some chattering noise when cold. It was pretty subtle. I tried to diagnose what in the vacuum system was bad so I could just replace that. I hooked up vacuum pumps and gauges and everything appeared to be working properly. I spun the wheel, turned the steering, moved hoses around……. Nothing. Everything would function properly while being diagnosed, but it would chatter while driving.

I got tired of that. I convinced myself that even if I did find the component that was bad, another would be shortly behind it and I’d be troubleshooting again.

I ordered some RCV IWE lockouts from Stage3Motorsports. Installation was pretty straightforward.

Chattering is gone.

For those that ask about impacts to MPGs: the answer is that it was negligible. I track every tank on fuelly.com and didn’t notice any changes. Switching from the A/T Coopers to all season Michelins made a noticeable difference, but not the RCVs.

 

[ExplorerTom]

My AC performance has never been what I’d call “great”. It cools well at speed but sucks in stop and go.

I don’t know if this is related or not, but sometime around Thanksgiving, my AC clutch grenaded itself. When I started the engine to leave work, I noticed a funny noise. Soon after a squealing noise and smoke poured out from when the hood. The smoke smelled like burning rubber. And then it quit.

Weird.

And I had to be somewhere. I saw the smoke coming from the AC clutch so I wasn’t too worried and I continued on. I wasn’t able to address it for a couple days. For the most part, the engine ran normal. Occasionally it would screech but cycling the AC button got it to stop. But then the engine would shake. That outer ring would get hung up and be way out of balance.

Removing the old clutch wasn’t as easy as it’s supposed to be. That center bolt wasn’t coming out for me.

Out comes the angle grinder!

I was able to cut off the outer ring, leaving only the center hub. I did this so I could drive it over to a friends house to use his welder. I welded a washer to the bolt head and was able to turn it out. I cleaned up all the melted rubber, got the friction surface all clean and installed the new AC clutch.

I hoping this solves my poor AC performance but I won’t know until the weather gets hot.

 

[ExplorerTom]

Geez, I easily forget about this thread.

I swapped out the factory fog light assemblies for some LED assemblies from Morimoto that I bought from Headlight Revolution.

Direct swap. Super easy to install. The light output seems really good.

 

[ExplorerTom]

The factory speakers are kind of underwhelming, so I replaced all of the door speakers with some JL Audio 5-1/4 speakers.

I also added an anechoic pad to the door skin directly behind the speakers and a bunch of “speaker tweakers” from some audio shop.

One of the factory speakers grills was crushed from the door wire harness during original installation. That could NOT have been good for sound quality.

The difference between the factory speakers and the JL Audio speakers is night and day. Yes the JL Audio speakers are smaller, but they are round- which is actually better. And the size the magnet isn’t even close.

 

[ExplorerTom]

Well, the new AC clutch that I installed earlier that year did not solve my problems. Before it got too warm, I fully rebuilt the entire AC system. New AC compressor, condenser and expansion valves. Plus I back flushed both evaporators and the lines.

I strained the flush fluid to see how bad it was. It was gross. If you ever replace an AC compressor, you have to back flush.

The new system has been working great. Later that summer I drove thru Vegas in late July. It was 118 degrees and I stayed cool- even in traffic.

 

[ExplorerTom]

My steering wheel was showing some pretty significant wear. I found a place in Texas that specializes in steering wheel reconditioning (Craft Customs). I had them also add a little extra padding to give the wheel a fatter grip.

Because I had to send the steering wheel to Texas, I got a replacement wheel from the junkyard- which also allowed me a chance to practice how to remove the steering wheel and the air bag and all the buttons.

The end result is great.

 

[BlueStangGT]

Great stuff, Tom. Always enjoy reading your posts.

 

[ExplorerTom]

I hate (fake) wood trim almost as much as I hate chrome and chrome trim. I decided to cover the fake wood trim with fake carbon fiber vinyl wrap.

Watched a YouTube video and went for it. It wasn’t too hard. A little learning curve, but not bad.

I also sanded down the chrome trim and door pulls to give it a brushed look. Looks less chrome of more like machined aluminum.

I did this in 2 sessions several months apart, so here is the final product.

 

[ExplorerTom]

My Pioneer head unit that I installed a couple years ago gave me the “white screen of death” which is apparently common with Pioneer head units. The solder connections aren’t good enough to handle vibrations over time. Sometimes the radio would work, sometimes it wouldn’t.

I have a JVC head unit in my Explorer that sees serious vibrations. This same unit was previously installed in my 2000 Expedition, so it’s seen some miles. And according to the rep at Crutchfield, JVC is known for better longevity compared to Pioneer.

I ordered a new JVC head unit and dispatched the Pioneer with extreme prejudice.

