Yes, I did the install today. It was rather easy, but I took some time over the last few weekends to get the prep right so I would not have any issues with everything. Overall, I think my method where I used 3M VHB tape and a sealant worked very well.
Sorry I do not have any photos of the work I did to the back of the applique as I forgot to take a few when doing the prep, but essentially what I did was buy one of those Milwaukee M12 oscillating multi-tools and some narrower and wide blades to make the cutting easier. You could use a Dremel if you have the patience too (I did not after removing a few of the tabs lol).
Here are the part numbers and stuff I used:
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- I spent an hour or so afterwards using the Dremel and a disk made for plastic cutting to smooth a lot of my cuts out. I vacuumed the backside off and cleaned with isopropyl alcohol (IPA).
- After smoothing it all out, I went to the truck and removed the blue ford oval and the raptor logo and cleaned the tailgate off. Goo-Gone and some isopropyl alcohol worked wonders here.
- Polished the areas where the Raptor Logo used to be after removing the double sided tape and then washed the tailgate with an all-purpose cleaner spray I used for detailing.
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- Did some test fitting to line the applique up. Fit well. Also made sure it was smooth enough on the backside to lay flat with all the cutting I had done. Added blue painters tape to the truck to help me line it up and keep any sealant off areas where I did not want it. The painters tape I'm talking about goes laterally on the top and bottom of the applique and is not pictured. I pulled it off after the sealant was applied. Any sealant on the applique was able to be wiped off with IPA and a microfiber towel.
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- Wiped down the areas I planned to use the VHB tape at with the 3M adhesion promoter. Highly recommend this stuff as it aids in holding my C8's skirts on greatly lol.
- I added the 3M VHB tape to a lot of the areas of the applique. See the areas I shaded in Red. If you apply the tape well it will not interfere with the next step and it can be pulled off. By this I mean, cut the tape a little long but leave a "tongue" you can pull when the applique is on the tailgate. It'll allow you to position it along that top groove and slowly pull the backing off as you press in on the applique.
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- On the OUTWARD side of the 3M VHB tape I used a sealant. You might not need this, but I opted to do it because I wanted the backside to be weather sealed as well since I took that blue ford oval off and it creates an opening into the inside of the internal structure of the tailgate.
- Then I went out to the truck with some clamps and some microfibers to not scratch the applique up and placed it on. If you opt for the sealant route you can kind of play with the location a bit more before you take the VHB tape backing off.
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Let me know if you have any questions. I thought it was fairly straight forward as well and pretty easy. Much cheaper than going the new tailgate route lol
