Better Beaters - Building Cars and Daily Drivers

I finally cleaned out the area behind the fenders on my truck.

This tree has those clumps of seed pods all year round.
Millions of those darn things fall through the year!

I'd been thinking about doing this for years. I've been needing to do this for years!

I have these horrible trees that drop tiny little seed pods year round. They get into everything.

Those darn things get into everything!
I frequently sweep up a GARGAGE CAN load of them.

I could see how they were filling up this space from inside the cab. It was behind the hinge area. I would try to vacuum them out from the inside. For a while I thought that was doing something to fix the problem. Lately the vacuum couldn't pull any seeds out the area, it was packed solid.

This was not a good development. Those seeds and leaves were likely to rot, hold moisture, and decay into a mud like material that could cause rust in the truck's fenders and body.

I had to get that stuff out.

I did not photograph every step while I did both sides, but I recorded enough that you can get the idea of the process.

I would need to unscrew the bottom of the inner wheel well liner, pull it out a bit, and flush out those leaves.

I saw two screws in the bottom front of the liner. and took those out.

This is the left side. There were two more bolts under the rocker.

View from underneath.

Then I looked underneath the rocker panel and saw two bolts and two plastic push pins the were on the bottom of the plastic panel visible on the rear of the fender.

This plastic panel is attached to the bottom rear of the fender.

Once loose, I could force it open.

There was a massive quantity of junk in there!

I pulled the well liner out towards the front. I got enough room to squeeze my hand in. The bottom three or four inches had coalesced into a dense mat. I pried that out and stuck the tool that I used to remove the plastic push pins up in there to encourage all the stuff to come out. Once the solid stuff fell out, the loose leaves and seed pods that were on top of them started falling out.

I did the left side first, the right side was just as bad.

I also used my leaf blower. I stuck the nozzle up there and blew everything free. Then I opened the door and blew from the inside through the hinge pillar openings.

Then I got out my can of WD40 and squirted it all over the area.

Luckily I hadn't seen any indications of rust.

The right side had just as much junk up there, but it was even worse. The bottom of the compacted leaves had decayed into a mud like material. I imagine that when I parked at the curb, the right side of the truck was lower than the left side, and the rain water from the cowl would drain more to the lower side. That kept the leaves and debris wetter for a longer period.

I cleaned all that out as well.

My Harbor Freight "storehouse"
of push pins. Handy to have on hand.

I had purchased a "storehouse" selection of plastic push pins from Harbor Freight a couple of years ago. I found pins to replace the ones that I demolished while removing them from under the fender.

Since I had the push pin selection out, I also finally replaced the gas cap tether pin that had been loose for many years.

I had mentioned that I had the truck cover stolen earlier this year. The thief was in a hurry (Ya Think!) and yanked the cover off. The front edge had gotten caught under the front license plate. It tore the plate and holder off. I straightened out the mounting tabs and stuck it back on, but it had been getting looser and looser. I didn't want to lose the plate while driving, or in the car wash.

I ordered a replacement from Rock Auto. It was the best price that I found.

The slot is on the extreme right side of the photo.

The plate holder mounts without any fasteners or the need for tools. The holder hooks over the lip of the bumper opening and two tabs slide into slots hidden in the bumper.

Good as new.

However I still have more work to do on the truck

I have the replacement upholstery for the bottom of the driver's seat which I have to install. The center arm rest has a seam that has ripped and it could also use a replacement.

The "door open" sensors for the doors are also waiting to be installed.

While I bought this truck new back in '07, it has always been just my work truck. It has always been parked outside. Until a year or so ago I had never even bothered to get a car cover for it. I thought that it would be too much trouble covering and uncovering it. However, now I usually only drive it once a week. I had thought that I wouldn't fuss over it or "fix it up" with nice wheels or things. The only real upgrade that I'd done so far was to add a CD player.

I wrote a post awhile back where I stated that my truck had become my "ride or die."

I had wanted to reduce the number of hobby cars in my stable, and one of the ways that I rationalized that, was by giving my truck "quasi" hobby car status.

To be honest, my truck is probably my current favorite vehicle. I like it a lot, and think that it is a very handsome vehicle. I consider it to be a very honest machine and still enjoy driving it. I wouldn't mind fixing what it needs and maybe buying it a few trinkets. I don't plan to ever sell it.

Now I wish that I started covering it just after buying it. The paint is still pretty good, but the roof is getting kind of dull. The truck has lived outside for 19 years.

I polished and waxed the truck a few days after I cleaned out the fender area. The roof looks better now, but it is not as nice as the hood or body sides.

A new work truck would cost me a bit under 40 grand, about twice what I paid for my '07. I feel that investing in my truck is a sensible idea. Ford doesn't even make access cab trucks anymore.

So it makes sense to take care of what I've got. So I decided to doll it up a bit.

This led to me buying a set of late model OEM 20 inch wheels.

"Ballin"
These make quite a difference.

I also added a set of running boards. This is a more functional addition. My Wife has always had trouble stepping up to enter the cab. I found a nice set that looks pretty sharp at American Truck.

These were sourced from American Truck and were a
surprisingly easy install.

I have a stainless steel top cap for the tailgate that replaces the plastic item that got broken years ago. Still have to get to that.

I had noticed that the lens of the CHMSL on my truck was getting crazed and weather cracked. I forgot about it until one day after running it through the car wash, I noticed that the clear lens had disappeared! I sourced a replacement off EBay. Luckily there had been no intrusion of water.

After all these years and miles of ownership I managed to wear out my steering wheel! I kind of found that hard to believe. I thought I'd try one of those awful covers that I've seen on other cars.