Big Green Machine
Full Access Member
Some people have written me and asked about various mods and I've been meaning to detail some of my thoughts on the mods I installed so here's my quick attempt to get it down in writing. I have some pics of the truck with the mods installed but none of the installs since they've been mostly covered in depth elsewhere and frankly, I was too busy and in the groove to stop and document.
I'll get picks this weekend of most everything.
Here's the list of mods I installed Friday afternoon / evening :
Starting at the top..
BEDRUG
This was probably the most involved install of the bunch. It wasn't that it was especially difficult but there is a lot of prep work with cleaning the bed, placing the velcro strips, cutting holes for the tie downs, etc.. Took me a while to get it done but after it was finished, the bed looks amazing and the product is top quality and fit perfectly.
IMPORTANT TIP - If you're also installing the Dynolock or any other automatic lock for the tailgate, don't secure down the cover of the tailgate since you'll have to take it right back off to install the bedrug.. ask me how I know.. lol
TIME FOR INSTALL - Approx. 1.5 hours - 2 hours total.
BACKFLIP F1
Very easy to install, great quality and fit. Putting on the rails was very simple and each side needs three clips which you just space out along each side rail. Once you have the rails on and in place it's a matter of dropping the cover on, making sure it fits well and then locking it down with two bolts. Easy as pie. the hardest part was drilling the holes for the drain tubes and running them through the Bedrug.
IMPORTANT TIP - If you're installing a Bedrug as well, it's WAY better to drill the holes for the drain tubes and run them prior to installing the bedrug, that way when you put in the bedrug, it's simply a matter of cutting a small hole and threading them. Also, when tightening the clips, they can twist on you though if you're not careful. I found if you held your hand to steady them against the torque, they held in place and it was easy. I had a couple twist but I then just back off the bolt on the clip a bit, they snapped back in place and I tightened them down.
TIME FOR INSTALL - Maybe 30 minutes max.
SWINGCASES
They're plastic but seem fairly sturdy, especially once installed. They come with a lock and an inner tray for smaller bits. They hold a ton of stuff and are rated for up to 75 pounds. Incredibly simple install. One bracket and that's it then drop them in place. The most unnerving part however is the need to drill the six self tapping screws into the bed of your two hour old truck.
IMPORTANT TIP - Take your time and ensure the brackets are flush to the bottom of the bed of your truck. You're drilling screws into your bed, you want to measure twice and cut once so to say. This isn't something that you want to mess up. Be advised that with these installed you will lose the rear tie down points as they cover them.
TIME FOR INSTALL - Maybe 30 minutes max to include cutting two holes in the bedrug.
CRAVEN STUBBY ANTENNA
Small, trick looking antenna. Very high quality, a lot heavier than I thought it would have been. No issues with radio reception as of yet that I can discern. Note, I do listen to a lot of Satellite radio but the terrestrial radio stations I have listened to came in just as good as the stock antenna. Install was silly, unscrew stock antenna, screw in stubby.. so easy a caveman can do it.
IMPORTANT NOTE - None.
TIME FOR INSTALL - Two minutes? Max..
DYNOLOCK
This was the install I was the most worried about since it involved installing something I was completely unfamiliar with, running wires under the truck, ripping up plastic covers inside the truck and tapping into the lock and unlock wires once you found them. My concern was largely unfounded. If you have a modicum of ability, you'll be just fine. There's an excellent write up here which I used as a guide and, while it's for a different lock system, it's the same install process.
IMPORTANT NOTES - For simplicity sake, I took the tailgate step handle off along with the cover, it's not necessary however. As I stated before, if you're installing the bedrug, leave the cover off once you're finished since you'll need the cover off to finish the bedrug install.
Aligning the mechanism so it hits properly was very simple and running the wires into the tailgate was easy. The Dynolock system comes with very good written instructions. The pictures were crap but with the write up on here, you're covered.
I ran the wires along the frame and used zip ties every once in a while to keep the wire up and out of the way.
As for the wires, I first checked the rear passenger area and could not find the two wires referenced in the write up. I then looked under the rocker panel cover in the channel along the front passenger door and bingo! I found them there. There are two of each, Grey with a Brown Stripe and Purple with a Grey Stripe. I used a continuity checker and looked for voltage when I hit the lock and unlock button which quickly identified which wires was for lock and which was for unlock. I stripped the wires, attached them and then checked to make sure the wires were correctly wired for the mechanism in the tailgate. If not, just switch them, I got lucky and hit it the first try. Once you got it right, solder them in, shrink wrap it and put it back together. I took up the slack back into the tailgate and that was that. It now unlocks with the second push of the unlock button.
