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View Full Version : I guess i'll start it off


jerodr
Wed, December 24th, 2008, 12:33 PM
I think of all the mods I have done to my truck, the tow mirrors are my favorite so far (I haven't installed my gryphon yet though). On a scale of 1-5for difficulty I give it a 3 only because the puddle lamps were somewhat difficult to wire. The mirrors are awesome though you never have to look over your shoulder again to change lanes. They are big though...I had to replace my passenger side one already because my girlfriend took it out on a sign.

Power Hungry
Wed, December 24th, 2008, 05:10 PM
I had to replace my passenger side one already because my girlfriend took it out on a sign.

:doh: Ouch!

Those sound nice. Just how hard was the wiring?

jerodr
Fri, December 26th, 2008, 02:35 AM
Well first off you have to switch some ground wires around on the stock mirror harness. Second you have to locate the interior lamp switched power wire under the kick plate(for the puddle lamps). I will go ahead and tell those of you who want to do this mod that the wire is on the driver's side only. It took me about an hour and a half with the test light on the passenger side to figure that out. You have to tap into that wire and run it to both mirrors. Getting the wire through the dash from the drivers side to the passenger side was brutal. The actual wiring is very simple but the logistics of it sucked. They are worth every second of time though!

Jerod

Jackpine
Fri, December 26th, 2008, 10:41 AM
Jerod, do your tow mirrors "power fold" or are they manual? I use the power fold feature on mine so much (anytime I park the truck outside and especially when I pull it into my garage, since the clearance is tight) that I would really miss that feature.

I have the "slip on" tow mirrors from CIPA that are designed to fit around the Ford mirrors and I've found they work great for me any time I tow our trailer. But still, it would be nice to have "real" tow mirrors!

- Jack

jerodr
Fri, December 26th, 2008, 11:45 AM
Jack, no they are not power fold or power extend. That option isn't offered for our year model trucks. I'm not even sure they are offering that option on the 09's. My buddy just ordered a new 09 with the tow mirrors and he didn't mention anything about it. Could be wrong about the 09's but I'm positive about the 04s-08s. If you pull into a garage every day then you might not want these. You would DEFINATELY have to get out every day and fold them in. Power fold is a nice option and I think you would miss it dearly. I didn't have the power fold to begin with so the upgrade was easy for me.

Jerod

banks
Fri, December 26th, 2008, 11:54 AM
i thought that only the 250 up series trucks had the option with power folding mirrors. i did the same thing, bought 08 mirror for my 06 truck

Jackpine
Fri, December 26th, 2008, 12:18 PM
Thanks, Jerod. I suspected as much and, you're right - I use the power fold option so much I don't really see how I'd be able to stand having mirrors without it. The manual extend for tow would not be a problem though.

As I said, the CIPA mirrors are easy enough to install, they're secure, don't cause any damage, and they do a very good job letting me see down the sides of my trailer. I've found I can adjust the regular mirrors way out to the sides so that I see the lanes on either side of me (almost up even with my B-pillar and then I simply have to "lean" a little bit (toward the mirror) to see farther back.

One thing I DID do though, was to replace the puddle lamp bulbs with LEDs. You have to cut the bulb housing apart to do it, which is kind of scary, but the results were worth it. There's a thread on this here: http://www.f150online.com/forums/king-ranch/350919-puddle-lamps-leds.html

The guy who got brave enough to be the real pioneer posted some excellent before/after comparisons.

- Jack

Northern Supercrew
Sat, December 27th, 2008, 12:00 AM
well my mod list is pretty small so far. the Gryphon was super easy to install and rates 5/5. my HID's are great in both the heads and fogs. having some trouble with the drivers head with it not turning on when starting, but will light up if i pull the flash to pass stalk, then start the truck.....gremlin in there somewhere...just started doing it recently when it dropped to -40. Have a leveling kit that i'm too lazy to install yet:doh: only other mod is painting the inside of my heads and tails. nothing else planned except bigger tires....:cool_beans:

bownz4
Wed, December 31st, 2008, 06:47 PM
the mirrors sound great I'm going to look into them b/c I pull a boat quite a bit. So far I've done Magnaflow (love the sound:)) si/do, volant CAI and this weekend e-fans and putting blue led's in my gauges - still nervous about doing the led's but I saw a pic and it looks pretty darn good.

Jackpine
Fri, January 2nd, 2009, 08:27 PM
Are we listing all mods? Here's mine

Gryphon w/custom tunes Economy, Tow, Performance (Favorite mod hands down)
Air Force 1 cai
Maggnaflo SIDO (2nd favorite mod)
OEM Harley Heads (they are actually still in the box waiting for spring) Curerently running HD knock offs
Hella LED Tail lights
Putco smoked LED 3rd brake light
LED License plate bulbs
Silverstar Headlight bulbs
Silverstar Fog bulbs
2" AS
20 x 9.5 MB Motoring Razors
33 x 12.50 20 Toyo MT's
DeeZee 4" Black Chrome Step Tubes
DeeZee Tailgate Damper
Bak Flip Tonneau Cover
Roush Grill
Lower grill to match Roush upper (bought used, not sure of brand)
Summit bed mat and shock covers
2007 OEM Navigation (3rd favorite mod)
Weather Techs
Putco Premium Interior LED dome and map lights
30% Tint

I think that's it

I DID kind of hijack the thread, didn't I? :o Sorry! To try to set things right, I think the DRL's are my favorite (most important) mod after the Gryphon.

- Jack

In a fit of crazyness, Bill and Corey made me a "moderator". And then, Corey noticed I hijacked this thread and "challenged" me to move my post to a new thread. Well, I cannot resist a challenge, so I moved mine to a new one called "List ALL Your Mods". Then came the fun part. I tried to move johnnyd's response to the same new thread. Well, the first thing that happened was I created a duplicate thread with the same name. Then, I DID manage to move his post to the new thread I started.

At this point, I think I'd better quit while I'm ahead (sort of). Probably, Corey, I should have let you "talk me through it"! This is what happens when you know just enough to be dangerous! Fortunately, this forum seems to require NO moderation at all. I'm happy to be part of it!

Humbly,

- Jack

Jackpine
Fri, January 2nd, 2009, 11:27 PM
It's perfect! YOU DID IT! :2thumbs: Hey, I didn't know how to do it a month ago... it's trial by error -- there's no manual, unfortunately. :cursin:

Thank you for the kind words, Corey, but it was far from perfect. The whole concept actually sets up a huge conflict in me - between "Freedom of Speech" and what can be construed as "harmful to another". It's not an easy thing to balance is it? And, here, I've just hijacked this thread again! :smiley_roll1:

I dunno - I think I'm incorrigible.

If you ever looked at the King Ranch forums on f150online, you'd see just how often I hijack threads. :hehe:

- Jack