- Joined
- Oct 15, 2023
- Messages
- 66
- Reaction score
- 32
- Location
- Lansing, Michigan
- What engine do you have?
- V6 engine
- What year is your Sport Trac?
- 2003
- What Generation is your Sport Trac?
- 1st Gen Owner
This is an ongoing project to replicate the following parts:
2001-2005 Ford Explorer Sport Trac
1L2Z-3551728-AAPTM - Moulding - Roof Drip Side Trim RH - Passenger Side (01/2000-06/2005) 2001-2005
1L2Z-3551729-AAPTM - Moulding - Roof Drip Side Trim LH - Driver Side (01/2000-06/2005) 2001-2005
I researched these parts extensively (see my post in this thread from January 2024). These parts are no longer available from any dealership or online parts seller.
The cause of this problem is sun damage. These parts get brittle over time with sun exposure, bend, and eventually break and fall off. After which, you will get water infiltration and eventually rust on both sides of the top rear of your cab, as well as water damage and mildew from the wet headliner. Since sun exposure is the cause, it is impossible to find these in good condition in junkyards. Any good ones were scavenged long ago.
Blame Ford all you want, but this is our problem to deal with now. I have bought and tested all of the available alternative "fixes," and found that they are all a waste of time and money, confirming the sentiment of others who have found the same.
In two years, only three of these trim pieces (one driver's side, two passenger side) have shown up on eBay, supposedly NOS in-box. I bought all three ($60 to $120), but two of them were erroneous listings from the seller and were refunded prior to shipping. Eventually, I managed to secure a NOS passenger side roof trim piece, but never managed to find a driver's side piece.
I was tempted to just install the passenger side piece, but after much consideration, I dropped it off to a friend who does 3D models and printing. He tried a few different scanning methods, did a ton of clean-up, and printed a replica of the original and its mirror image. In order to properly model this, he needed to buy a new scanner, and printing pieces this thin took a lot of trial and error. It wasn't cheap, but I'm committed to finding a viable future-proof solution for this problem.
He made some test prints in three different materials (the black is the cheapest, grey is mid-grade, and yellow is close to automotive grade). He also mentioned carbon fiber as a possibility, and automotive-grade plastic is also possible but the material costs $100 per spool, and I'm not prepared to commit to that until I have proven this will work. See the below photos for the preliminary results.
The next step is to figure out the fasteners, and then do a test fit. I'll update this post as I have more information.
My ultimate goal is to have these reproductions available for purchase to any Gen 1 owners who need them. You'd be going through my friend who is doing the printing (I will vouch for his character). I think this whole experiment is going to cost me about $500 total, but if/when they are for sale, I expect they will be an extremely reasonable price. I'm happy to absorb the initial cost of experimentation on this as a way to give back to this community who has provided me with so much valuable information and advice over the past two years.
Feel free to register your interest here, and I'll try to speed up my timeline on this project.
Edit: I should have thought of this before, but if you are interested, please report the paint color of your Gen 1, so I can figure out what the most appropriate print color would be. These will, of course, need to be sanded, primed, and painted, but I'd prefer to get as close as possible with the print color to accommodate for chipping, etc. You probably don't want canary yellow showing if your vehicle is Ebony Black.
2001-2005 Ford Explorer Sport Trac
1L2Z-3551728-AAPTM - Moulding - Roof Drip Side Trim RH - Passenger Side (01/2000-06/2005) 2001-2005
1L2Z-3551729-AAPTM - Moulding - Roof Drip Side Trim LH - Driver Side (01/2000-06/2005) 2001-2005
I researched these parts extensively (see my post in this thread from January 2024). These parts are no longer available from any dealership or online parts seller.
The cause of this problem is sun damage. These parts get brittle over time with sun exposure, bend, and eventually break and fall off. After which, you will get water infiltration and eventually rust on both sides of the top rear of your cab, as well as water damage and mildew from the wet headliner. Since sun exposure is the cause, it is impossible to find these in good condition in junkyards. Any good ones were scavenged long ago.
Blame Ford all you want, but this is our problem to deal with now. I have bought and tested all of the available alternative "fixes," and found that they are all a waste of time and money, confirming the sentiment of others who have found the same.
In two years, only three of these trim pieces (one driver's side, two passenger side) have shown up on eBay, supposedly NOS in-box. I bought all three ($60 to $120), but two of them were erroneous listings from the seller and were refunded prior to shipping. Eventually, I managed to secure a NOS passenger side roof trim piece, but never managed to find a driver's side piece.
I was tempted to just install the passenger side piece, but after much consideration, I dropped it off to a friend who does 3D models and printing. He tried a few different scanning methods, did a ton of clean-up, and printed a replica of the original and its mirror image. In order to properly model this, he needed to buy a new scanner, and printing pieces this thin took a lot of trial and error. It wasn't cheap, but I'm committed to finding a viable future-proof solution for this problem.
He made some test prints in three different materials (the black is the cheapest, grey is mid-grade, and yellow is close to automotive grade). He also mentioned carbon fiber as a possibility, and automotive-grade plastic is also possible but the material costs $100 per spool, and I'm not prepared to commit to that until I have proven this will work. See the below photos for the preliminary results.
The next step is to figure out the fasteners, and then do a test fit. I'll update this post as I have more information.
My ultimate goal is to have these reproductions available for purchase to any Gen 1 owners who need them. You'd be going through my friend who is doing the printing (I will vouch for his character). I think this whole experiment is going to cost me about $500 total, but if/when they are for sale, I expect they will be an extremely reasonable price. I'm happy to absorb the initial cost of experimentation on this as a way to give back to this community who has provided me with so much valuable information and advice over the past two years.
Feel free to register your interest here, and I'll try to speed up my timeline on this project.
Edit: I should have thought of this before, but if you are interested, please report the paint color of your Gen 1, so I can figure out what the most appropriate print color would be. These will, of course, need to be sanded, primed, and painted, but I'd prefer to get as close as possible with the print color to accommodate for chipping, etc. You probably don't want canary yellow showing if your vehicle is Ebony Black.
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