Amazing that this isn't included with the truck, doesn't make sense.
TIME FOR INSTALL - Maybe an hour with looking for the wires in the wrong spot. Now that you know where they're located, probably no more than 45 minutes max.
CONSOLE VAULT
Very heavy steel, high quality, no pry points for potential thieves and overall, a very nice product. I purchased the model with the combination lock since I don't want to have to keep track of yet another key though they do make a key locked model.
IMPORTANT NOTE - None really, very straight forward install, you build it in your center console and it's quite easy with very clear and concise instructions. With this installed, you have decent room on top of the vault door where I've thrown my wallet, phones etc... when just running inside the house real quick or to just keep these out of the way while driving.
TIME FOR INSTALL - Maybe 20 minutes.
RECON SMOKED LED TAIL LIGHTS
These lights look great on the truck, especially on the black. The install was simple and straight forward. Beyond the psychological impact of tugging pretty hard to break the OEM light housing free, nothing of major concern or surprise. There are two light connectors and a reverse light that must be connected to the Recon lights.
IMPORTANT NOTES - Seating the reverse light housing was tight!! It was tough getting them in and rotated all the way which I guess is a good thing from the seal perspective.
Within two days my left taillight began flashing rapidly and when I looked at it, it seems to be a light malfunction within the unit and not an inline resistance issue. It only blinks the upper portion of the tail lights.
I contacted Recon through their warranty e-mail address asking to have this unit replaced and this is the response I received:
"You need to add resistors to the positive turn signal wiring coming off your OEM wires…that will stop the hyper flash from occurring.
Best,
Todd Fleischman
RECON Truck Accessories
P: (561) 771-1188
F: (561) 892-4680
W: RECON Truck Accessories - Your Source for LED Vehicle Lighting Accessories
FB: RECON Truck Accessories | Facebook
YouTube: www.youtube.com/user/RECONACCESSORIES"
Yes, he wrote me a one line message, no salutation, no apology and a half assed written instruction which could be boiled down to 'figure it out and fix it'. That's right, apparently it is MY responsibility to fix their defective product, not to mention the fact that 'resistors' is fairly vague; even if I was inclined to perform this fix, that sentence adds absolutely zero to the solution. Needless to say I'm less than impressed with the company after spending nearly $400 on a set of lights. I have called their number numerous times today, left two messages and e-mailed him twice, no response. I'm giving them one more day and then I'll be contacting my credit card company to reverse the charges. Amazing that they would have such poor customer service and support.
As an aside, I'd urge the admins to seriously reconsider having them as a sponsor of this site since after doing a little research, apparently this is not an isolated incident.. the bad is on me for purchasing and not doing my homework. Buyer beware with these. Your mileage may vary and it's too bad, these lights look wicked. I was considering purchasing a few other Recon accessories, that consideration is mostly dead at this point.
TIME FOR INSTALL - 10 minutes.
GT SEAT COVERS
These are a must if you have little rugrats like myself. I purchased black, endura covers for the back seats only. The endura material is a tightly woven, almost canvas like material which is fade resistant and water proof. It has a very nice finish and feel to it and the interior surfaces are backed with foam. The instructions were very easy to understand and if you've ever put seat covers on before, it's nothing new or groundbreaking.
I followed this post to learn how to drop the rear seats which was easy. I found it easiest to use a small close ended wrench to trip the little lever but I did it with my fingers as well.
Install was very straight forward, everything fit nice and snug and was perfectly formed and stitched.
IMPORTANT NOTE - I'm not sure if they changed the headrests on the 2012 models but I had no issues getting them back in like some of the write ups I found so don't worry yourself about it.
Make sure you put the headrests back on BEFORE you put the back seat back in place or else you'll be taking it back down.. ask me how I know.. lol
If you have kid seats and need access to the latch system, there are holes already in them for access though I found them to be a tiny bit off but that could have easily been my fault for not paying attention to the alignment during install.
TIME FOR INSTALL - 30 minutes maybe. Very easy.
WEATHERTECH FLOOR MATS (FRONT AND REAR)
Great quality, form fit and perfect. Very heavy duty. Dual post set-up is the same from 2011. the rear mat has to be trimmed for the sub if you have it which is easy.
IMPORTANT NOTE - None really. As I said there's a ridged area for the sub if you have it. All you have to do is take a sharp blade and trim it along the inside edge of the ridge and viola, you have the sub area and ready to install.
TIME FOR INSTALL - 5 minutes, maybe 7 with the cutting.
I know this was long but I hope it was helpful to someone maybe.
