Quote:
Originally Posted by gshadow325
i dont know what it is about people in general with late model cars. is it because there is a car payment that nothing can be modified?
1: if its on a vehicle delivered from the factory, there will be a prt number and it will be available. factory will not be making a chassis just to fit power boards. it will be a pre-existing hole or spot that will be found on base model to top model
2: wiring is all relative to your skill set and knowledge. We all know what that means. Actually i dont know what that means at all. I know i can install it and wire it up if the job came in thru my door.
3: that being said. it will be like all the other power boards that are out there. it will clamp and bolt onto the frame rails. it will be ties into the door pin circuit. you can buy that oem switch and i can wire it to turn off the power steps.
Its that easy. complicated part is owners with fear of the dealership voiding your warranty and owners with dealership blinders on.
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I don't want to speak out of turn for anyone's particular situation, but since you brought it up out of nowhere...a car payment could have
everything to do with it. For many folks on this board, a car payment and expensive modifications are mutually exclusive items. Others, like myself, are cheap b@stards that only pay cash for stuff and just prefer living without debt. To each his own. Now, back on topic...
1: I haven't done the homework to know if it's something available. I would suspect that due to the relative rarity of this option to begin with, it's only going to be available from a dealership and will be expensive as hell. mdogg quoted it as a $1,500 option. I had no idea it was that much(!). I do know that the mounting points are not on the frame (see #3 below). Additionally, all the wiring for the factory option runs inside the body as well and comes out through the floor-boards (as opposed to running along the frame rails; admittedly a nice touch).
2: Agreed. The wiring would be pretty easy, just time consuming. I paid my dues installing high-end car audio 20 years ago; I've got better things to do now. LOL!
3: The factory power boards do
NOT mount to the frame in any way, shape, or form. They don't even touch the frame at any point in their operation (either retracted or extended). This is a pretty significant difference between them and the aftermarket. The factory boards mount to two bolts (per side) that extend through the body from the inside. I suspect the main reason for this is XREAS on the LTD and the difficulty of mounting the electric motor and the board itself in and among the XREAS reservoir and tubing that runs along the out-board side of the frame rails on the LTDs. It's just crowded out there. I can't speak to the aftermarket, but assume you're correct there. It's definitely the easy way to do it, and would be quite solid.
I agree with the FUD around dealerships and warranty. Unfortunately, there' just too much variance from one dealer to the next on how any one will treat any given modification. I'm lucky to have a good one by me, but don't really weigh the warranty into my decisions (outside of the power train anyway). If something breaks, it's usually more cost effective to go aftermarket and get a higher quality or upgraded part at the same or lower cost (ignoring labor if you can't do it yourself).
I'll grab some photos of the mounting points and such when I get home this evening. Hopefully, my sliders don't interfere with the view too much. With the interest here, I figure it will be helpful.
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