How To Fabricate New Radiator Air Deflector Panels

NOTE: Photo Bucket website has gone to a fee paid service and the pics have been omitted from 3rd party hosting.
Here is a link to Google Drive that will allow you to view the pics.
These will not be in order as the "How To" I posted. You will have to arrange them in order yourself.

Click Google Drive


The radiator air deflector panels on my Raptor were deteriorating.
Some of the nylon push pins were no longer retaining the panels because they were cracked and torn from rotting.
I went to my local Ford dealer and had a panel ordered which was covered under warranty.
When I arrived home to install the new panel I then noticed that another panel was needing replacement.
Ford uses a recycled rubber material and longevity is very poor.
So I did not install the new panel I received from Ford.
I decided to fabricate my own panels with a higher grade material rubber.
I selected an oil resistant commercial grade nitrile rubber in black, grade 60A (3/32 thick, same thickness as the Ford OEM panels).

OEM panel that is deteriorating and flopping around.







Tools You will Need:

Work bench or work cart (I used a work cart).
Plywood for setting on the work bench or in the work cart.
Phillips screw driver #2.
Paint stick or marker.
Box cutter.
Power drill.
15/64 dia. drill bit.
Diagonal pliers (wire cutter/dikes).
New nylon push pins (Christmas tree style) 1 dozen.
Sheet of nitrile rubber 3/32 thickness (several other rubber options are available too).
I ordered this from rubbercal.com and picked it up as "Will Call".
They have a 3'x5' sheet minimum purchase. "Will Call" cost was $42.55
This is much better quality and far less expensive than Fords recycled rubber panels.





This is a rolled up sheet of 3'x5' nitrile rubber.
It has very good oil and chemical resistance.



Lets get started!

Park your Raptor on a flat surface and make sure the vehicle is set in "Park".
Set the parking brake.
Chock the wheels.
Open the hood and look at the Radiator Air Deflector panels.
There is a total of 5 panels.
I am only removing and fabricating 3 new panels.

Use the Phillips screw driver and remove the pushpins that are retained with a nylon screw going thru the middle.
There are only 2 of these. One on the left side (drivers side) and one on the right side (passenger side) Both are at the very top of the panels.
Then use the diagonal pliers (dikes) and cut the head off from the rest of the nylon pushpins and remove (Christmas tree style).
Please do not try to force the Christmas tree pushpins out of the plastic retaining tabs with screw drivers or pliers as you may break the plastic tabs.





Now remove the old panels (do not discard these yet).
These will be used as templates.


Set the new rubber sheet onto the plywood inside the work cart or work table.
Set one of the old panels on top of the rubber and draw the periphery and holes with the paint stick.


Use the box knife to cleanly cut the profile.
At only 3/32 rubber thickness, the box knife will easily cut thru in one pass.
Please take your time and stay focused as a box knife can cause a severe laceration.




Three new panels are cut.


Now drill the thru holes for the location of the nylon push pins with a power drill and a 15/64 drill bit ( I used a 2" x 4" underneath).


Now to install the new panels.
If you have a D-Bug screen then remove the lower bungee cords.
Install the new nylon pushpins into the new panels.


Install the new panels.
Working from the bottom going up is the easiest way.

Right side (passenger side)


Left side (drivers side bottom panel)




Left side (drivers side top panel)


If you have a D-Bug screen installed then reattach the bungee cords







Now double check all of the pushpins are anchored securely and clean everything up.




.

Mine have been torn for a while but keep forgetting about them. Remembered today and decided to look on the net to see if anyone's had this problem. Apparently many Ford trucks have this issue. If they're under warranty I'll just have Ford replace them for now and probably do what you did later, that's pretty cool.

Nice write up. Mine are shit on my 14 also. Sucks they use such a garbage product at the factory! Ford stop using crap!!!!!! No reason why things should be rotted and cracked on a truck that's 3yrs old.

Mine lasted all of a year but I did hit it with the pressure washer :-\ Any chance you can re-post your pics since photobucket is holding them hostage?

andreb said:

Mine lasted all of a year but I did hit it with the pressure washer :-\ Any chance you can re-post your pics since photobucket is holding them hostage?

Click to expand...

Hey andreb.
Go back to Post #1 and you will find a link to Google Drive that I just posted.
This will allow you to view the pics.
The pics are not in order as the "How To". You will have to piece the puzzle together for yourself.
It's should point you in the right direction though.

R1jamn

Thanks for the write-up. Most helpful in the install.

Are there drawings / CAD files for these parts that can be used to cut new ones when they are missing?

Thanks

Deckmaster said:

Thanks for the write-up. Most helpful in the install.

Are there drawings / CAD files for these parts that can be used to cut new ones when they are missing?

Thanks

Click to expand...

Sorry Deck, I don't have a drawing or CAD file.
If yours have deteriorated and cannot be used as templates then you can still order replacements from fordparts.com
Replacement panels from Ford will eventually degrade and fall apart (again).
The small air deflectors are approx $30 each.
The large air deflector underneath will be approx $60

Did this last year using 60mil smooth HDPE (from work, they use it to line ponds), never saw this thread just used what was left of the old ones for patterns. Great writeup R1jamn. Sorry Deckmaster I chucked my old ones or you could use them for a template, but if you know anyone with an '09 to '14 F150 they look exactly the same (at least they are on my '13 STX work truck)...

ABS would work good too.

This is awesome!!! I stumbled on your site while looking for replacements to put on my ‘16 Expedition. I replaced the OEM intercooler and piping with the Full Race Freak-O-Boost setup. During the install I came across all my deteriorating rubber air deflectors. I’ll buy new ones just to have templates to make these great aftermarket replacements.