~BGM
I'll get picks this weekend of most everything.
Here's the list of mods I installed Friday afternoon / evening :
- Bedrug
- Backflip F1
- SwingCases (one for each side)
- Craven Stubby Antenna
- Dynolock
- Console Vault
- Recon LED Smoked Tail Lights
- GT Seat Cover (for Rear Seats)
- Weathertech Floor Mats (Front and Rear)
Starting at the top..
BEDRUG
This was probably the most involved install of the bunch. It wasn't that it was especially difficult but there is a lot of prep work with cleaning the bed, placing the velcro strips, cutting holes for the tie downs, etc.. Took me a while to get it done but after it was finished, the bed looks amazing and the product is top quality and fit perfectly.
IMPORTANT TIP - If you're also installing the Dynolock or any other automatic lock for the tailgate, don't secure down the cover of the tailgate since you'll have to take it right back off to install the bedrug.. ask me how I know.. lol
TIME FOR INSTALL - Approx. 1.5 hours - 2 hours total.
BACKFLIP F1
Very easy to install, great quality and fit. Putting on the rails was very simple and each side needs three clips which you just space out along each side rail. Once you have the rails on and in place it's a matter of dropping the cover on, making sure it fits well and then locking it down with two bolts. Easy as pie. the hardest part was drilling the holes for the drain tubes and running them through the Bedrug.
IMPORTANT TIP - If you're installing a Bedrug as well, it's WAY better to drill the holes for the drain tubes and run them prior to installing the bedrug, that way when you put in the bedrug, it's simply a matter of cutting a small hole and threading them. Also, when tightening the clips, they can twist on you though if you're not careful. I found if you held your hand to steady them against the torque, they held in place and it was easy. I had a couple twist but I then just back off the bolt on the clip a bit, they snapped back in place and I tightened them down.
TIME FOR INSTALL - Maybe 30 minutes max.
SWINGCASES
They're plastic but seem fairly sturdy, especially once installed. They come with a lock and an inner tray for smaller bits. They hold a ton of stuff and are rated for up to 75 pounds. Incredibly simple install. One bracket and that's it then drop them in place. The most unnerving part however is the need to drill the six self tapping screws into the bed of your two hour old truck.
IMPORTANT TIP - Take your time and ensure the brackets are flush to the bottom of the bed of your truck. You're drilling screws into your bed, you want to measure twice and cut once so to say. This isn't something that you want to mess up. Be advised that with these installed you will lose the rear tie down points as they cover them.
TIME FOR INSTALL - Maybe 30 minutes max to include cutting two holes in the bedrug.
CRAVEN STUBBY ANTENNA
Small, trick looking antenna. Very high quality, a lot heavier than I thought it would have been. No issues with radio reception as of yet that I can discern. Note, I do listen to a lot of Satellite radio but the terrestrial radio stations I have listened to came in just as good as the stock antenna. Install was silly, unscrew stock antenna, screw in stubby.. so easy a caveman can do it.
IMPORTANT NOTE - None.
TIME FOR INSTALL - Two minutes? Max..
DYNOLOCK
This was the install I was the most worried about since it involved installing something I was completely unfamiliar with, running wires under the truck, ripping up plastic covers inside the truck and tapping into the lock and unlock wires once you found them. My concern was largely unfounded. If you have a modicum of ability, you'll be just fine. There's an excellent write up here which I used as a guide and, while it's for a different lock system, it's the same install process.
IMPORTANT NOTES - For simplicity sake, I took the tailgate step handle off along with the cover, it's not necessary however. As I stated before, if you're installing the bedrug, leave the cover off once you're finished since you'll need the cover off to finish the bedrug install.
Aligning the mechanism so it hits properly was very simple and running the wires into the tailgate was easy. The Dynolock system comes with very good written instructions. The pictures were crap but with the write up on here, you're covered.
I ran the wires along the frame and used zip ties every once in a while to keep the wire up and out of the way.
As for the wires, I first checked the rear passenger area and could not find the two wires referenced in the write up. I then looked under the rocker panel cover in the channel along the front passenger door and bingo! I found them there. There are two of each, Grey with a Brown Stripe and Purple with a Grey Stripe. I used a continuity checker and looked for voltage when I hit the lock and unlock button which quickly identified which wires was for lock and which was for unlock. I stripped the wires, attached them and then checked to make sure the wires were correctly wired for the mechanism in the tailgate. If not, just switch them, I got lucky and hit it the first try. Once you got it right, solder them in, shrink wrap it and put it back together. I took up the slack back into the tailgate and that was that. It now unlocks with the second push of the unlock button.
