The Orca: 2012 Tuxedo Black Screw Build

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TaylorF-150

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I've been chipping away at a lot of projects on the rig lately. I snagged a set of taillights off Craigslist where the edges of the housings had been painted black. It's a small difference in the housings, but a HUGE improvement on a black truck IMO.

Before:

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Side by side comparison of the taillights:

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After:

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Next was a new set of wheels. I've always liked the KMC Enduro beadlocks, so when a deal on a set of them came up locally, I jumped on them. I had them powder coated to match the OEM fender flares:

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Here they are mounted on the truck. I'm really happy with how they turned out.

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TaylorF-150

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I also snagged a set of the new/improved SVC tie-rods, and a set of gusseted OEM spindles. It's a bit tough to see the knuckles in this pick so I'll try to snag a better pic when I have the wheel/tire off next time. I can't say enough good things about the new SVC tie-rods. The fit and finish on these things is fantastic. What a great re-design.

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TaylorF-150

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Last week I snagged a S&B intake kit, and got it installed yesterday. It's a nice kit for sure. I'm not sure whether or not there's much gain in terms of horsepower, but it looks cool and sounds cool when you stab the skinny pedal.

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TaylorF-150

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I slapped a set of Deaver +2's on the truck last weekend (with the help of Christian @ Vital Designs), and they really are a great mod for these trucks. I've owned a number of trucks over the years with Deaver spring packs on them, but these were the biggest noticeable difference of all the trucks I've had them on.

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And then this weekend I was trying out some different wheel offsets, and managed to snap some pics of my front setup now that the tie-rods and gusseted knuckles have been installed.

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TaylorF-150

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I've been working on a few different small projects lately, the first was getting some OEM tailgate and door handles and having them painted to match the rest of the truck.

Swap in progress:

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And then all handles swapped and washed up:

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Also, I had SVC install one of their V3 rear bumpers...I love the way it cleans up the look of the truck. I had the bumper customized a little bit to add a couple flush mount S2 Pros to be used as reverse lights.

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Then I had some extended shackles from Blitzkreig Motorsports installed to drop the rear ride height down a little bit:

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I also had Christian over at Vital Designs fab up some rear limit strap mounts for me since with the Deavers and extended shackles, I suspect that the rear suspension is now capable or dropping out further than the rear shocks will permit. I also need to ditch the remainder of my Magnaflow tailpipes and do a couple turn downs, since as it's configured now, the exhaust would be blowing right on the limit straps.

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I've got some more fun stuff in the works as well, here's a couple preview pics.

Readylift fabricated knuckles with some double shear tie-rod tabs that Christian @ Vital Designs whipped up for me:

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And some Camburg lower arms. No tabs for an aux bypass shock which is a bit of a bummer, but the deal was too good to pass up. I can always add the mounts later on down the road for a few hundred bucks if I decide I really need em.

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Not sure if you've tried it or not yet, but since you seem to like painting stuff, you really should finish off your parts with a 2K clear for it to last and look the best. 2K = 2 part = paint with a hardener in it. You can sand it and polish it to a perfectly flat shiny finish too.

The cans are expensive, but well worth it.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0082LJMC6/?tag=fordraptorforum-20

2 part paints with hardener require a respirator while spraying, but a good 3M mask for organics is only $30 or so. The spray from those Spraymax 2K clear cans is unbelievably smooth, a nice fine fog. It's only good for a day or so after you activate the hardener in the can, so make sure you have enough stuff lined up to paint with it. One can will paint a surprising amount of stuff, even with multiple coats.
 
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