Ford F-250 Project Part 2: Functionality Features

[Anthony] You're watching Powernation!

[Mike] Today on Music City Trucks our F-250 needs a few more upgrades before turning into the ultimate hauler. We'll add some beefier brakes up front to help slow these heavy loads. [Anthony] Plus add some exterior accessories like lights and mud flaps before turning focus to the interior, giving us some added protection and organization. [Mike] Then we hit the open road to test out the new hitch and maybe pick up something on the ride home.

[Anthony] Hey guys, welcome back to Music City Trucks. As you can see we've still got our tow pig in the shop and we went ahead last time and installed our B and W gooseneck hitch along with our Airlift air bags. Now there's a couple more things we've gotta do to turn this into the ultimate tow rig. [Mike] I think we've got a few more things on the outside of the truck that we can make better before we jump on the inside and give us some more comfort and functionality. Let's get this thing up in the air and we'll work on these front brakes. [Anthony] Let's do it! [Mike] That's good. [Anthony] Go down and lock. [ impact driver humming ] [ Music ]

[Mike] So this truck is primarily our tow rig around here. We haul around all of our project vehicles. So almost all the time this thing's got a trailer and a heavy load on the back of it. So we want to make sure the brakes are there for us when we need them. So we're gonna install Powerstop's Extreme Brake Pad and Rotor Kit to give us all the potential of that braking system. So let's get the caliper off and get this stuff installed. [ Music ]

[ impact driver humming ] [ Music ]

Next step is to get this rotor off of here. As you can see she's snug on there, and right here we've got a chemical reaction going on with some rust that's bonding that rotor to that hub. So I'm gonna hit this with a little Deep Creep. What that's gonna do is reach in there and break loose some of that rust locking that thing to that hub. Squirt this in all those little openings there. Give it a chance to operate. Then give it a little mechanical force. [ hammer tapping ] [ Music ]

Let's get this baby off here now. Bazinga! Before we put that new rotor on here we want to make sure this hub mounting surface is nice and clean cause we don't want any debris sitting between that rotor and that hub so it's not flat. So we'll go ahead and get this cleaned up and get it installed. [ Music ]

Alright! Well we got our rotor installed and the caliper bracket back on and torqued into place there. Another good tip. Whenever you get new rotors and get them out of the box you always want to spray them off with some brake parts cleaner and wipe off. There might be some anti-rust coating on there. Just clean that off and make sure they're dry before you put the new pads on. Speaking of pads, we're going with Powerstop Z-36 carbon fiber ceramic formula designed specifically for towing. We'll get it popped in here. The good thing about these is it has a low dust formula. I don't know about y'all but brake dust on my wheels just drives me crazy. So these are gonna eliminate that extra brake dust there from the usage. Get our caliper here. Get some of this lube on our contact points. Get this thing installed. Here over the pads. Get our bolts in and get it torqued up, and then just jump to the other side and get it knocked out. [Anthony] While Mike's been busy up front banging out our binders I've been working on some illumination in the rear. For that we went to Baja Designs and they sent us over these S2 Sport reverse lights. These feature 1,581 lumens and they're really gonna light up the night for us. They give you a few different options when it comes to wiring. You could run them through a toggle. You could run them to the upfitter switch if your truck's equipped, or you can use this trick little harness they send you that plugs directly into your trailer port here. It plugs to the back. Run your cable into the truck. Put it in there, run a weatherpak, and you're good to go. They also give you a few different mounting options. You can mount them recessed, flush mount them, or you could use this trick little stainless bracket they give you, which is what we're doing. Now we just need to get them on the truck. [ Music ]

[ ratchet clicking ]

One down. Here's the back side of that trailer harness. Go ahead and unplug that, plug our adapter in. [ Music ]

Plug that in. Now all we've gotta do is hook up the weatherpaks and we'll be good to go. Hey Mike, you want to try them reverse lights? [Mike] Okay. [ Music ]

Yep, they work! [Mike] Sweet! [Anthony] One more thing checked off the list. It's on to the next. Coming up, it's all about protecting your investments. We'll install some accessories to keep our truck looking good as new.

