Mods – Page 4 – Modern Anachronist

Tow mirrors (part 1)

I replaced the factory paddle mirrors with some eBay special towing mirrors this weekend.

The stock mirrors had power and heat when Fessick left the factory. By the time he came into my life, the heat was completely non-operational. The left mirror moved correctly, but the right only moved left to right. It wouldn’t move up and down.

The replacement mirrors have marker lights and turn signals behind a smoked lens as well as turn signals mounted in the glass. Additionally, I can pull the mirror further away from the truck to increase the view when I’m pulling a trailer

New mirror above with built in blind-spot mirror and marker light & turn signals.
Old mirror below — Look at all that space for (viewing) activities!

Oil drain valve

Last oil change I installed this oil drain valve instead of the plug on the oil pan.

Roof rack

The factory roof rack on the Excursion is a joke. In order to keep the car garagable, the crossbars basically sit flat on the roof. Those crossbars flex under any sort of a load, so when you put anything on the roof, you’re denting the roof.

I used the factory rack once and vowed that I would never use it again.

Turning parts into ca$h

When I took the 35″ wheels & tires off, the wife asked me why I brought them home & what I was going to do with them.

I took some photos & listed them on Craigslist for sale. My asking price was high, but my understanding is that everything is negotiated on that site.

Feature Creep

Let’s look at the airbags as an example of feature creep.

An air suspension is great for towing because it lets you have a soft luxury suspension when you’re traveling light, but add stiffness when needed for towing. You can add air at any fuel station, or even with a bicycle pump.

Brake Lights

The easiest job that requires two people.

One of my co-workers informed me that only one third of my center brake light was working.

Time for an upgrade.

The world’s slowest build

I’m totally in awe of those builds that just happen. Guy buys truck. Guy disassembles truck. Guy throws a ton of hardware at it. Super truck done.

This is not going to be that build.

Rules for modifying my vehicle.

Once I put on the 16 inch wheels, I was bombarded with people telling me that I was wrong to take off the 20’s.
Better acceleration.
Better fuel economy.
According to many of my coworkers, these things should be sacrificed on the altar of lifted trucks.

Upfitter panel, or don’t get ahead of yourself

Conversely, when you see a deal, grab it!

I’m a child of the eighties and as such, nothing looks more bad-ass to me than A LOT of cool switches. (Have you ever seen the space shuttle cockpit?)

At the same time, nothing looks worse than a mish-mash of unaligned switches of different styles.

Luckily, the lazy engineers in Dearborn came to my rescue.

Barn door cup holders

Add cup holders to the rear hatch. Perfect for tailgating.

I wish I could take credit for this, but I saw a photo online. These cup holders make Fezzick an even better place to spend time. I’ve installed one of these on each of the barn door panels. The simple version is, “just drop a boat cup holder into the top of the barn door panel.

Completed cup holder. I’ve installed one on each side — Hold my beer!

Continue reading “Barn door cup holders”