roots57

I had to find a place that could put mine in (LA area) and I just looked up local suspension shops for pricing. It should cost somewhere around $400 - $500 just so you know what to expect and so you don't over pay. Good luck!

Haha...slippin' Jimmy!

Just look around and call a bunch of tire shops, I pretty easily found a shop that did it for like $40 per tire/wheel for mounting and balancing. Probably was a little easier for me to find being in SoCal though. I'm sure you will be able to find one, probably stay away from the larger chain stores because I'm betting they are more likely to have that retarded policy. Here's the current Amazon Prime listing for the tires @ $131 each with free shipping: https://www.amazon.com/Atturo-AZ850-High-Perfomance-40ZR21/dp/B01A7EX0SW/ref=sr_1_1?s=automotive&ie=UTF8&qid=1511977271&sr=1-1&keywords=atturo+az850+265+40+21 Amazon has a service offer that you might want to use. You can purchase it at checkout and prepay for mounting and balancing, they will provide you a list of shops in your area that will do it. I'm going to use it next time because it would have been cheaper than what I spent finding a place on my own. Heres a link explaining the prepaid service for tires: https://www.amazon.com/Tire-Installation-4-Tires-Store/dp/B00MPHZKZ6/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1511977648&sr=8-1&keywords=tire+installation This place has them for $113 per tire with free shipping also, but no prepaid service installation: https://simpletire.com/catalog?width=265&ratio=40&rim=21&brand=173&query=catalog So far I'm still really pleased with these tires and for sure recommend them for anyone with 21" wheels looking for summer performance tires that doesn't want to spend $400 per P-Zero. Good luck, let me know how you make out.

I cant see a surface treatment product making any kind of substantial difference in tire life. I'm sure it is a good treatment for preserving the tire appearance and keeping the compound from drying out and things like that. But tire life is based mainly on driving style, assuming you always maintain correct pressure, alignment, and rotation schedule. I have a really hard time believing it can alter the wear characteristics enough to get 150k miles out of them. Bottom line, if you constantly drive your car hard and take corners fast, they will wear a lot faster, regardless of anything you spray on the surface.

how is the lemon law in Ohio? In California we have probably the most consumer friendly lemon law in the country. A few examples of situations are if the car has been in twice or more for the same repair, or has been out of service for more than 30 days (doesn't have to be consecutive days either) within the factory warranty period, you can qualify for lemon law protection. If so, the dealer has to refund every dollar you spent buying the car, including all down payments, monthly loan payments (with interest), and even registration costs. Or they have to replace the car with a brand new one (if new when purchased) or a comparable replacement if it was a used purchase.

The hinged STB design is technically less stiff than a solid STB, however it will still add front end stiffness, simply by fixing the distance between the strut towers. Their main purpose is to transfer some of the load from the outer tower to the inner tower when turning. They can be hinged and still add stiffness because they are only responsible for transferring the lateral component of the load on the outer tower. STBs are more effective on cars with MacPherson strut front suspensions, simply because a double wishbone suspension is already more stiff by design. That being said, the difference in stiffness when a STB is added is fairly minor and thus can only be noticed when really pushing the car.

Are you just trying to install the Raptor grill? Couldn't find the notes Nick sent me before, but I can just explain it to you. Start by removing the black plastic panel underneath the front bumper cover. There are a bunch of small screws along the edge of it, around a dozen of them. You also have to remove at least the screws that attach the front wheel well liners to the front bumper, or just remove the liners all together. I believe I only removed enough to detach it from the bumper cover and enough to allow it to be pulled back to get my hand in there. Then remove the headlamp assemblies, super easy, there are two metal screws and one plastic screw (I think) per light, unplug the wire harnesses and remove them. Then remove the black plastic panel above the grill that covers the hood latch mechanism, its held in place by some plastic push pin fasteners, not screws. Then you need to remove all the screws along the length of the grill at the top, where it connects to the radiator sub-frame. The one tip that Nick shared that was a great idea was leave one or two of these top screws in place (the middle ones), this will keep the front end from dropping to the ground when you remove all the screws. Now for the most difficult part, removing the 3 screws on each side that are tucked down inside the fenders. They are what connects the bumper cover to the fenders. The space is really tight in there, that's the only reason it is difficult. A small ratchet is what I used, but could only back out the screws like one "click" of the ratchet at a time. Once these are off the only thing holding it on is the one or two screws you left in at the top center. Use your foot, or something to prevent it from dropping to the ground, and remove the last screws. There are also wires for the bumper sensors that you need to disconnect if you plan to pull it away from the car. When I replaced my front emblem, I just left the wires connected while I replaced it, but if you are changing the grill, you will need to take it off completely. Hopefully this makes sense, I think it took me around an hour or so. Here is a picture of the underside panel you need to remove, its part number 8310 and is called the Radiator Air Deflector:

I'm really liking these Atturos so far...such a better deal compared to the p-zeros. I was able to push them a bit over the weekend now that they are broken in little. They handle damn good, maybe not quite at the level of the Pirellis, but very close performance wise from what I can tell. I need to take them up and down the snake again soon, just to see for sure. I'm limited on roads near my house that I can test them on without getting a ticket. I like that the initial tread depth is deeper on these compared to the p-zeros too. They should last longer simply because of the thicker tread, plus they have a slightly better UTQG tread wear rating (320 vs 220 for the p-zeros) but these ratings can be deceiving. Another thing I noticed was that they are a bit quieter on the road than the Pirellis were. Looks-wise, they are right up there with the p-zeros as well.

That whole module pulls right off, its snapped in place with clips, just pull it straight down and it will come off. I remember it was a bit more difficult than I had expected, but it came off and snapped back on, no problem.

I'd like to have the gear displayed all the time too, can I just do this with forscan?

I have the Aeroskin protector on my car too, but I am probably going to remove it soon and just apply some vinyl to the leading edge of the hood. I'll basically follow the same profile of the hood protector. My main reason for doing this is the Aeroskin protector is already lifting off at one end and it will start to leave marks on the paint if it already hasn't. I made sure to strip and clean the area extremely well before putting it on too. I think it gets compromised early by the relentless SoCal sun. The vinyl is obviously a lot thinner than the plastic Aeroskin, but still plenty thick enough to protect against normal road debris. Plus it is a fraction of the cost and will probably adhere longer too. Clear PPF (paint protection film) is even thicker/stronger FYI, and its clear in case you don't want it to be seen. IMO vinyl is the best option, unless you are worried about larger than normal road debris. I have seen the bolt-on type acrylic hood protector on a late model Explorer, but haven't seen one for an Edge. BTW, the OEM one you can buy from Ford is actually made by Lund/AVS and just costs more $$. Go with Amazon and save a few bucks, or go with vinyl and save even more.

Ok here is a decent picture of the shims I installed. You have to remove the plastic trim from the front of the seat in order to see/reach up there. The orange shims are placed at one end of the shaft that operates the front portion of the seat up and down. It will all make sense when you take off the trim piece and look underneath while pushing/pulling the seat side to side. You will be able to see exactly where the play is. It might be tough to decipher exactly what you are looking at in the photo below. I put the shims towards the door side of the seat, but I think there is room to put them on either side. It was a little tough getting all three shims in, mainly because its such a tight space. But once I did, the side to side play was eliminated. I am hoping they stay in place and don't deform, otherwise I may just try to have the dealership replace the seat. I'm not going to be able to do a better job of fixing it without taking the whole seat apart, and while still under warranty I'm not putting in that much effort yet. We'll see how it lasts I guess.

I put a couple hundred miles on the Atturos this weekend and my first impressions are great, they seem to handle pretty damn well for a $130 tire, no doubt. The hook very well, which is what everyone has been claiming about them. Apparently these tires have become very popular for charger/challenger scat pack owners because of they're good hooking characteristics (and cheap cost of course). They come in 255/50 x 20 also, if anyone is looking for a super affordable performance tire for 20 inch wheels, I think they're even a bit cheaper than the 21's...closer to $115 each. We'll see how they wear in now, they would need to have very disappointing wear characteristics to not justify the price of these.

So I tested both front seats by grabbing and forcing it side to side and I got the same result as you. Passenger seat is fine but the driver seat has about 1/8th of an inch of lateral play. The pics that you took don't show where the actual problem is though, there's a lateral bar up underneath that rotates within two pillow blocks, this is where the play is. I thought it was at the lead screw initially too. I had to remove the front plastic molding to figure it out and then fix it. I couldn't find a way to adjust it (without taking it off and apart), but I was able to make a few split shims out of .030" shim stock and placed them in the void. Worked out great, I'll take a couple of pics and post them tomorrow in case you want to do the same. Took me about 45 minutes, including the time spent making the shims. I can give you the dimensions for the shims too, save you the time of measuring it yourself. No more lateral play whatsoever.

