Custom steering wheel and kick panel guards installed

[The_Auto_Tech]

Custom steering wheel is all wired up and functional with the paddle shifters, just working out the last kink with the heated portion. May need to do a bit of re-wiring with the clockspring, as the heated portion works if I just 12v to the power side of it, but need since it's not wired the same as the factory wheel I've gotta do a little more messing around. If I can't get the heated portion to work it's not a huge loss because of remote start. Biggest concern was making the display and the paddle shifters work.

I also added the kick panel scuff guards. Wearing boots means that area tends to get scratched when climbing in and out of the truck. I've got them on my Gen 1 Raptor and loved them, so I added them to this truck as well.

Coming up in the next few months will be lots of exterior updates, but I will be waiting until my Raptor is all done at the body shop.

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[kevinb]

Thats pretty neat. I live in the mountains with tight curvy roads. So I would like to have a smaller diameter steering wheel.... or a different steering ratio, where I don't have to turn the steering wheel so drastically. I find that I have to continuously swap my hands around to prevent from getting crossed up. More-so than with other vehicles that I drive. Does anyone know if this is possible for less than a thousand bucks?

 

[RedStorm]

Pretty nice setup. Love the steering wheel upgrade. Whered you get the scuff guards?

 

[Mt.F150..]

Scuff guards.. where did you get them? They look kinda like line-x

 

[The_Auto_Tech]

Thats pretty neat. I live in the mountains with tight curvy roads. So I would like to have a smaller diameter steering wheel.... or a different steering ratio, where I don't have to turn the steering wheel so drastically. I find that I have to continuously swap my hands around to prevent from getting crossed up. More-so than with other vehicles that I drive. Does anyone know if this is possible for less than a thousand bucks?

Smaller steering wheel would be tough probably, because you'd have to find an aftermarket one that the outer diameter is smaller. Most of the custom steering wheels are made from a stock steering wheel guts from what I can tell. I'm assuming the issue with trying to make a smaller one would be the button spacing for the thumb buttons. That being said, I do like the way this one feels much more than what my XL wheel did. lol

 

[The_Auto_Tech]

Pretty nice setup. Love the steering wheel upgrade. Whered you get the scuff guards?

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01DO5FWKK?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details

I've got a regular cab, so they weren't a "perfect" fit on the back end, but all I did was take an X-Acto knife and trimmed and shaped it a small bit. My Gen 1 Raptor has ones from the same company that I absolutely loved, so I wanted to use them again.

 

[The_Auto_Tech]

Scuff guards.. where did you get them? They look kinda like line-x

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01DO5FWKK?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details

They do really look like Line-X, and honestly, in my Gen 1 Raptor I've had them about 4 years now and they have been incredibly durable. Worst case scenario if they do wear through, you just peel them off and put a new one on. I thought about repainting the scuffed area and putting clear bra material on it, but that stuff gets scuffed too and looks like crap then. The point of these was to be able to hide scuffing easily.

 

[Bryan Simon]

Thats pretty neat. I live in the mountains with tight curvy roads. So I would like to have a smaller diameter steering wheel.... or a different steering ratio, where I don't have to turn the steering wheel so drastically. I find that I have to continuously swap my hands around to prevent from getting crossed up. More-so than with other vehicles that I drive. Does anyone know if this is possible for less than a thousand bucks?

Not absolutely certain about this, but I believe the 157” and 164“ pickups have a slightly quicker ratio for the steering rack.
something you could look into.
mine is a 164” inch (SuperCab 8’ box), so i Believe the quicker box might be because of the sheer length of the truck.

 

[mwf5888]

I had my wife's Escape and my F150 KR front door sills done with PPF which serves the same purpose as the scuff guards.

 

[jhelrey]

I did something similar for the scuffing but I used 4" anti slip tape. I wanted something grippy, especially in the winter.

 

[The_Auto_Tech]

I did something similar for the scuffing but I used 4" anti slip tape. I wanted something grippy, especially in the winter.

That also would work great! This stuff is pretty similar, just got quite as gritty.

 

[HammaMan]

I'd been wondering when that chinesium wheel style would get a buyer. How firm is the rest of it? Real hard to trust them since most of their stuff is junk. Diamonds in the rough do exist, it's just not worth the risk of buying something of that price out of china cuz you lose $$$ trying to get their junk back to them

 

[The_Auto_Tech]

I'd been wondering when that chinesium wheel style would get a buyer. How firm is the rest of it? Real hard to trust them since most of their stuff is junk. Diamonds in the rough do exist, it's just not worth the risk of buying something of that price out of china cuz you lose $$$ trying to get their junk back to them

Actually, it's incredibly well built, it'll just take you some engineering to get it wired up. The biggest issue is that there's no way to purchase a steering wheel harness from a Raptor that would have heat and paddles, so you end up having to build one yourself. As far as the materials and construction go it's very well made, and they did it in exactly the style I wanted. The display and LED lights are very accurate and responsive as well.

 

[Smokewagun]

I can’t even imagine how awkward it would be letting the wheel turn back after a turn with that shape. Flat, round, lobe. Flat, round, lobe.

 

[The_Auto_Tech]

I can’t even imagine how awkward it would be letting the wheel turn back after a turn with that shape. Flat, round, lobe. Flat, round, lobe.

Well, considering I've driven things that aren't a 1965 Oldsmobile Delta 88, not all steering wheels are the same. You do know that a lot of sport-oriented vehicles use flat bottom steering wheels, right?

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