Hey guys im new to the site, first off. Ranger Owner from LA, CA - going to school @ Cal Poly SLO.

Secondly, i was just looking out for some tips anyone could throw my way as far as installation goes (other than follow directions) on the following:

-Billet Grille
-Tail light replacement

Im also doing swapping out my exhaust system and the air intake but thats not exterior =)
I have yet to do anything too involved thus far with the truck yet, but im pretty tool savvy so any help you guys can throw my way would be great.

Truck is a 2001 Edge.
Ill get some before and after pics up once i get to work this coming weekend (4/7/06)

Appreciate it guys (and gals)
~Mike

 

tails are no prob, just unsrew the two hidden by the tail gate and the 2 on the outside, i dont know about the grille though...ask Mr. Special, he has one and goes to CP-SLO as well
Oh with the tails, some after market lights dont arent a nice bolt-on and may require some cutting and getting new hardware...just a heads up...

 

Also, i forgot to mention in the first post, I'm looking around for the black headlights that i've been seeing on other people's rides. All ive seen are pics w/ no indication of the brand or where they bought the stuff from. Maybe i just read over it someplace though...In addition to the headlight replacement i was looking to possibly paint my corner lenses black (yes, my truck is black) with this spray i found off some other forums link:
http://store.summitracing.com/partde...5&autoview=sku

but im not entirely sure about the legallity of it. I'd go with clear corners but im not positive black headlights and clear corners on a black themed truck would look so hot.

Anyway, all input is appreciated, thanks again!

 

there is the headlight mod, where people bake their headlights and paint inside the lense, then there is also the niteshading of the headlights...not sure about the legality of niteshading the headlights though...ill find a link...

Umm...cant find the link...im sure someone will chime in with one though...

You can also go the less risky but more expensive way and get them off of ebay...eBay

 

niteshades is a great product, as long as you dont go TOO dark with it, it should still be legal, or least keep you from getting hassled by the men in blue (or black?)

we sell the niteshades on our site too, i believe it comes out cheaper than summit with the shipping

 

I dont know how much i trust ebay? have you guys had good experiences with ebay in the past?

 

First off Welcome to the site... you in R1 or R2?

as for the tails and grille, let me know what your looking at and if you buy them we'll get them installed 123

ebay is awesome, i've been using it since 99 and have never once had a problem.

again welcome to the site, hit me up on AIM and we'll talk
SoCalEdge03

 

Thanks man.
ive already ordered the parts but they're being shipped back home to LA where i have all my tools and workspace and things like that.


uh... r1 or r2? haha, yeah im definitely new.

And thanks for the input about the ebay... now i just have to decide on if i wanna fork out the (close to) 200 bucks for that headlight set + corners that was previously posted... but damn those look sweet. =)

 

lol sorry i ment what parking lot are you in here at Cal Poly?

and yeah the pre-done black headlight/corner lights are really expensive, but it's either that or do the mod yourself.

 

All black will look pretty sweet man. Nightshade shiness thru, so your safe with the legality issue.

Aaron

 

hah aww man Mike, i swear ur going to put my truck to shame with those mods

 

Welcome man. We're just in SB. Next time, come to SB with Sean or something. I have a can of niteshade sitting in my garage doing nothing, haha.

I think we need another mod meet... even though i don't have anything to put on.

 

oh right on, nice to meet some fellow ranger-ers... er... yeah in the SLO area, haha, nightshade? sweeeet... i really am starting to hate the amber corners on my truck more and more now as the minutes roll on. haha. Whatever i have left from my installs this weekend @ home will need to be done up here i assume (3 hr drive home = bad)

@ Sean. haha we'll see about that dude. Yours is damn sick. Im just stoked i finally rolled enough $$ to set my truck apart from the norm. Pictures coming this weekend for sure!

 

well get ur *** in gear and make a meet Larson

and thanks Mike

 

i don't have ANYTHING to do!! Do you guys?

 

dude make a meet and i'll be down there. Weekends are usually free (or i can make them free)

 

er... im down? if nobody has anything to do we can... uh.. look at the trucks? yay?

 

hah we always find someting to go do *cough*larson find a trail*cough* but if anything there is always that little dirt park area, and u can all laugh as i attempt that stupid hill again

 

im always down to get some vids of Sean climbing the hill again...

 

Larson and I (literally) baked his headlights and clear corners to open them up and painted the inside of both. They came out really good if you ask me. Baking those things and prying them apart without breaking them can be scary work at first though. If you dont want to drop the 200 on the nice ebay set and feel like tackling the
headlight mod we can give you some tips.


BTW ive never had a problem with Ebay either...just make sure you buy from PowerSellers (denoted in the box near the upper right corner of the Bidding page) and you should never have a problem. PowerSellers are actual companies, not just some shady guy named Joe selling **** out of his mom's basement.

Santa Barbara MEET! Lets do it...we can always drive up the san ynez mountains...theres tons of cool stuff up there. Ill try looking for trails again but they dont really advertise so its really hard to find them.

Larson ~ you still have those step bars...

 

oh yeah and as far as putting a billet grille on...Order of things to remove:

- ~4 Bolts along the top of the grille
- Gap covers on top of both headlights (2 bolts/screws for each light)
- remove headlights by pulling up on the 2 black slider/tabs directly behind each headlight
- remove ENTIRE grille shell (black housing/part surrounding the stock grille and wraps around under each headlight) by using needle nose pliers or flathead screw driver to pull out the (i think) 4 push tabs along the bottom of the grille shell
- remove stock honey comb grille from shell
--> theres a bunch of plastic tabs that hold the grille on. Mostlikey youre going to break a few, if not all, in order to get the stock grille out. If you dont care about ever putting the stock grille back in then make life easy and just intentionally break them all.

 

Greg (dude, i can just talk to you, haha). Them stepbars aren't going on until i get a lift. They'll look so frickin retarded. AND ALSO, we need to fab up a bracket. I wish it was easier.. but yeah.. Well.. i'll be home soon, haha.

Lemme check the days i'm free, and i'm gonna put down a meet. SB meet, Ynez mountains (greg, you find the trials). Ok, that's it.

Maybe we can have a bake sale to raise money for me to buy an amp! =)

 

WOO BAKE SALE!


haha but Larson i swear if you put on nerf bars i will come over there one night and take them off and then burn them

 

they will be on after my lift, hah. My family's asian, they're like tiny people man. I need to be able to climb into my truck

 

lol, i always get a kick out of Larson's asian comments!!! :D

i would stay away from the nightshade stuff. i don't know all of the vehicle code, but i think that will be illegal, at least in CA

i will give you a hint on it though, almost everything that we do is in violation of one vehicle code or another. I have started a great relationship with my local CHP office even before i applied to them and know them even better now. go to your local CHP office(not any other agency, when it comes to vehicles CHP is the only place that really knows their stuff) and ask the officer behind the desk your questions, sometimes you might need to show them your truck to help them understand, but i can guarantee they will give you the truth and might even give you their opinion on whether or not you will get busted for it. keep going back before you do a mod that might be questionable and eventually you might start to get to know them. long before i applied to CHP the guy i go to would come check my truck and brainstorm with me on how best to solve the problem at hand