It's an Extang RT model, made specifically for long bed trucks with toolboxes.

 

OK, I'm probably going to go with TruXedo. I had a Lo Pro on my F-150 and loved it. They also had great customer service. When the seals on my cover got messed up they sent me another set free of charge.

I'm not too fond of Extang. The screwed me over on a warranty claim with one of their covers on a previous truck. I won't be buying anything else from them as a result of it.

 

I have mixed emotions about eXtang. I bought my cover used. When the time came to replace the tarp, they were very helpful in replacing it... until they shipped me the wrong cover. Then it became "my fault" and I had to pay for all of the new shipping charges... Til I got the original guy on the phone and he admitted it was his screw up.

 

That's pretty much what happened with me. I had one of the 3 piece Solid Fold covers. The screws attaching the tie town straps for when it was folded both failed at 70mph. The cover then caught the wind and flipped backwards before slamming down on my bed.

At first they were really helpful and sent me a new cover free of charge after sending some pictures. Problem is the new cover had the tie downs bolted on 3 inches too close to the middle on each side to the straps couldn't reach to the snaps to hold it in place while open. Gave them another call and they said they would send me a replacement. Just wanted me to return the first replacement. So I sent the brand new cover back on their dime.

3 weeks went by and I never saw a new cover. Called them and they said that I had messed up and they wanted me to send back my original broken cover not the new replacement that was made wrong. At this point my warranty had run out and they refused to do another full replacement. The best they would do is send me a new joint piece and a replacement panel to change out myself. It took a lot for me to finally get them to do that. They absolutely refused to ship another brand new cover. Even my dealer couldn't get them to deal.

In the end I wound up selling that cover with my 2005 Dakota when I bought my 2008 F-150.

After all that messing around I decided I would never again buy another one of their products.

I really liked my TruXedo Lo Pro QT I had on my F-150.

Finally went and had the tint done today. After seeing a comparison they had of 20/30/35/50% tint all next to each other I decided that 20% was just way too dark. Went with 30% all around instead. WI law say no more than 50% on front 2 windows and no more than 35% on the rest. 35% was too light and different shades would've looked odd. I figure with the 30% I'm just under what the law says and with the huge windows on this thing anyways it doesn't look quite as dark. It would be hard for them to tell if it was 30 or 35 by just looking. It is kind of obvious that the fronts are too dark, but they said they do a lot of 30% and have never had a customer come back because they got a ticket.

Looks like crap right now because it's still fresh and hasn't finished curing. Not supposed to open my windows for the next 4 days. There's also a lot of visible water streaks from the outside but he said they should go away over the next couple days as the film dries.

I'll take some pictures in the morning. Was too dark out by the time I picked the truck up from the shop.

Now I'm trying to decide on the brand and type of toolbox I want to get. Budget is somewhat limited. Went by Northern Tool today and they had a nice Gull Wing I liked, but it was too narrow for my bed. It would've only had about 1" of metal sitting on the rail with about a 3" gap on either side between the box and rail. It was also polished aluminum. I'm planning on painting it with PlastiDip to match everything else.

I'm trying to stay under $500 for the box. A Weatherguard would be nice, but they go for close to $1k which is way too much for me. I'm also undecided on if I want a Gull Wing box or a full lid.

 

Swap the grille out for a higher model one. That plastic thing screams cheap.

 

The black plastic grille was one of the reasons I bought an XL. I don't like chrome.

So had a bit of a mishap today:

Went to install the OEM Fog Light Accessory Kit. It comes with the two light assemblies, a small wiring harness to connect into the main harness at the frame, a new switch, and a new Body Control Module.

Everything is supposed to be plug and play and be 100% OEM parts. They neglected to tell me that a dealer needs to reflash the included BCM to match my PCM and keys or the truck goes into Anti-Theft mode and will not start. Found that out the hard way. Tried swapping back to the original BCM and it was still stuck. Also tried pulling the battery cables off for about an hour to try and force a reset, didn't work either.

Luckily the warranty includes free roadside assistance. So Ford sent a flatbed out to take it to my preferred dealership free of charge. It isn't the place where I bought the truck, but they have treated me well in the past with service. The dealer where I bought it was pretty much useless when I called them and tried to explain what happened.

The good dealer called me earlier and told me they needed both keys to reprogram it. Unfortunately at that point I was 100 miles away. Dropped the key off in the overnight slot and will head back in the morning to pay them to reprogram the truck for me.

The nice thing about having to get a new BCM is that not only is the new one set up to run the fog lights, it includes the required hardware to hook up a Keyless Entry Keypad on my door.

So while the truck was unable to start I was able to get the fog lights to turn on with the new BCM installed.

 

lariat and king ranch grilles are ptm.

