How-to : Expy Console Mod
I wrote this with the intention of gathering ALL the information I needed to do the Expy Console Mod. I found that I needed to browse multiple threads on multiple forums to answer all the questions I had. To make this easier for others I wrote the story of my Expedition console installation.
First I found, watched, and sniped a 1999 Ford Expedition Console off of Ebay from LKQ (they seem to have a never-ending supply of them). The 97-99 consoles are narrower, more readily available, and thus cheaper. The 00-02 consoles are wider since Expeditions of those years had no armrests on the seats. These are also much more sought after since Lightnings have no armrests. Since it was cheaper and easier to find, I was happy with my purchase. I paid $112 plus $45 shipping for my narrow console.
This is exactly how I unwrapped it :
I completely disassembled the console and washed it well with soap and water. All the wiring and rear stereo controls went in the garbage. I also opted to get rid of the foam gasket at the front of the console. I used a small piece of plastic to fill the hole in the rear of the console and some 2 part epoxy to attach it with. After they were cleaned I wiped them down with a wax remover, aka surface prep. I then sprayed everything with a plastic adhesion promoter NAPA # 6246. Once that was dry I sprayed the light parts of the console with Duplicolor “Medium Gray Vinyl” # VS8. I sprayed the dark cupholder section with Duplicolor “Charcoal Gray Vinyl” # VS11. It is possible that those Duplicolor numbers are no longer available. They have been updating some of their numbers. If that is the case you will need #'s HVP109 Medium Gray and HVP111 Charcoal Gray.
I sent my console lid off to 02Thunder to be covered. (Thanks Joe) This is how he covered it. He used 3M No.77 Upholstery Spray adhesive to attach the new material, and cushioned it with some headliner foam.
Reupholster with headliner cushion and grained material:
This is the before & after on a '01 Wide console I re-did.
The required Parts:
Seat Pan- #YL3Z-1563100-BB
Seat Bracket- #F65Z-1561709-CAJ*
* It has been brought to my attention that Ford no longer carries this number and has been superceding to another part #. Apparently the # that Ford is superceding to will not work for this application. If anyone knows another # that will work, please let me know.
Seat Lever - YL3Z-15603A86-BAA
Front Floor Bracket - #F75Z-78045B32-AA
Rear Floor Bracket #F75Z-78045B34-AB
I found that you will also need to purchase a longer bolt for the front left of the passenger seat. The new seat bracket is much thicker so the leftover bolts won't work. The bolt required is Ford # N811250-S424. It is black and T55 Torx just like the others.
I also purchased all new rubber inserts. They aren’t cheap, but I wanted the console to look new.
Storage Area Mat in Console Under Armrest
#F75Z-78045G34-AAA for 97-99 Narrow Models
#YL1Z-78045G34-AAA for 00+up Wide Models
Cupholder Rubbers (2)
#F75Z-7813562-AAE for 97-99 Narrow Models
#XL1Z-7813562-AAA for 00+up Wide Models
Front Storage Rubber
#F75Z-78046B76-AAA for 97-99 Narrow Models
#YL1Z-78046B76-AA for 00+up Wide Models
Upon receiving all my parts and the console lid, I re-assembled everything.
Now it’s time to remove the seat. All the bolts that hold the seat in are a T55 Torx. There are 2 bolts in the rear of the seat and 2 in the front. The seat belt is also held in with a T55.
With those 5 bolts removed, the seat is now ready to come out. Be careful not to scratch the floor or the door.
You may want to save your upholstery guy some work and disassemble the armrest section.
Now it’s time to cut some carpet. The left front bolt hole for the seat is also the left front hole for the bracket. With the floor bracket as a guide, cut away the carpet so the bracket will mount flush to the floor.
You’ll find a little rubber plug which plugs your other bolt hole for the front bracket. Pull that out. Get out your 10mm x 1.50 tap and tap that hole. Some guys have had trouble finding a tap this size. If that is the case, go to your local NAPA store and ask for part # NHT.55321.
Do the same on the rear. You will see the rubber plug on the passenger side. Pull out that plug. Notice the 2 bolts? Those are my Metco driveshaft loop bolts and they posed a minor problem with bolting the bracket in.
Tap that hole with a 12mm x 1.75 tap. Some guys have had trouble finding a tap this size. If that is the case, go to your local NAPA store and ask for part # NHT.55361.
You should have a decent sized chunk of carpet left over. I cut mine into 2 pieces and put it up under the carpet to ‘pad-up’ the floor to better mate with the console bottom. If you don't know what I mean, place your console on the brackets once they are bolted in. There will be a big gap under the front of the console.
Now it’s time to bolt the console brackets down. I used (2) 10mm X 1.50 X 25mm bolts & washers to mount the front bracket.