Thanks for the reply. Let me know what the dealership says about the seat if you ask them to look into it. I'm hoping that its not just a design flaw with these power seats. Technically the seats themselves are not mounted directly to the car, only the base is and seats just travel on rails and a lead screw that relies on brake effect friction to remain in a static position. But there seems to be way too much lateral play imo. I weigh a little over 200 lbs so I'm by no means overloading it.

I'll try that today...I'll compare it to the feel of the passenger seat too.

oop's I completely misunderstood this one lol.

Wow thats certainly a lot more than I got out of my p-zeros for sure. I'm not buying them again based on price alone. I know you have been looking at getting some summer performance tires, I just got a set of the Atturo AZ850's in 265/40 21 for just over $500 all in. The reviews of these tires have been very positive. Apparently Atturo focuses on the light truck and SUV/CUV off road and performance market exclusively. For this price point they are certainly worth a shot. I'll let you know what I think once I put a few hundred miles on them.

I noticed when I take corners hard, my drivers seat shifts slightly from side to side, like it has some play, or is just loose and it is annoying as hell! The seats are already not bolstered enough to keep me in the seat all the way in a high speed turn. This issue is really a result of the H&R springs improving the handling so much that it unveiled this problem. I haven't tried to look into fixing it yet. I'm wondering if I should try to fix it myself, or just take it back to the dealer. Anyone else's Sport seats doing this, especially those with H&R springs?

I got one of these dusters and it works great on freshly waxed (or sealed) paint to clear it of settling dust. Not much you can do about dust settling on your car, regardless of what paint treatment you have.

Wrapping is not that difficult to do yourself if you are half decent with your hands, especially flatter areas like a hood. You can save yourself quite a bit of $$ doing it yourself especially with the stuff available now like knifeless tape to make cutting risk free and precise. I did all my vinyl work myself and have probably spent less than $100 for the materials I've used. A 60" x 60" piece of vinyl (big enough to cover a hood) is about $40-$50, or a 24" x 60" piece is less than $20. It takes a bit of practice and time spent watching some technique vids. So far I've done my exhaust bezels, door handle inlays, rear hatch roof extension, and some hood accents. I've seen Xtra's hood in person and it looks nice.

The OEM 21" Sport wheels are aluminum and come only in a low gloss gunmetal gray finish. A simple google search will get you plenty of pics of them. If you want them with another finish you can have them powder coated in any finish you like for about $100-$125 per wheel depending on the shop. I paid $2150 for my 21" set in gloss black and with Pirelli P-Zeros (rims and tires both brand new and new set of TPMS sensors), which was a pretty good deal. Where is the pricing from that you got? From a Ford dealership the wheels alone are like at least $750 each. I got mine from one of the ebay sellers in Michigan. There are a few companies that sell OEM wheels and wheel/tire packages for pretty cheap prices in the Detroit area. I got mine from US Wheel Exchange, but be careful because most of those companies have awful customer service and seem to be a bit shady. I got lucky and got a hold of the main sales manager, and he kinda took care of me and made sure I got everything I ordered and on time.

I know you have never been a fan of the 21" set up and now I know why. I have been riding on the stock 20's (same 20's you have) w/ Hankook S1 all seasons for the last few days and I do have to say that the difference in ride quality is much greater than I originally thought (compared to the 21's & P-Zeros), way more suitable for daily drive. I did however just order those Atturo AZ850's for my 21's ($530 all in). Also went out and bought a floor jack and impact wrench so I can switch back and forth easily now.

Punctured the sidewall on one of my P-Zeros this morning. I've been looking for a more affordable summer performance tire in 21" since the P-Zeros run upwards of $400 per tire, on sale maybe $250 if you get lucky. I found a couple of options in the $150 per tire range. One was the Radar (Omni-United) Dimax R8+, and I just found these Atturo AZ850 tires on Amazon Prime (free shipping) for $154 per tire. Not bad at all. Wondering if anyone has tried either of these or has comments? https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B013C0C5TI/ref=ox_sc_sfl_title_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER

Did the same with great results, including the side mirror lights. Wrapping only gets difficult for extreme contours in multiple planes (like the tail light lenses).