2006 F-150 build

[RWB_F150]

So here I begin. I have always loved being outdoors, and i have always loved tinkering with my truck. I have been obsessed with overlanding the last few months, and even more so once I found Expedition Overland on YouTube. Those guys are awesome. I am in the process of building this truck up a little for the wife and I to travel and explore
I purchased this 2006 F-150 XLT 4.6l 4x4 in 2008 with 30,000 miles on her. It was super clean with no problems.
The only thing that I got the dealership to do was undercoat it.

Fast forward 8 years and 115,000 miles later she now has 145,000 miles on the clock and I have only had minor troubles. Broken window switch early on in its life, and a seized brake caliber about 10,000 miles ago, are about all of the factory problems. I am seeing a small leaking between my motor and transmission. I really don't know where it's coming from, but it's not a huge problem right now, fingers cross hopefully it should never be.

Now onto me problems. After broken head lights, broken side mirrors, dented front bumper, stratches all down the side It really has been a great truck.
I had a guy run into my rear wheel, bent the crap out of my rear rim and axle, but luckily no body damage.


All and most of this stuff has been recent additions. I am finally out of school, have a great full time job.
2.5 inch hell bent stell leveling kit was installed, and to be honest it was a pain in the ***. I'm glad my dad has a car lift and that he could help me. Also added a 1.5 inch pro comp add a leaf to the rear.
These allow me to clear 285/70r17's



Some truck porn to look at.
I used 4 cans of plasti dip to coat the wheels.

 

[RWB_F150]

Cheap back up camera installed, there are tons of DIYs on the Internet. For some reason the screen is black and white now, I have not figured it out, I will prob just get a new one.

 

[RWB_F150]

I have been dying for some type of storage. I have always have had a truck box and hated everything thrown in there. I sold my truck box and found an awesome deal of a camper shell. Took it to the shop and got it painted. I built a box for the back of my truck, the thread can be found in my signature. Also sewed on some name strips of a little organization onto some bags I found at Sears.



So this is where I am currently at. I did not want to pay 150 dollars for a new set of tracks, not going to happen. Being the tinker that I am, I went to A local junk yard and found a 2004 Ford Expedition and unscrewed the rack off the top. It was super easy and just required a star bit. It has some rubber on the bottom of it. It was 71 inch long, but when I messured it I did not take into account of how the front of the camper shell is some what recessed in the front, so I will have to cut the track a bit. No big deal, just a hassle. Hine sight I should of grab the one off of a 94 explorer I found which was a little shorter.
I also grabbed the bolts from ithe track, went to local hardware store found found nuts the would work, some rubber to back againt the fiber glass, and stainless steal washers.

This evening I'm going to cut the tracks and paint them.
I am waiting for my atv ramp to get here so I can make a roof rack, and figure out my spacing.




The plasti dip is going to be for a special project once the rack is installed.
I bought some butyl rubber from local RV store. I have a leak in the very front of my camper shell that I need to stop.

 

[RWB_F150]

First I need some type of mounting hardware to attach my atv ramp roof rack to the tracks I picked up from an expedition.
It was a little difficulty to figure out what I needed, being that I wasn't able to find information. I found this took the chance and it works.


I had to clean those nasty tracks up! Nothing a little purple power couldn't fix.

I had to shorten the tracks, so all it took was a flat head screw driver to pop both ends off. I wanted to reuse these for the look, other than leaving the sections plain.


Rack was purchased from Cabelas. It was on sale, delivered to my door for $110

Just laid out to see how it will look.

Cut the track to the length I wanted, I think i did 57 inch just because it was right before some intrack hardware that was in the way. In this picture you can see where I drilled an additional hole so i can reuse the track plastic end cap.

 

[RWB_F150]

Sorry for the attachment above and below, I do not know why its posting that.
I had some scrap 1 1/2 inch steel tube laying around, this will be used for the feet to attach the rack to the tracks. No real reason in the length, I just cut them to 6 inches because it looked right.

Meanwhile I painted the tracks and end caps. The tracks were sprayed with krylon paint and prime. The end caps were plastic, I had some plastic restore lying around so I used that. 3 coats should do it.

No turning back, or returning!

The orginal bolts that were picked from the tracks got a coat of paint as well.

This is the bottom plastic beneath the tracks, it was cut to length and reused

 

[RWB_F150]

I used 4 grade 8 bolts to attach both sections together. The sun was setting, so the photos are a little dark. Also there are "pegs" that are on the ramp which allow the ramp to sit on the tail gate, these will have to be cut off, and smoothed.

Here you can see the square tube. I cut a section out so It would be easy to attach bolts. Since the shell is curved I put the tube in my vise and bent it to work. Sorry I do not have a better explanation.

I was waiting to drill holes for the track for the rack to line up. Here is a test fit. I am waiting for another set of eyes to take a look at it, so I can make sure it looks square before I take the final plunge.

Love the clearance, I want a low profile look. I think it is going to work good!

 

[Raul B]

Looks good so far... cant wait to see updates

 

[RWB_F150]

Does anyone have an idea on what I could put over the openings of the rack?
I thought about getting some aluminum channel, but a 4 foot section is close to 20 bucks.

 

[stingray1300]

If by "openings", you mean the ends of the tubes (?), then yes - do what professionals do and buy some plastic end caps and pound them into the tube ends.

 

[Ivan]

I used 4 grade 8 bolts to attach both sections together. The sun was setting, so the photos are a little dark. Also there are "pegs" that are on the ramp which allow the ramp to sit on the tail gate, these will have to be cut off, and smoothed.
View attachment 299916
Here you can see the square tube. I cut a section out so It would be easy to attach bolts. Since the shell is curved I put the tube in my vise and bent it to work. Sorry I do not have a better explanation.
View attachment 299918
I was waiting to drill holes for the track for the rack to line up. Here is a test fit. I am waiting for another set of eyes to take a look at it, so I can make sure it looks square before I take the final plunge.
View attachment 299919
Love the clearance, I want a low profile look. I think it is going to work good!
View attachment 299920

What are your final measurements on the rack? I've been racking my brain on a solution similar to yours for my Ford Expedition, but never thougt of atv ramps. That's brilliant and quite elegant for a low profile rack.

 

[RWB_F150]

Yes the ends of the tubes. I looked over Home Depot for a good 30-45 minutes with no luck at finding anything that would work.
Could you be a little more descriptive with end caps? Link or picture by any chance.

 

[RWB_F150]

What are your final measurements on the rack? I've been racking my brain on a solution similar to yours for my Ford Expedition, but never thougt of atv ramps. That's brilliant and quite elegant for a low profile rack.

Thank you, I wish I could take credit, but I got the idea from else where and adapted to suite my needs. Final measurement once bolt together is 65 inches long and 47 inches wide

 

[RWB_F150]

Quick update.
Tracks were installed painlessly onto the shell. Let's hope it doesn't leak.
Little teaser, parts primed. I used regular primer for the metal feet, and rustolem aluminum primer for the rack.
Till tomorrow!

 

[RWB_F150]

My friend put fold down running boards on his 2010 f150. He didn't want his factory ones so I told him that I would take them off of his hands! Free, and they fit perfectly, same mounting hardware and everything.

Also rack has been painted black, and it was bolted down.
Shell is back on top.
Love the look!
A couple more projects planned for the future.
This is all for now until I can save up some more cash.

 

[RWB_F150]

So much room for activities!