 

Maybe some time in the future when I can afford to get either new bumpers or my current chrome ones sand blasted and PTM. I really would like PTM bumpers some say, but it's going to end up costing at least $500 to have mine stripped and repainted and I don't want to do that right now. The Black plastic matches the Flat Black on the bumpers and wheels pretty closely. The guy at the shop that Tinted my windows didn't even realize it was done by me. He thought it came like that from the factory. Was surprised I told him I did it at home in my garage with $50 in spray paint and about 10 hours of time.

Finally got my truck back today. Cost me a little over $100 to have them reprogram my keys/BCM. Apparently if you don't do that it throws over 30 codes into the system and causes a no start condition. Tried to get it covered under warranty by not telling them I messed it up, but they couldn't do that because it happened while I was installing the lights.

Going this afternoon to pick up my Westin HDX Brush Guard that my Dad got me as a birthday present. It's sitting at the UPS facility. If I don't pick it up myself today I have to wait 2 weeks to get it because I have to go back to work tomorrow. Not sure yet if I want to bother doing the install on it tonight. It should be fairly easy to do, just unbolt the bumper bolts and put them back in.

Pic of it currently with new OEM Fogs installed and 30% tint on all windows:

 

Lookin' slicker with the tint. I don't want people to see in mine so I'm debating back and forth on 10 or 20. Did 10 on the wifes car, but I don't have to back trailers with a Lancer.

All that fer foglights! Dang, I'da went with a dash switch and relay. Looking ranchands vs smittybuilt bumpers right now.

No, fake plastic chrome screams cheap.

Adrianspeeder

 

Installed the new brush guard last night. Wasn't too sure if I was going to like it but I do now that I see it on. It was almost impossible to find pictures online of a black one installed on another truck of this bodystyle. It was a toss up between this or the RanchHand Legend. The reason I choose this one over the ranch hand is that the lower support bars for the Headlight Hoops bend up and over the fog lights and follow the lines of the bumper. The lower bars on the RanchHand got right in front of the fog lights. I also like having the two upright bars in the middle instead of two bars going across.

Overall the install process was pretty simple. Unbolt the bumper and remove the two pointless brackets hanging down behind the valence. Use the OEM bumper bolts and the bolts from those brackets to attach it. The hardest part was cutting the valence to go around the lower support brackets.

The biggest problem I had with the brush guard on my F-150 was that it could flex and shake. On very bumpy roads it would actually move enough to tap the fenders just behind the headlights and was leaving scuff marks in the paint.

With this one it doesn't move at all. I grabbed a hold of it after installing it and start shaking it side to side. The brush guard didn't move at all, the whole truck started shaking side to side right with it instead. It's bolted straight into the frame with 1/4" steel plates and 12MM bolts. The upright bars are also made of 1/4" steel. The plates where the bumper bolts go through are even thicker, but I didn't think to measure them. The main tubes are 2" O.D. Minor tubes are 1.5" O.D. The rubber bumpers are kinda cheap, but I like them because I do have a tendency to actually use my brush guards for pushing stuff and vehicles around. Overall it's a decent quality piece of steel. Weighs well over 100lbs. I am pretty confidant that I don't have to worry about messing up the front of my truck if I hit something.

Originally I was going to cut the mesh out of the middle, but I like it now. The holes are big enough to see the grille and Ford emblem through but still small enough to keep large debris and rocks from getting through and into the grille/radiator.







Also went and found a dark area in an undeveloped subdivision to take a few light pictures.




Still on the list of things that need to be done:
-Line-X Premium
-Cross bed toolbox
-WeatherTech window vent visors
-TruXedo Lo Pro QT

 

Interesting, undecided on that. Maybe get a shot farther back?

Anyway to put two lights on either side of the plate?

Adrianspeeder

 

It was hard to get a farther back shot when I took those. The thing so so damn big that I already have to stand 20ft away to get it all in one picture.

I'll try to take some better ones when I get back home in a couple weeks.

Not sure on lighting in the bumper. I like the way it is now. There's also limited places to mount stuff to. Other than the bumper bolts there's not many other mounting points in there. It's all empty space leading up into the radiator.

 

Looks great!

 

Thanks.

Had the truck taken over to the Line-X dealer today. They were putting the Premium coat on it when I called a little while ago to check. Will be done by tomorrow morning. I'll get to see it Friday night if I don't get held up with work hopefully. Luckily I called and checked with them because they had forgotten to write down to do Premium and were able to get it back in to finish it up.

At this point I think I'm just going to get a full length cover for it. I really don't have a use for a Tool Box nor can I afford one right now. I do need a cover for the bed though since I often leave my tool chest and air compressor back there unattended and really don't want them sitting out in the open.

If I choose to go with a toolbox some day I'll just sell the full length cover and buy a new one.

 

Dude, the plastidip on your truck is looking mighty slick. Every bit as good looking as PTM grille and bumpers. (but without the pricetag.)