OuterBanks and Factory Mud Flaps + Accessories

[geoking]

My sons OuterBanks arrived Friday afternoon , 14 days earlier than forecasted by the pizza tracker. We were so excited that we visited with the prep guy doing the clean up before closing late Friday afternoon . She was ready for pick up Mid Saturday ( only 3 miles on the odometer) and we went straight to my shop. We had a pile of accessories collected and were excited to get to work. We promptly destroyed the tailgate shock ends trying to replace with "improved" metal ends. Guess what??? There is no way the ends would have ever come off by accident and I can share it's best to leave alone as the quality is outstanding. We moved on to the Redline Hood tube installation and they are an awesome addition. I can advise like many things in life , the first time is a learning experience and afterwords , things are so simple. Hint: Remove the wire harness clip, bolt on the flange and then add the harness clip back. So Simple. We went on to number 3 which was to figure out (like many other forum members) how to add the Ford Factory mud flaps that do not go on with the OE Tube steps. I had purchased a used additional donor set on EBAY for what I thought was going to be a slice and dice welding job to shorten the step rather than cut a slot in the bottom of the mud flap. My son and I pulled the step off the mounting brackets ( just 4 small bolts) and then installed the front mud flaps . Easy EASY job with a professional well designed fit. See picture with step laying on the floor. The first thing we noticed is that the Used 2021 ebay step purchase was different than the 2022 as built. The 2022 step has symmetrical right and left ( front /back ) ends whereas the 2021 front caps were much more angular. The PRIOR plan was to swap right and left sides to enable reversing to get the flat leading edge to blend with the front mud flap. NO need for us to do now , as Ford has thankfully already changed it. WAY COOl! With the tube step disconnected and the front mud flaps installed , we placed the step on top of the brackets to assess the situation. Another OH WOW,... AS THE LENGTH WAS PERFECT. With the front of the tube step against the rear of the mud flap , the rear of the step lined up with rear wheel opening as if it was supposed to be that way by design. Starting to get harder....The mounting holes with snap in clips to hold the nuts are going to have to be relocated or we are going to have to move the brackets on the frame. (NOT!) They are very specific to match the frame contour and bolt weld nut location. So that's not going to happen. Hmmmm....Maybe we should fabricate a "Z" shaped bracket to match the current locations that will jog the step to the rear? "DINNERS READY" , phone call from the Mrs. and we took and hour break and headed back to the shop to lay on the floor and stare up at the puzzle. More ...HMMMM??? Let's just try re drilling the step mounting locations as we don't have anything to lose? Half of the issue was simple and just needed 2 new 3/8" holes . Ah ha! simple and poof. The other 2 required cutting slots and drilling the corresponding 3/8 clearance holes. I taped off the needed slots and drilled out the interior before filing out the edges. SLOW, Labor intensive and the definition of not the best tools for the job. About 11 pm and with one side completed after 5 hours of work to just move 4 mounting locations, we quit for the day. With a morning trip to the big box store for a Dremel small rasp , the second side was completed in under and hour . Whew. We had the rest of the day to play with adding Heritage style fender logo's, screen protector, sill plate protectors and a pre cut rear tail gate inner bottom "PPF". About 2 o'clock we were looking at the tail gate table box and I told my son, I'm just too tired , "next time" as Your dad needs a nap. SMILE. We still have grab handles , Mod Bumper fog light kit with Forscan and the tail gate table to get to. Way too much to comfortably achieve in just one weekend. All the results of buying accessories for over a year while waiting on the Bronco.

My "ON ORDER" Bronco is virtually the same as I dropped the Badlands down to Outer Banks as well as dropped the MOD bumper and trailer tow package to try to get my constraints cut from a qty of 8 down to a qty of 4. ( The Badlands drop removed the e locker and advanced 4x4)

This weekends time with my son in the shop was a blessing. I am thrilled with the outcome and pleased that the tube step mods worked.

Regards,
George

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