CanukRaptor
New member
Thanks. I have read that rough country doesn't fit and other say it does. Never wanted to pull the trigger without knowing for sure. Thanks again.
badm0t0rfinger's 2014 Raptor build
- Thread starter badm0t0rfinger
- Start date
badm0t0rfinger
Raptor Apologist.
No problem. I'd other a new set of the nut retainer clip assemblies for the skid plate before pulling it....
The part numbers are
W706894S439 BOLT
W707640S439 NUT
The torque specs are
front bolts 35lb/ft (4 total)
rear bolts 41lb/ft (2 total)
And there are 2 flag nuts that come with the winch plate, you shouldn't end up needing them. Also there is a cover piece that I never ended up using, if you cut out the front mesh it should look pretty factory. I'll take a close up picture tomorrow.
badm0t0rfinger
Raptor Apologist.
I did a small modification, but huge impact as far as quality of use type thing.
badm0t0rfinger
Raptor Apologist.
So I first installed this about a week ago but I was unhappy with the final fit and finish. The mounting is such that it slides in and is retained from the same direction on both the inner and outer surfaces (not a great design, not gonna lie). The inner mount has two tabs that slide right into the box, but with that setup it was sliding inwards towards the engine and not seated onto the air box. So what I ended up doing is pulling the inner mounting bracket and tacking on about a quarter inch onto them at a 90 degree angle and then sliding it up into place then using the supplied bolts to tighten it down, since then it hasn't slid at all. I know I'm not the best at explaining it, so I'll try to do up a video this weekend. I checked into work on the 13th, went into quarantine and then I've been slammed at work. Anyways, had to take about 20 minutes to fix this to be up to my standard, sounds amazing all the same.
badm0t0rfinger
Raptor Apologist.
I'm between a few different exhausts right now. The one I absolutely adored is no longer made with stainless steel, only aluminized steel which while the cost is much less its a huge bummer that Id be getting an exhaust that could potentially rust out in a few years. I'd like to get a mid dumb forward of the axle so when I upgrade the suspension interference with the exhaust will be a non-issue. I also don't want it be obscenely droney so a resonator is still a must.
Anyways been an extremely busy few weeks getting the ball rolling at work and trying to condense a full house worth of stuff into a 1 bedroom apartment and a 10x12 storage unit. But with a new precedence on maximizing space I've been getting rid of a bunch of stuff... like my old Jeep.
I felt like paying for the extra parking at my apartment wasn't worth it and I knew aside from rolling around once in a while with the top down. After slogging through a bunch of low ball offers I ended up getting a very reasonable offer from a nice girl who lived about an hour away from me, she drove down to see it and then we met half way after agreeing on a price. The Jeep was already paid off so I gave here the title and she went off into the sunset with my old Jeep. Glad I was able to part with it and the new owner seemed like she was really psyched to be getting something so well done up. She didn't understand everything but she said she used to go offroading with her dad in his Jeep which based on the description was probably a CJ8 since she said it was probably longer than mine, but much older so no chance it was a LJ (TJ Unlimited). The sale helped me pay off a few small bills I incurred during my cross country drip and should move the timeline for upgrades to more near future!
I ended up doing some routine maintenance on the truck such as rotating in both of my spares and doing an oil change, but the thing that I was most excited about was getting it professionally detailed, something I had only ever done once prior. It had all the road grime from the 3000+ miles plus it was only washed in the normal car wash bays and those aren't terribly great for cleaning. It ended up being pretty reasonable for a full wash and a clay bar too, I was thinking about paint correction too as I have earned a few new scratches on the trail over the past year or so but that would have made the price skyrocket.
With that being said I pretty much turned around and got the truck all dusty again. I ended up heading east this past weekend, first hitting up Julian, CA which meant I had to stop for a pie at Julian Pie Co., although I do recommend going to the Santa Ysabel location about 7 miles further north as its more low key and out of the main tourist trap that is Julian's main road. There is also a nice little shaded seating area outside that isn't a competition to get a seat. I then headed east into Anza Borrego and then Borrego Springs where we had to hit up the metal sculptures. Some were closed unfortunately and even the ones visited may have been closed as well, but we didn't go to any that were obviously off limits, so we were unable to see all of them, so theres a reason to go back there again later this year.
Next we continued east towards Salton Sea, but we made a small detour into Ocotillo Wells and saw some great views. I wanted to explore further but unfortunately my air compressor was broke after being packed up and shipped with the rest of my house hold goods and even though I ordered something to replace it, shipping is still a few weeks away; I will absolutely return when more prepared.
We arrived at Salton City and resupplied a bit, got gas and had lunch (which was tacos sold from an old ladies garage, even had to break out my 8th grade Spanish!) and headed out towards the "shoreline" and boy it was... interesting.
The map said that we should have been underwater, but it was easily a few hundred feet from us, and we could have gone closer but again we were the lone truck out there, no way to fill the tires once deflated and I could see the creme brulee like mud just on either side of the hard packed area that was safe to drive on, with plenty of tracks showing other vehicles that had strayed away and paid the price.
