MarkDawn Houlahan
Active Member
The first item I wanted to swap out was the stock black plastic A/C knobs. These simply pull straight off and you slide the new billet versions into place. The A/C control knobs shown here are the old style from MGW (I actually installed this stuff months ago) but the new knobs actually have a green indicator in them now, while ours glows white.
The black plastic lighter looks plain out of place on the dash of the Sport Trac. If Ford had hidden it I wouldn’t have cared, but instead it’s out in the open, looking ugly. Since MGW doesn’t have any lighters with a Ford logo I opted for the “EJECT†lighter element. It always makes people smile. MGW does have an SVT version for those looking to make their Sport Trac and SVT version.
The finished look makes the dash very upscale looking. It would be great if we could get the window control in billet too, but the demand probably wouldn’t warrant it.
Another item that looks out of place is the black plastic door lock pins. These are a throw back to the original Explorer design and are a necessary evil. To remove them simply unscrew them from the lock rod
The new billet lock pins come with an internal Allen set screw (all hardware includes the proper Allen wrench). This set screw locks the height adjustment in and works as an anti-theft device as well. We set our lock pins to just seat into the door panel hole when they are locked.
The factory tilt wheel lever was next. The factory lever is simply screwed into the tilt mechanism in the side of the column, but it does have some thread locking compound on it. Use an adjustable wrench to remove it.
The new billet tilt lever is actually made from a factory lever arm so it is very strong. Carefully screw it into place, using some masking tape to protect the finish when you tighten it.
The last item to install is the turn signal lever cover. This little gem fits over the windshield wiper switch part of the arm and adds a nice billet touch. When I first installed the cover it came with a small tube of super glue to attach the cover, which is what I am applying here. The cover is now designed to be retained by O-rings, making for easy removal.
The new billet cover slides into place and quickly takes a set with the glue. When installing with the O-ring setup now being sold you have to carefully slide the cover over the two O-rings (that are installed in the factory grooves of the wiper switch) until it seats.
One thing we investigated was whether the stock headlight switch could be replaced. After pulling the knob off we determined the switch knob is the exact same size, depth, and shaft diameter as the A/C knobs. Though MGW does not sell the A/C knobs individually (at this time) you could install one on the headlight switch.
The black plastic lighter looks plain out of place on the dash of the Sport Trac. If Ford had hidden it I wouldn’t have cared, but instead it’s out in the open, looking ugly. Since MGW doesn’t have any lighters with a Ford logo I opted for the “EJECT†lighter element. It always makes people smile. MGW does have an SVT version for those looking to make their Sport Trac and SVT version.
The finished look makes the dash very upscale looking. It would be great if we could get the window control in billet too, but the demand probably wouldn’t warrant it.
Another item that looks out of place is the black plastic door lock pins. These are a throw back to the original Explorer design and are a necessary evil. To remove them simply unscrew them from the lock rod
The new billet lock pins come with an internal Allen set screw (all hardware includes the proper Allen wrench). This set screw locks the height adjustment in and works as an anti-theft device as well. We set our lock pins to just seat into the door panel hole when they are locked.
The factory tilt wheel lever was next. The factory lever is simply screwed into the tilt mechanism in the side of the column, but it does have some thread locking compound on it. Use an adjustable wrench to remove it.
The new billet tilt lever is actually made from a factory lever arm so it is very strong. Carefully screw it into place, using some masking tape to protect the finish when you tighten it.
The last item to install is the turn signal lever cover. This little gem fits over the windshield wiper switch part of the arm and adds a nice billet touch. When I first installed the cover it came with a small tube of super glue to attach the cover, which is what I am applying here. The cover is now designed to be retained by O-rings, making for easy removal.
The new billet cover slides into place and quickly takes a set with the glue. When installing with the O-ring setup now being sold you have to carefully slide the cover over the two O-rings (that are installed in the factory grooves of the wiper switch) until it seats.
One thing we investigated was whether the stock headlight switch could be replaced. After pulling the knob off we determined the switch knob is the exact same size, depth, and shaft diameter as the A/C knobs. Though MGW does not sell the A/C knobs individually (at this time) you could install one on the headlight switch.
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