Amazing that this isn't included with the truck, doesn't make sense.
TIME FOR INSTALL - Maybe an hour with looking for the wires in the wrong spot. Now that you know where they're located, probably no more than 45 minutes max.
CONSOLE VAULT
Very heavy steel, high quality, no pry points for potential thieves and overall, a very nice product. I purchased the model with the combination lock since I don't want to have to keep track of yet another key though they do make a key locked model.
IMPORTANT NOTE - None really, very straight forward install, you build it in your center console and it's quite easy with very clear and concise instructions. With this installed, you have decent room on top of the vault door where I've thrown my wallet, phones etc... when just running inside the house real quick or to just keep these out of the way while driving.
TIME FOR INSTALL - Maybe 20 minutes.
RECON SMOKED LED TAIL LIGHTS
These lights look great on the truck, especially on the black. The install was simple and straight forward. Beyond the psychological impact of tugging pretty hard to break the OEM light housing free, nothing of major concern or surprise. There are two light connectors and a reverse light that must be connected to the Recon lights.
IMPORTANT NOTES - Seating the reverse light housing was tight!! It was tough getting them in and rotated all the way which I guess is a good thing from the seal perspective.
Within two days my left taillight began flashing rapidly and when I looked at it, it seems to be a light malfunction within the unit and not an inline resistance issue. It only blinks the upper portion of the tail lights.
I contacted Recon through their warranty e-mail address asking to have this unit replaced and this is the response I received:
"You need to add resistors to the positive turn signal wiring coming off your OEM wires…that will stop the hyper flash from occurring.
Best,
Todd Fleischman
RECON Truck Accessories
P: (561) 771-1188
F: (561) 892-4680
W: RECON Truck Accessories - Your Source for LED Vehicle Lighting Accessories
FB: RECON Truck Accessories | Facebook
YouTube: www.youtube.com/user/RECONACCESSORIES"
Yes, he wrote me a one line message, no salutation, no apology and a half assed written instruction which could be boiled down to 'figure it out and fix it'. That's right, apparently it is MY responsibility to fix their defective product, not to mention the fact that 'resistors' is fairly vague; even if I was inclined to perform this fix, that sentence adds absolutely zero to the solution. Needless to say I'm less than impressed with the company after spending nearly $400 on a set of lights. I have called their number numerous times today, left two messages and e-mailed him twice, no response. I'm giving them one more day and then I'll be contacting my credit card company to reverse the charges. Amazing that they would have such poor customer service and support.
As an aside, I'd urge the admins to seriously reconsider having them as a sponsor of this site since after doing a little research, apparently this is not an isolated incident.. the bad is on me for purchasing and not doing my homework. Buyer beware with these. Your mileage may vary and it's too bad, these lights look wicked. I was considering purchasing a few other Recon accessories, that consideration is mostly dead at this point.
TIME FOR INSTALL - 10 minutes.
GT SEAT COVERS
These are a must if you have little rugrats like myself. I purchased black, endura covers for the back seats only. The endura material is a tightly woven, almost canvas like material which is fade resistant and water proof. It has a very nice finish and feel to it and the interior surfaces are backed with foam. The instructions were very easy to understand and if you've ever put seat covers on before, it's nothing new or groundbreaking.
I followed this post to learn how to drop the rear seats which was easy. I found it easiest to use a small close ended wrench to trip the little lever but I did it with my fingers as well.
Install was very straight forward, everything fit nice and snug and was perfectly formed and stitched.
IMPORTANT NOTE - I'm not sure if they changed the headrests on the 2012 models but I had no issues getting them back in like some of the write ups I found so don't worry yourself about it.
Make sure you put the headrests back on BEFORE you put the back seat back in place or else you'll be taking it back down.. ask me how I know.. lol
If you have kid seats and need access to the latch system, there are holes already in them for access though I found them to be a tiny bit off but that could have easily been my fault for not paying attention to the alignment during install.
TIME FOR INSTALL - 30 minutes maybe. Very easy.
WEATHERTECH FLOOR MATS (FRONT AND REAR)
Great quality, form fit and perfect. Very heavy duty. Dual post set-up is the same from 2011. the rear mat has to be trimmed for the sub if you have it which is easy.
IMPORTANT NOTE - None really. As I said there's a ridged area for the sub if you have it. All you have to do is take a sharp blade and trim it along the inside edge of the ridge and viola, you have the sub area and ready to install.
TIME FOR INSTALL - 5 minutes, maybe 7 with the cutting.
I know this was long but I hope it was helpful to someone maybe.
~BGM
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