HELP< MOLDINGS COST $90 TO REPLACE

Get a long flat head screw driver and pry them off. if the clips break, don't worry about it, just glue the moldings back on. Call 1-800-mobilepaint to repair the paint scratches for $80. I just saved you $10!!!!! Don't worry about thanking me. I already know how awesome I am.

Haven't done one yet but I have looked at them and it looks like the same type of side moldings as the Ford Flex. The top 2 clips are blue and the rest are white. You have to carefully pop the top 2 blue clips and then slide the molding up. The remiaing white clips will still be on the body and you simply twist them and they pull right out and you then put them back on the molding.

I got the tips from the Auto Glass Journal and it worked great on the Flex, it should be similar on the Explorer.

It is a poor design and brittle plastic, I broke both the moldings when I firat did it as well. THe second time I did one was a thousand times better.

***Ignore all of the previous suggestions. None of them are correct.***

The "A" pillar moldings (windshield side moldings) on the 2012 Ford Explorer consist of two main parts:

1.) A plastic base which is attached to the "A" pillar with several bolts.

2.) A plastic cosmetic applique or cover which snaps onto the base and conceals the previously mentioned bolts.

The way to remove these moldings is as follows:

A.) Using a tool that will minimize the possibility of damage to the cosmetic parts of the molding (a plastic tooling paddle works), gently pry the cosmetic cover free from the molding base. This will expose the bolts which fasten the molding base to the "A" pillar.

B.) Remove the bolts.

C.) Remove the molding base and the rubber trim located underneath it, thereby exposing the edge of the windshield along the side.

D.) Repeat the process for the opposite side.

Answering for my tech - Please circulate that technique on this forum. No one wants to be the 2nd guy to find the glue underneath the molding. Perfect teaching. Thank you!

No problem.

No one should have to buy an overpriced cosmetic dealer part, because they were tricked into breaking it, due to manufacturer design changes/innovations which don't follow the recognized norm.

Thats what seperate the auto glass installers"Slavelite" and the professional auto glass technicians.

These steps to remove these side mouldings is a good approach. The only issue is that the clips are designed to be removed like the Flex clips. The difference being that each clip housing on the outer moulding of the explorer opposes the next which eliminates the option of sliding the mouldings off. And no matter what pry tool is used, I use the equalizer pry baby set, the clips are designed by ford to release with a quarter turn. So sometimes this will work but most of the time the housing will just break. But I am just a "Slavelite" tech that has already done dozens of these so what would I know. And as for xs, I would like to see run a shop doing fifty installs a day at your slowest time of the year and not run into problems with broken side mouldings. Reality is, if you do over a thousand installs a month out of one shop you have a much better chance of having issues. So say what you'd like, but I'd love to see anyone of these "technicians" you speak of do a few thousand installs in one year and see if their outlook on the issues we "slavelite" techs have changes.

PhxTech,

You have the Slavelite mentality.Just because you do more"thousands of installs a month"doesnt make you experienced or better then the next guy that has done hundreds or several.Its the skill level,experience,and quality of the installs that you do that counts.

If you are questioning my experience.please do a look up with xs and see how much technical advise I post on here.I did yours and I see nothing

xs,
It was a few thousand a year per tech. Thousands a month was referring to the entire store, and I only mentioned that with the hope you'd understand doing so many jobs would put us at a higher risk for moulding issues. And as for experience, doing thousands of jobs a year does make me a very experienced tech. And if anyone was put in a position to do so many jobs, they'd quickly realize and correct their quality issues. But you are right, doing this amount of work says nothing about quality or skill level. Likewise neither does your amount of posts say anything about yours. At the end of the day I'm sure, judging by the way you talk about glass, your an very qualified tech as am I. I'd just like you to understand that just because I wear a safelite shirt doesn't make me or any of the guys I work with a hack. And also, the amount of jobs completed puts any tech at a higher risk for unavoidable broken parts.

i finally got to do one of these. i have seen these at the dealership and also throught it was similar to the flex.
i was lucky because the dealership had all new moldings and clips. however i did want to see if you could save and reuse the exterior molding. keep in mind this car only has 8 miles( w/s damaged in transit)
i took all care and precaution and had the clip retainer on the exterior molding break. this is one of those designs that ford got spot on. they designed it in a way that will guarantee them sales of parts in the ***ure. its designed to be a one time application. if oyu can reuse them on a consistent basis, more porwer to you. however i live in the desert southwest and plastic parts tent to dry and break really easy. looks as if we will be selling lots of these moldings.