[Mike] Hey guys, welcome back. The truck accessories industry is full of options out there to help pimp your ride. Weather Tech, they're one of the leading companies that offer accessories for this truck right here. Like this bed cover. This is a hard top design. It's super easy to install. We clamp the rails to the side of the bed and it sets in place and latches right here at the end. Then when we want to hook up our trailer we can unfold it, hook up our trailer, and we're ready to rock' n roll. This isn't the only thing that Weather Tech makes for these trucks. [Anthony] Another product they make that's one of my personal favorites are these no drill mud flaps here. I think it's gonna help us from peppering our projects that are sitting on the trailer. It's also gonna keep road debris off our enclosed trailers. They're super easy to install. What do you say we get them on the truck? [Mike] Let's get to it. [Anthony] First things first, you've got to remove these two plastic Christmas tree clips. If you have one of these tools it makes it a lot easier. Next up is grab our flap here and use the provided allen key that Weather Tech gives you, which definitely makes the process speed up a little bit instead of having to go to your drawer and search your allen drawer for the right allen key. Makes it nice and quick. We'll go ahead and tighten this top bolt, which is basically just a locking pin that locks behind the fender here. Get that locked in, grab a couple of bolts, and we'll get this finished up. I mean it doesn't get much easier than that. Only thing left to do is the front. Let's get on it. [Mike] Weather Tech also makes these in channel wind deflectors. They're a clean, easy install. Best part, made in America. Now let's turn our attention to the interior. Holy stuff! Anthony did you leave all this stuff in here? [Anthony] It ain't mine but I see something we could use here. [Mike] Is that a bottle jack? [Anthony] Bottle of Jack, where? [Mike] Not a bottle of Jack, a bottle jack. [Anthony] I guess we can use that too. You want to get the rest of this stuff out of here? [Mike] Yeah I'll clean it out. [ Music ]

[Anthony] One floor mat coming in. I'm gonna go out on a limb and say this is gonna be one of the easier installs we've had. [Mike] You know Weather Tech does a great job with the research and making these things fit exactly like the truck is laid out in the back here. We also got them for the front to protect that carpet, protect that floor there. [Anthony] We also got this storage bin from Weather Tech. It's really gonna clean up the floor and keep stuff from sliding around. Mike you want to grab some of that? [Mike] Here you go. [ Music ]

[Anthony] Alright, look at that. [Mike] Nice and tight. Everything stored away, looks clean. I'll get the front floor mats. [Anthony] I'll grab some seat covers. [Mike] This time of the year a lot of you diesel guys may get a little anxiety in the mornings when you're trying to start that puppy up. Well to combat any issues with fuel gelling or even water in the lines that may cause it to freeze Hot Shot's Secret's EDT Winter Defense is ideal to start running this time of year. Hot Shot's Secret EDT Plus Winter Defense has anti-gel properties that prevent fuel icing and reduces fuel line freeze up all the way down to negative 40 degrees. It helps to boost your overall fuel economy and you may even see a little more power from increased cetane level. It also has this dosing bottle made right into it to prevent any improper mixture ratios. We like to use this in all of our diesel trucks here at the shop. Next time that mercury drops go grab yourself some Hot Shot's Secret's EDT Plus Winter Defense. We want our truck to go when hauling our toys. So we enhance our throttle response getting us all the power.

[Mike] The next thing we're gonna tackle on the interior are these seat covers from CoverCraft. You want to protect your seats because they can get pretty expensive if you have to replace them. From seat heaters to air bags, to cooled seats, to occupancy sensors, they make these seats expensive nowadays. We're gonna get these things installed. First thing, gotta get the head rest off. [ Music ]

Alright! [ Music ]

[Anthony] Gotta get it on the right way. [Mike] Yeah, pocket goes in the back. [ Music ]

That's the trade off to making them look really nice, clean, and tight. They're just hard to install. Overall not a hard deal. Then we run these straps underneath the back. [ Music ]

I don't want to get too invested in all this other safety stuff. [Anthony] I just went around the frame on the bottom there. [Mike] Just tying them off. [Anthony] It moves with the seat. So it's not gonna be an issue. [Mike] Next step are the seat bottoms. They snug over the seat here and then we've got all these straps we've got to run from front to back and side to side and connect them with our little connectors here. [ Music ]

Get that clicked in, pulled up tight. The bottom's installed! Let's get our head rest. [ Music ]

You try it that way and I'll try it this way. [Anthony] My seat's moving. [ Music ]

[Mike] Straighten it out. [Anthony] You done yet? [Mike] I know, I know. You had the better idea that time. [Anthony] A win is a win! Stuff fits fantastic. [ Music ]

[Mike] So the last thing we're gonna do today on our F-250 is install this Pedal Commander throttle enhancer. Now what it's gonna do is allow the driver to tailor his driving experience. Some people want to stand on the gas and it goes now. Some people like a little more calm approach to the throttle response. This is going to give you that option to tailor it the way you like it. All it does is intercept the signal from the throttle pedal to the computer and manipulates it the way you want. So let's get it installed. The Pedal Commander installs effortlessly with factory connections where you don't have to do any cutting or splicing. You plug it right in super easy. [ Music ]

Pedal Commander can also be managed through your phone to give you different options to manage those settings. [ Music ]

With it plugged into the pedal now we just need to take the adhesive they give us and find a nice place to mount it on the dash and we'll get this thing going down the road and test it all out. [Anthony] We'll put all of our upgrades to the test and see how much they improved our performance. Plus we'll pick up a hitchhiker along the way.