 

[ExplorerTom]

The Michelins Primacy on the F150 wheels I bought were starting to really stink with their winter performance. I estimated that the tires has about 42k miles on them (my miles plus what the seller told me).

I didn’t want to go with a full blown “all terrain” tire since this thing lives on pavement. I found these “on road all terrain” tires from Falken and decided to give them a try. The Coopers and Michelins were both P-rated tires and these Falken Wildpeak AT3W-A tires are LT.

The AT3W-A have a more constant center rib, which gives them good road manners and have just enough chunk on them to make them look decent.

An LT tire is supposed to be run at a higher inflation pressure than what’s on the door. You need to find the tire manufacturer’s inflation table and compare your vehicle’s axle weights. Doing all that, I came up with 47 psi. Seems to ride well and I’m going on 9 months and wear is negligible. I keep a log of various decibel readings (phone app) while driving at different speeds and these aren’t really any louder than the Michelin highway tires. Really like these tires.

I helped a buddy mount the Falkens to the F150 wheels and we swapped the Michelins over to my factory Expedition wheels. I think I sold the old stuff for about $200.

The Excursion in the shop next to mine was pretty sweet!

 

[ExplorerTom]

Getting an intake was something I went back and forth on for a long time. I’ve heard from other people that the 5.4 makes an annoying sound with an intake- but I’d not experienced it for myself. I knew that the factory intake was also a cold air intake and probably filtered better than a K&N or similar filter that you’d use with an aftermarket intake. But that part of me that just can’t leave well enough alone won out.

Initially, I too thought the intake made an annoying noise while accelerating hard. But over time it either grew on me or I just don’t notice it anymore.

The butt dyno definitely registers a couple extra ponies. Right after I installed it, I took a road trip. When passing semis, it seemed to have an extra punch that I had not felt before- and I had taken many road trips with this before the intake.

The K&N filter was short lived though. A few days after installation, it started running rough after a cold start. I ordered an AEM dry filter to replace it (and cleaned the MAF). Haven’t had any issues since.

Improvements in MPGs? Maybe. I’d have to dive into my fuel up records and look. Lots of other variables too, so hard to attribute any change to the intake. Hasn’t hurt MPGs though.

 

[ExplorerTom]

An oil separator/catch can was some “low hanging fruit” on my list of “desired mods”. Yes- I keep a list. I don’t really rank them per-say, but you know what I mean.

This is one thing I have no experience with. I know they are particularly beneficial for direct injected engines, but on “traditional” engines like the 5.4, the benefits might not be as prominent. I watched a bunch of videos on them and read up on them and decided to buy one.

I decided on a JLT from summitracing.com. I’d have to look and see if they claim it fits a 2014 or not- I know their bracket to attach to the firewall does not work at all: I had to space it away farther. I used a hurricane strap left over from a building project that I had laying around. My bracket works great.

I recently changed my oil and dumped the catch can. I had about 3-4,000 miles on the catch can and I got maybe an ounce worth of oil. Not a ton, but it was surprising to see. It certainly works. I haven’t noticed any changes to performance (not expecting any) since installed.

It’s a nice piece. Very well built. Except for the bracket issue, it’s plug’n’play with OE style connectors on the hoses.

 

[ExplorerTom]

Sway bars. Ford offered the rear in 3 different sizes and all fronts are the same. My rear happened to be the largest.

So why upgrade? Facebook Marketplace will do crazy things to you…..

I found a set of Hellwig sway bars for $300. One was used and one was still new in the box. I had $200 in my Venmo from something I did where I wasn’t expecting money- so it was like free money.

Before I installed them, I got new end links. Figured 175k miles on the factory ones was long enough.

I did both at the same time so I can’t comment on individual improvements from each. But they are definitely stiffer. Cornering is flatter- not that I corner fast in this thing.

Would I do it again knowing what I know now? I don’t know. For $100 ($200 with the new end links), sure. For full price (like >$700 + $100 in end links): no way.

 

[ExplorerTom]

Yesterday marked 5 years of ownership- which is about 4 months longer than I owned my 2000.

In those 5 years, this truck has taken me (and most times my family) to 25 unique states and has covered a little over 100k miles. The truck has worn 4 different sets of tires in that time- not all were new. It still has the same Optima Yellowtop that was in it when I bought it. I’ve slept in it 4 nights. It’s been to a minimum elevation of sea level and a maximum elevation of 11,990 feet. I’ve towed 3 times with it.

Maintenance has been pretty minor in this time. The only big one was a rebuild of the AC system. Upcoming will be a rebuild of the front steering/suspension.

It currently sits at 192k miles. I don’t have any plans to sell.

Here’s to another 5!

 

[ExplorerTom]

It currently sits at 192k miles. I don’t have any plans to sell.

Oh boy. This awkward…..