Sgtsandman's 2019 STX FX4

[sgtsandman]

The right side panel is now assembled again. Here is a picture of it by itself and then another with the other panel next to it and the vertical dividers temporarily installed. The idea is that when they are not in use, the vertical dividers and the refrigerator slide will come off for easier carry and storage. The deck being in halves is that way for the same reasons. The drawer box itself is pretty much a permanent installation but the deck needs to come out when the bed needs to be used for other things.

Finally, the camera isn't picking up the color properly, there is a bit of grey in the brown. All to better to hide the inevitable dirt and dust that is going to get into the bed.

 

[sgtsandman]

I installed some seat covers since I have gotten tired of keeping up with keeping the black cloth seats clean.

 

[sgtsandman]

I got to working on the steering rack replacement today. For those new, or haven't been following along, I have a water intrusion issue into the steering rack. I haven't gotten to the point to see where the water is an issue, but if the weather drops below freezing, the water trapped in the rack freezes and locks the rack so it can not be steered. The only way around it, until you can replace the steering rack, is to let the truck warm up for about 30 minutes so the heat from the engine can thaw the steering rack.

For those who have 4X4, clearance to pull the rack out of the truck is very tight to not enough. Mine is not enough. So, I had to pull the front axle in order to get the steering rack out and install the new one.

All that to remove this

And install this

 

[Robert Mangrum]

Been there, done that haha. Its a sucky job for sure. Like I said on the other post. I ended up taking the tie rods off and swinging the steering shaft input around the front of the motor and dropping it out the passenger side. Probably easier than removing the whole axle, spindles and such. I was also able to keep my alignment pretty close by removing the tie rods in 1 peice. The alignment guy said he was surprised how close it was when I told him I had just replaced the whole rack and pinion. And for those of you with a 2020 built after 06/08/2020. Know that they changed the tierod ends after that. They have a shorter wider shaft on the ball joints.