[Anthony] So we got these Powerstop pads. About to bed them in. [Mike] Guys welcome back. We've got our truck out of the shop and now what we've got to do is break in these brake pads. First thing we've got to bed them in. So what is the process for this Anthony? [Anthony] That's a good question! [Mike] I think it's 40 miles an hour to 10 miles an hour braking. We've got to do that five times. 40 to 10, 40 to 10, 40 to 10 five times consecutively. [Anthony] It's already feeling better. [Mike] That would be five. Then we want to do 35 to 5. [Anthony] Five times? [Mike] Five times! Down to five, yep. Be aggressive with the brakes here but that doesn't mean we can't be aggressive with the throttle either. [Anthony] Especially with that new Pedal Commander. I'm sure that's helping. [Mike] One more. We're gonna have this thing tuned up for towing all our future projects. We'll do this down here. [ Music ]

[Anthony] Now it's 35 to 5, that's the last? [Mike] That's it. Now we've just got to drive it around. [Anthony] I think these brakes have cooled down enough. What do you say we hook up the old gooseneck and see how she tows? [Mike] Let's go test out that new hitch. [Anthony] I'll go grab the tailgate. [ Music ]

Yep. [ crank squeaking ] [ Music ]

Alright, let's see how this thing tows. [Mike] Got it hooked up? Let's see how she hauls. Well we got our trailer hooked up. We're cruising down the road here testing out all of our upgrades. We did a few things. First thing initially is the brakes. These Powerstop brakes, I just barely have to touch this brake pedal and it's working. [Anthony] Definitely feels like it's got some more bite to it, at least from my side of the truck. [Mike] There's a positive there on the brakes reacting right when we tell it to. There's no delay. The brakes are working good going down here. We've got the Air Ride air bags on the trailer. It's empty right now but what have we got in the controller? Fire up that controller right there. No switches, we got a remove. [Anthony] Hit the buttons. Got five pounds in each bag. [Mike] That's critical because we can adjust the air pressure left to right. Say that a load was uneven. We could raise or lower one bag independently. [Anthony] I don't even feel the trailer back there right now. It ain't bouncing. We ain't bucking all down the road. It feels pretty good. [Mike] You can't even tell you're pulling a trailer. That's a testament to these trucks and definitely the modifications we've done to it. [Anthony] Definitely makes a big difference rolling down the highway. What about that Pedal Commander? Are you feeling anything different? [Mike] So right now I've got it on city mode. So that's not the most aggressive. We're not trying to set any world records right here hauling this trailer. There's definitely a difference. Driving around stock the response just isn't there. You push the pedal to the floor it'll go but now you're getting that response a lot quicker with the pedal travel. We could crank that up to 10 but it's not necessary. [Anthony] The other big improvement that I really like from a welder's view on it and the way it went together, that B-and-W hitch. It's a real nice piece. [Mike] The directions are really clear. We had followed the directions that went step by step and bolted it right in. Didn't have to go back and change anything. [Anthony] It just fit. It's a real nice piece and I think it's gonna last us a very long time. [ Music ]

[Mike] We've got an empty gooseneck trailer right here. We're not just driving around with an empty trailer. We're actually on our way to pick up our next project. I'm super excited about this one. I think you guys will like this truck. [Anthony] I think everybody's gonna like this one. What's hard not to like. [Mike] It's right up here. Cruising down the road a little bit. [Anthony] I'm excited. [Mike] Should be sitting here out front. There she is. [ Music ]

[Anthony] We have landed. [Mike] You want to grab the C-10 and I'll get the trailer jacked up.

[ mechanical humming ] [Mike] Alright! [Anthony] I'll tell you what. This old dog's still got some pep in it. [Mike] Another thing that we've added on our truck here is a Weigh Safe trailer management system. It's gonna weigh the weight on the tongue of the trailer. So whenever you're loading your trailer up you want to move the weight around to the right spot so it doesn't affect the way the truck drives. That looks good. We'll check our scale and roll on down the road. [ Music ]

[Anthony] Got a little squeak. [Mike] Hear that belt. She's singing! [Anthony] I'm excited about this one! If I can get out of it. [Mike] Get some straps on her and head on back to the shop. [ Music ] [ ratchet clicking ] [ Music ] We got our little long bed hooked up, loaded up, and heading back to the shop. Now we can really test out some of these towing modifications. We pumped up the air bags with 10 pounds or so. Still doesn't feel like there's a trailer. Doesn't feel like we're pulling anything. The support feels normal like a regular truck. [Anthony] It's riding right. It's not squatting. How's the steering feel? [Mike] Straight. It's not pulling, not shaking. Feels like we're stable. [Anthony] It's the whole reason you put in them bags. You want to have full control of whatever you're towing. [Mike] We're gonna get this thing back to the shop and check it out. I think we need to go shake it down. [Anthony] Definitely need to see what kind of horsepower we're working with. See if we can smoke a tire or not. It's only gonna smoke one. [Mike] That's all next time on Music City trucks. [Anthony] We'll see you then.