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’19–up Ford Ranger 180
INSTALLATION GUIDE
19-Up Ford Ranger 180
75 minutes
Normal install time
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IMPORTANT!
Important installation information
Helpful Hints
Tips to assist installation
PARTS INCLUDED:
TOOLS REQUIRED:
PREPARE THE BULKHEAD
- If you have the factory bed liner, remove it or use a rotary tool to trim the top of its bulkhead wall so that the its edge sits no higher than 3-1/4″ below the plane of top of the bed rail caps to its left and right.
- Mount the included bulkhead prep kit. Refer to the Bulkhead Pre Kit Installation Guide for details.
- Place the bulkhead angle, longer leg down, centered side to side, against the bulkhead so that its top sits 1/4″ below the plane of the top of the bed rail caps.
- Mark the first drill location roughly at the horizontal center of the angle’s vertical leg.
- Place the angle on the ground. Drill the mark using a 3/8″ nut driver bit and self-drilling screw.
- Attach the angle to the bulkhead, centered side to side and its top leveled 1/4″ below the plane of the top of the bed rails, by driving the screw into the bulkhead.
- Put four additional, evenly spaced screws through the angle and into the bulkhead.
- Detach the angle by removing the screws.
- Enlarge the holes in the bulkhead with a 25/64″ bit.
If you don’t have a 25/64″ bit, use a 3/8″ bit and slightly ream the holes. - Enlarge the holes in the angle with a 5/16″ bit.
- Hammer a rivet nut into each hole in the bulkhead.
- Insert the installation-tool mandrel into a rivet nut. Hand-tighten until its hexagonal sleeve is tight to the face of the rivet nut.
- Use a 9/16″ wrench to hold the installation-tool sleeve as you tighten the mandrel with a 7/16″ socket until the rivet nut deforms and locks against the interior of the bed wall.
You’ll know the rivet nut is fully compressed when you feel the mandrel become very diffcult to turn. - Remove the installation tool by unscrewing the mandrel.
Repeat steps 12–14 for each hole and rivet nut.
- Reattach the angle by inserting a hex bolt through a lock washer, then a plain washer, then through a hole in the angle, and into each rivet nut. Tighten with a 7/16″ socket.
If you are also installing a Cross Bin, do so now. Refer to page 2 of the Cross Bin Installation Guide for details.
MOUNT THE COVERClose the tailgate. Place the cover onto the cargo bed so that the weatherstrip along the cover’s rear angle is firmly compressed against the inside edge of the tailgate.
- Center the cover side to side.
- Attach the nose of the T panel to the bulkhead angle using two cap clamps. Tighten the clamps with a 9/16″ socket.
- Attach the cross member of the T panel to the bed rails using two more clamps at each end. Tighten.
SET THE LOCK RODS - Use the 1/8″ hex key to loosen the set screws on the linkages of the forward lock rods.
You can leave your rearward lock rods alone. They come pre-adjusted from the factory. - Adjust the length of the lock rods & retighten the set screws so that:
A. with the lock handle in the open position, the rod tips clear the bulkhead angle,
B. with the handle in the closed position, the rod tips do not strike the bulkhead, and
C. the rods point downward.
- With the lock handle in the closed position, set the lock rods tight against the underside of the bulkhead angle. Tighten the rod guide brackets with a 7/16″ socket.
- Double-check both panels to ensure they open, close, lock & seal correctly. If at any point the weatherstrip does not touch the bed rails, readjust the lock rods and mounting brackets as needed. Operating the access panels is easiest when you press down as you open or close them.
ATTACH THE GAS SPRINGS - Attach the gas springs to the ball studs.
To avoid premature failure of your gas springs, attach them barrel up, shaft down. - Leave the cover closed and locked for 24 hours to allow the weatherstrip adhesive, which is pressure-sensitive,to fully cure.
24 hours
Adhesive cure time
AUGUST 2021