We then headed south towards the abandoned Navy Base and got as far as this sign before turning around.
After turning back around we headed towards Niland and eventually wound up at Slab City and of course had to hit up the instagrammer's favorite place: Salvation Mountain. Unfortunately there weren't any half naked instagram "models" however it was basically a ghost town, I think there were maybe 3 or 4 other people there.
Only amount a mile down the road was East Jesus, which I found to be much more profound that Salvation Mountain. There is this overwhelming feeling of mistrust in the media, rejection of social norms, distrust in the government coupled with extreme mental illness and drug use. I'm not trying to make any sort of alliteration towards any mainstream political thought, just weird how all of that meshes and the creative output is this creepy, sad and oddball art installation. I could have stayed there a very long time just studying different things, however it was creeping out my travel companion and she wanted to chuck deuces as quickly as possible.
The TV wall is only an incredibly small portion of it. You will be able to see it once I'm done editing all the footage I have from the trip.
We were planning on heading north and exploring Bombay Beach but it was getting extremely hot to the point that we had already powered through 2 of our 4 gallons of water and I was having issues keeping my gopros cold enough keep filming. We made an executive decision to head back and thats when we hit our hottest temps.
We took the 8 back until the 94 towards Tecate and the whole area was swarming with Border Patrol. I don't think I went more than a few minutes without seeing a truck either pulled to the side of the road or going the other direction I was traveling. I also saw part of the the border wall up on a pretty steep mountain/hill but unfortunately was unable to get a picture of as I was driving and my passenger was passed out! After getting home we saw on the news that multiple heat records had been set in a few of the places we visited and that made a whole lot more sense. Other than being extremely exhausted, stinky, sun burnt, and maybe a bit dehydrated we were fine and absolutely enjoyed ourselves. I realized a few things that I know I want to upgrade now so that I can hit it up some of the same places later this winter when I get back from my next deployment. Thanks all for reading, I'll be posting a video once I get some time to edit it all.
frink84
Active member
I'd also recommend Dudley's Bakery on the same corner as the Santa Ysabel Julian Pie Co shop. Killer bread and sandwiches.
badm0t0rfinger
Raptor Apologist.
Awesome I'm gonna add it to the list for the next trip. I'm probably going to head that way again in a few weeks when I have some family visit. We grew up going to cider mills so having a place that does fresh cider and pies, well its going to be a must!
badm0t0rfinger
Raptor Apologist.
I had my windshield washer fluid pump go out on me the night before the aforementioned trip....
badm0t0rfinger
Raptor Apologist.
Finally completed my video of my trip.
justbecause
perpetually lost
have you had any issues caused by running the flat diff cover?
badm0t0rfinger
Raptor Apologist.
No, however I'm changing it to a Ford Racing diff cover next time I do fluid change.
badm0t0rfinger
Raptor Apologist.
Received the skid plate I ordered back in July earlier this week so took the time to install it. it was super easy and even came with some nylon nuts, but I ended up throwing some red locktite on all the same. I grabbed the wrong torque wrench (way too high of a ft/lbs range) but its such a low torque spec that good'n'tight will probably work just fine for the time being.
Also, I added a new daily driver to the stable.
The truck will still be my adventure vehicle and also my tow vehicle (more on that in a few months). This is just easier to live with in a city, too many short parking garages for my liking! Only downside is that my apartment only has a few charging spots, but thankfully they have reservation periods so that makes it a bit easier to live with.
Also, I added a new daily driver to the stable.
The truck will still be my adventure vehicle and also my tow vehicle (more on that in a few months). This is just easier to live with in a city, too many short parking garages for my liking! Only downside is that my apartment only has a few charging spots, but thankfully they have reservation periods so that makes it a bit easier to live with.
D
Deleted member 9101
Guest
Oh man, I totally get owning a car for daily use. My wifes Fusion is immensely easier to drive in a congested city than my truck.
When we go to St.Augustiene, my truck stays in the garage. It physically won't fit in many of the parking spaces or in the parking lot of the Hotel we love (The Kenworth Inn).
When we go to St.Augustiene, my truck stays in the garage. It physically won't fit in many of the parking spaces or in the parking lot of the Hotel we love (The Kenworth Inn).
badm0t0rfinger
Raptor Apologist.
Absolutely dude. I already had issues with parking garages as well as super tight parallel parking in the city so I just decided to bite the bullet and make the call. Plus its a great driver; the acceleration is MILES beyond any sort of similar level of car. I was thinking about a few other vehicles, but this won out. It was on the high end of my budget too, and puts some ideas for projects to the side for at least few years, I had be toying with an idea for a higher end sports car, but this made more sense... screw getting old and being more sensible! Plus with living in California for at least the next 4 years [starting from this past April] that with the support structure here it wouldn't be bad at all.
Plus any trip to Los Angeles this will probably be the vehicle taken. I have a friend from high school and she lives out that way and shes been bugging me to come up to visit since I got here in July.