From a glass shop on the east coast who also has to deal with brittle plastic.... I find that if you can get a panel puller (because it is flat) in between the plug and the plastic molding right at the plug itself, it is less likely to break the plastic. I have broken many of these moldings and it is only with practice I have figured out how to successfully get the molding off and I do agree that ford and all the other manufacturers are designing things to break on purpose to make more money. I hope this helps

I rock them off with no issues, straighten out pins and wash rinse repeat.

Knock on wood been working :)


Also the great GGG makes moldings and they are Amazing !

Thank you for this very detailed explanation. I will be sure to share it with our techs.

PHX tech, You say thousand's a month? LMAO, RITE!!! for 1000 jobs a month is over 50 jobs a day in the shop, also as per to each tech you are referring that each tech can do over a 1000 jobs a month? You guys must be SUPERMEN of glass.. LOL.. you might want to dumb that down and say a couple hundred a month per installer. I worked for that SLAVECAMP and my best as a MOBILE PRO for 10 years was 1600 customers serviced in a years time, And I drove to each and everyone of them.. Plus most of the people on this site had, have or did work for the slave camp you call work. Now you have fun spending 2 hours trying to cut out a dw 1099 with you fiber wire, Oh and don't get caught with your COLD KNIFE in your van, LOLOLOLOL

That is for now,
D A M N YANKEE OUT!!!!!

Old OE 1099's suck i can not imagine using fiber wire on them!

Dude, he said thousand per year for a tech not a month, and he never mentioned how many techs he had, so thousand a month if he has 10 techs isn't that many now is it? Just sayin.

I guess some techs do not have gentle soft hands?

Why not just buy the clip kit from Ford for appx 10$ ???

Because Sum people are to STUPID....

"Because Sum people are to STUPID...."
You have this all wrong; for sum people, it's two STUPID. For some people it's too STUPID.

Thanks for the grammar lesson. Some of these posts drive me crazy.

Some body can make a instructions video? It will be asome usefull

I just do not get why so many people have issues with these? Am I just lucky? And the ones I have done, that had jacked up molding from accidents, i just used GGG replacment moldings... worked perfect

I agree!

Ideally it depends if it is still factory or allready buggered, but Ford has released this part as a one use only part, as the mount on the tip of the molding cannot be saved, that said we all know how to use " liquid clip" just ensure your customers are aware of this issue and ask if they would like the replacement part, or if they would like you to attempt to save and reuse the old one,so not to face the backlash afterwards. I myself do use the clip pliers , i cut the butyl tape away from the edge and slide the flat clip pliers under the clip cast itself and turn the clip itself 1/4 turn, this will damage the retainer on the clip itself , but if u do the job right and ensure to replace the butyl tape the molding wont shudder. hope this helps

I shudder to think that my moldings would shudder I mean how tragic can you get.

The ford side moldings are easy to break and that's a fact no matter how gentle or experienced you are. They were designed in such a way that ford can make some good money on them. Insurance pays for them so when the outer piece breaks simply move on to installing a new part and bill accordingly. There is a few bucks in profit still if you do break them. If only the white clips break then we have those in stock also and just replace the couple that do break. We don't usually charge for the white clips unless its a cash job because the customer is pretty happy when this cost is minimal compared to the larger cost of whole new side piece. Don't forget to use butyl along edge where the original butyl laid or you will have a wind noise warranty. Is this really that difficult to do?

I don't even want to go into the craplite conversation but will say that their warranty percentage speaks for itself! Its no joke how bad it is!

dont waste your time there isnt enough money in the job to begin with. bill safelite for the job plus mldgs and be lucky to make 100 bucks. Good luck!