I had to cut a small section out of the rear bracket so it wouldn’t interfere with the Metco Driveshaft loop mounting bolts. Once I measured, cut, and re-painted it, the rear bracket bolted down with (2) 12mm X 1.75 X 25mm bolts & washers.
The brackets all bolted in and ready to go.
I found it was much easier to install the console with the storage box removed and the rear part of the console off.
This is a pic from the back with the brackets slid-in, and the console back ready to go on.
The 2 front brackets must be bolted together to prevent the front of the console from moving up and down. You'll need to remove the cupholder section from the console. On the passenger side there is a threaded hole that goes through the top bracket into the bottom one. A 6mm x 1.00 x 16 bolt and washer did the trick. I had a hard time lining the bolt up, so I used masking tape to tape the bolt to a socket on an extension. Once the bolt is threaded in, the socket and tape will pull away from the bolt. The bolt goes here -
The console can now be put back together and the storage bin put back in place.
Now you need to find where the front left hole for the seat bracket is. If you feel around, you should be able to feel it under the carpet. Make a small ‘X’ in the carpet with a razor blade. You should see the rubber plug. Then you can cut around the rubber plug so it can be removed.
Once the plug is removed, tap seat bracket hole with a 10mm X 1.50 tap.
Next I took the passenger seat to a reputable upholstery shop. I also gave him all the parts for the seat that I purchased from Ford (Seat pan, Bracket, and lever). I had previously stopped by to show him the truck and what I wanted done. This way he knew what to expect when I dropped off the seat. A few days later I went and picked it up!
It’s almost time to bolt the seat back in. You will need to modify the seat belt first. I used a heat gun to warm the plastic and bend the seat belt straight. I got it pretty straight and you can’t see most of it, so don’t worry too much. The bottom plastic piece has to be cut off of the seat belt covering. You should cut it back to reveal just the metal mounting tab. This tab goes under the left-rear hole for the seat, so the bolt will go through the seat and then the seat belt before it goes into the floor.
Before:
After:
At this point you should be ready to re-install your bucket seat. Put the seat in place along with the seat belt. Bolt the seat in place with 4 bolts.
This is a view of the rear seat bolts installed.
All done!!!
The leftovers:
These were given to me and can be a big help in searching for parts. Use the prices only for a guide as they have changed since this was printed.
I’d like to thank NAPA Tolland, Brian’s Upholstery of Vernon, CT, Backus Ford, 02Thunder and RIDE THE (Eric) for the beautiful work on the console lids. And thanks to Travis (Sid297) for supplying me with a great place to put this.
I wrote this with the intention of gathering ALL the information I needed to do the Expy Console Mod. I found that I needed to browse multiple threads on multiple forums to answer all the questions I had. To make this easier for others I wrote the story of my Expedition console installation.
First I found, watched, and sniped a 1999 Ford Expedition Console off of Ebay from LKQ (they seem to have a never-ending supply of them). The 97-99 consoles are narrower, more readily available, and thus cheaper. The 00-02 consoles are wider since Expeditions of those years had no armrests on the seats. These are also much more sought after since Lightnings have no armrests. Since it was cheaper and easier to find, I was happy with my purchase. I paid $112 plus $45 shipping for my narrow console.
This is exactly how I unwrapped it :
I completely disassembled the console and washed it well with soap and water. All the wiring and rear stereo controls went in the garbage. I also opted to get rid of the foam gasket at the front of the console. I used a small piece of plastic to fill the hole in the rear of the console and some 2 part epoxy to attach it with. After they were cleaned I wiped them down with a wax remover, aka surface prep. I then sprayed everything with a plastic adhesion promoter NAPA # 6246. Once that was dry I sprayed the light parts of the console with Duplicolor “Medium Gray Vinyl” # VS8. I sprayed the dark cupholder section with Duplicolor “Charcoal Gray Vinyl” # VS11. It is possible that those Duplicolor numbers are no longer available. They have been updating some of their numbers. If that is the case you will need #'s HVP109 Medium Gray and HVP111 Charcoal Gray.
I sent my console lid off to 02Thunder to be covered. (Thanks Joe) This is how he covered it. He used 3M No.77 Upholstery Spray adhesive to attach the new material, and cushioned it with some headliner foam.
Reupholster with headliner cushion and grained material:
This is the before & after on a '01 Wide console I re-did.
The required Parts:
Seat Pan- #YL3Z-1563100-BB
Seat Bracket- #F65Z-1561709-CAJ*
* It has been brought to my attention that Ford no longer carries this number and has been superceding to another part #. Apparently the # that Ford is superceding to will not work for this application. If anyone knows another # that will work, please let me know.
Seat Lever - YL3Z-15603A86-BAA
Front Floor Bracket - #F75Z-78045B32-AA
Rear Floor Bracket #F75Z-78045B34-AB
I found that you will also need to purchase a longer bolt for the front left of the passenger seat. The new seat bracket is much thicker so the leftover bolts won't work. The bolt required is Ford # N811250-S424. It is black and T55 Torx just like the others.
