[Thenorm]

I thought i would keep a running thread of my (wife's) Escape and all the things I do to it.

It is a 2014 Escape SE
FWD, 2.0 EB
200A package. (no options, other than engine)

-bought a flip key off ebay, and eventually programmed it. (it took cycling ignition on/off 8 times in 10 seconds to enter program mode)
-took the cover off the airbox so i can hear the "vroooom, pshhhh" of the intake
-Also got snow tires.

bought Volvo 16" steel wheels off craigslist for $100
tires are 225/65R16 Yokohama iceGUARD iG52c

I havent even driven it in the snow yet.

I sold my "take off" 17" wheels and tires locally. got a decent price.

 

[Thenorm]

bought a Drawtite hitch from one of the vendors on the forum here.

hitch install was straight forward.

i bought a t-one custom harness with the connectors for the tail light.
I modified the procedure a little bit. I didnt want to run a power wire all the way to the battery so i instead ran the wire throught the passenger side tail light grommet and used a fuse tap in an unused slot fuse 2 in the rear fuse box. I also lengthened two of the wires on the driver side so I could mount the module where i wanted to.

i'm still having issues with the wiring. I think my module is defective and two wires are crossed. I'll be doing some more cutting and troubleshooting with a volt meter.

 

[Thenorm]

this post is a teaser.
I bought some plastidip and painted the headlight eyebrows, fender trim and rear emblem.

I dont have pictures of the finished lights in the light, but they turned out awesome.

One of my plans is to turn the fender trim into turn signals. I'm still working on the details, but it might involve a glowing piece of smoked acrylic...

also have ordered some summer wheels. still need to get the tires mounted, but i sat them next to the FE to get a sense of it.

 

[ccap41]

"One of my plans is to turn the fender trim into turn signals. I'm still working on the details, but it might involve a glowing piece of smoked acrylic..."


I love this idea. At the very least I want to paint mine black like yours, I hate all the chrome on our Escapes. Definitely keep us updated on this venture!

 

[Thenorm]

fixed my trailer harness last night.
does this look right?

i had to cut and cross the right turn and stop light wires, as obviously inside the module they did not go to the right place. It was some frustrating trouble shooting, but I'm ready to tow now. I enjoy wiring up simple electrics.

 

[Thenorm]

some pics of the headlight eyebrow.

 

[Thenorm]

got my dash cam installed. Thread Here

bought the Mobius Actioncam wide angle with dash cam kit, about $120

it is quite discreet from the outside.

Here is an example of the video quality of the Mobius. This is from my Ford Focus, but it has the same camera as the Escape.
crash through snow bank ice rally-x - YouTube

 

[Thenorm]

I've given up on winter. It is un seasonably warm.
Put the new summer wheels on.
sport edition A9

18x8"

 

[escape05xls]

wheels look good! you're in Canada and no snow?! what?!

 

[Thenorm]

ya, Vancouver is usually not that cold, but this year is exceptionally warm.

We're well known for our ski hills, only 5 years ago we hosted the winter Olympics, but here is a pic from the top of one of the ski hills today. not a ounce of snow on the ground.

 

[mrmikesdeuce]

ya, Vancouver is usually not that cold, but this year is exceptionally warm.

We're well known for our ski hills, only 5 years ago we hosted the winter Olympics, but here is a pic from the top of one of the ski hills today. not a ounce of snow on the ground.

We have plenty here in Syracuse if you want some!

 

[Thenorm]

put an led bulb in the cargo area.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/231205433835?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT

its a lot whiter, but i cant really tell how much brighter it is.
The picture doesnt really accuratly show it but...

 

[leadmic]

put an led bulb in the cargo area.
1x Car White 12 LED 5730 SMD T10 W5W Bulb Wedge Side Light Bulb Lamp A084 | eBay

its a lot whiter, but i cant really tell how much brighter it is.
The picture doesnt really accuratly show it but...

I used a cheap Ebay bulb with no resistor and 68 LEDs.
Its been in their for nine months with no issues what's so ever. It is a least twice as bright if not more than the stock bulb. It illuminates the entire cargo area very well.
Mark

 

[Thenorm]

the bulb i bought used 5730 SMD LEDs, they are 0.5W each. so, figuring half the bulb faces wrong way, 6 x 0.5W = 3W led illumination. I've also wondered about putting something reflective behind the bulb, to get more usable light

 

[leadmic]

These are the ones I used: 2X T10 68 SMD LED White Super Bright Car Reverse Lights Bulbs W5W 194 921 168 | eBay
They fit the fixture perfectly, and are cheap. They are easy to change and put out a lot of light.
Mark

 

[Thenorm]

my dash camera almost proved it's worth yesterday.

My wife almost got wrecked when a van ran a stop sign.
This would have been good evidence should there be debate about the fault.

you can clearly see the van wasn't stopped as she approached.

 

[escape05xls]

Ok. Convinced. That is great to have. I'll be re-reading this and doing a same/similar setup in my dd and gf's dd. You can see the stop sign in the 1080p quality and the driver blowing it.

Thanks for posting it and I'm glad you guys didn't get into an accident.

 

[Thenorm]

Ok. Convinced. That is great to have. I'll be re-reading this and doing a same/similar setup in my dd and gf's dd. You can see the stop sign in the 1080p quality and the driver blowing it.

Thanks for posting it and I'm glad you guys didn't get into an accident.

it was almost good enough quality to read the license plate, but there is just a bit of glare towards the bottom of the window and it's at an angle. on my computer with the original video I can give a good guess of the plates.

 

[Thenorm]

yesterday installed ice blue LED in the foot well on my '14 FE SE to match the guages.

got them for ~1$ each on ebay.

colors and brightness are hard to show on a phone camera and with dark carpet, but
heres the before and after

 

[Hitokiri]

Could of used a light like that many time in the past. Looks great.