I also purchased all new rubber inserts. They aren’t cheap, but I wanted the console to look new.
Storage Area Mat in Console Under Armrest
#F75Z-78045G34-AAA for 97-99 Narrow Models
#YL1Z-78045G34-AAA for 00+up Wide Models
Cupholder Rubbers (2)
#F75Z-7813562-AAE for 97-99 Narrow Models
#XL1Z-7813562-AAA for 00+up Wide Models
Front Storage Rubber
#F75Z-78046B76-AAA for 97-99 Narrow Models
#YL1Z-78046B76-AA for 00+up Wide Models
Upon receiving all my parts and the console lid, I re-assembled everything.
Now it’s time to remove the seat. All the bolts that hold the seat in are a T55 Torx. There are 2 bolts in the rear of the seat and 2 in the front. The seat belt is also held in with a T55.
With those 5 bolts removed, the seat is now ready to come out. Be careful not to scratch the floor or the door.
You may want to save your upholstery guy some work and disassemble the armrest section.
Now it’s time to cut some carpet. The left front bolt hole for the seat is also the left front hole for the bracket. With the floor bracket as a guide, cut away the carpet so the bracket will mount flush to the floor.
You’ll find a little rubber plug which plugs your other bolt hole for the front bracket. Pull that out. Get out your 10mm x 1.50 tap and tap that hole. Some guys have had trouble finding a tap this size. If that is the case, go to your local NAPA store and ask for part # NHT.55321.
Do the same on the rear. You will see the rubber plug on the passenger side. Pull out that plug. Notice the 2 bolts? Those are my Metco driveshaft loop bolts and they posed a minor problem with bolting the bracket in.
Tap that hole with a 12mm x 1.75 tap. Some guys have had trouble finding a tap this size. If that is the case, go to your local NAPA store and ask for part # NHT.55361.
You should have a decent sized chunk of carpet left over. I cut mine into 2 pieces and put it up under the carpet to ‘pad-up’ the floor to better mate with the console bottom. If you don't know what I mean, place your console on the brackets once they are bolted in. There will be a big gap under the front of the console.
Now it’s time to bolt the console brackets down. I used (2) 10mm X 1.50 X 25mm bolts & washers to mount the front bracket.
I had to cut a small section out of the rear bracket so it wouldn’t interfere with the Metco Driveshaft loop mounting bolts. Once I measured, cut, and re-painted it, the rear bracket bolted down with (2) 12mm X 1.75 X 25mm bolts & washers.
The brackets all bolted in and ready to go.
I found it was much easier to install the console with the storage box removed and the rear part of the console off.
This is a pic from the back with the brackets slid-in, and the console back ready to go on.
The 2 front brackets must be bolted together to prevent the front of the console from moving up and down. You'll need to remove the cupholder section from the console. On the passenger side there is a threaded hole that goes through the top bracket into the bottom one. A 6mm x 1.00 x 16 bolt and washer did the trick. I had a hard time lining the bolt up, so I used masking tape to tape the bolt to a socket on an extension. Once the bolt is threaded in, the socket and tape will pull away from the bolt. The bolt goes here -
The console can now be put back together and the storage bin put back in place.
Now you need to find where the front left hole for the seat bracket is. If you feel around, you should be able to feel it under the carpet. Make a small ‘X’ in the carpet with a razor blade. You should see the rubber plug. Then you can cut around the rubber plug so it can be removed.
Once the plug is removed, tap seat bracket hole with a 10mm X 1.50 tap.
Next I took the passenger seat to a reputable upholstery shop. I also gave him all the parts for the seat that I purchased from Ford (Seat pan, Bracket, and lever). I had previously stopped by to show him the truck and what I wanted done. This way he knew what to expect when I dropped off the seat. A few days later I went and picked it up!
It’s almost time to bolt the seat back in. You will need to modify the seat belt first. I used a heat gun to warm the plastic and bend the seat belt straight. I got it pretty straight and you can’t see most of it, so don’t worry too much. The bottom plastic piece has to be cut off of the seat belt covering. You should cut it back to reveal just the metal mounting tab. This tab goes under the left-rear hole for the seat, so the bolt will go through the seat and then the seat belt before it goes into the floor.
Before:
After:
At this point you should be ready to re-install your bucket seat. Put the seat in place along with the seat belt. Bolt the seat in place with 4 bolts.
This is a view of the rear seat bolts installed.
All done!!!
The leftovers:
These were given to me and can be a big help in searching for parts. Use the prices only for a guide as they have changed since this was printed.
I’d like to thank NAPA Tolland, Brian’s Upholstery of Vernon, CT, Backus Ford, 02Thunder and RIDE THE (Eric) for the beautiful work on the console lids. And thanks to Travis (Sid297) for supplying me with a great place to put this.
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