Howdy all.

Looking to dump the chrome and go color match on my grille and F/R bumpers. I see all sorts of grilles online that I can just paint or that come pre painted, or I could I simply sand. adhesion promote, prime and paint my stuff? I am somewhat tempted to swap to the STX grille, but I through searching it looks like I may need to get a new emblem as the XLT emblem (w/out camera) is different? As for bumpers worth trying to paint, or should I order new and go from there? Rig in question is a 19 XLT.


Thanks
Josh

 

I bet it wouldn't be hard to find someone who wants chrome to swap with you.

 

Matching vinyl wrap is the easiest quickest way to match the bumpers. If you get them painted, make sure to get the front bumper wrapped in PPF so you avoid the million tiny chips that happen on painted bumpers.

 

18-20 color matched grilles can be ordered in color. At a premium price. Or at least you used to be able to anyway. I haven't done one in awhile.

Yes pretty much any grille can be painted. Easier ones would be ones that are already painted. Xlt sport grille is already J7 magnetic. So you can just sand, paint and clear it. Adhesion promoter is typically used for raw plastics. Not necessary on things that are already painted. Or even in oem primer.

Xlt sport grilles have a different emblem than stx grilles. As you can see the black ring stays with the grille 2018+ XL and XLT chrome and sport are fl3z8213a.



Stx ovals are ones with a black ring on the oval, which are pretty much all other grilles. In the 18-20 year range. They take JL3Z8213A. Bottom one in pic.







Unless you have a camera then it's this one JL3Z8213B




This is all assuming you use all oem Ford grilles

Bumpers, i would find new oem primed. Or LKQ take offs, and paint

 

FWIW, primed rear bumper shells are available pretty darn cheap on Amazon.

I used these:
BUMPERS THAT DELIVER - Primered, Steel Rear Right RH Bumper Face Bar for 2015-2020 Ford F-150 w/Park Assist 15-20, FO1102383 https://a.co/d/b4QmmLL
(That's the right side, LH is linked from the listing).

They're certainly not perfect (took some wiggling to line up) but for like $150 delivered, I have no complaints. Swapping the plastic piece in the middle was a moderate PITA. Also, in hindsight, I should have shoved the power washer up inside the bumper shells to remove the mud build up before trying to remove them.

I don't know what color your rig is, but I have a magnetic metallic truck and I just put bedliner on the shells and on my off-road bumper; it's close enough in color and it's more resistant to wear and tear.

Speaking of off-road bumpers, I saw your other post mentioning that plan. Speaking from experience, I'd strongly recommend to closely watch bumper weight (a lot of them are pretty heavy even before you add the winch) and the stock bumper assembly is only 35 pounds or so. You should also pay closer attention to mounting than I did--any bumper that only mounts to the factory bumper mounts has some chance of fore/aft twisting because those mounts are all in one plane. I now have those reinforced, but in hindsight I wish I'd just bought a bumper that also attached to the frame rail where the stock tow hooks go (since those are engineered to resist pulling forces).

 

I did the chrome delete a couple of years ago, and I found everything I needed on here or on Marketplace locally.
Bumpers and grill were my 3 items I needed to do, wheels also were changed as well.

Bumpers and wheels I found locally.
The grill I had a deer take care of.............so I did it all color matched when I repaired it.

 

Thanks guys! I am thinking of adding on the Morimoto LED grille since I have Morimoto all around anyway, and I can get one unfinished and have it painted. I had originally planned on going with vinyl wrap, but two wrap shops said with all the curves on the grill that it may not hold up very well especially with our cold winters up here in MT. Thanks for the emblem info "21RRF150"!

As for the bumper I am torn between a painted factory with a hidden winch mount or going with a winch mount bumper. I have hit enough deer I worry about not having a rig that's protected. I do see weight being an issue, I come from a 1 ton where hanging 200+lb off the front wasn't a big deal. The rear bumper as mentioned looks pretty easy to source on ebay painted and ready to rock. FYI pickup is agate black "kbroderick". I swore I'd never own another black vehicle, but it looked so good all shined up on the lot.

 

I could definitely feel the difference on curvy mountain roads after I installed my off-road bumper. YMMV, but I'd strongly suggest that the bumper decision will impact suspension as well.

 

Hopefully weight won't be too much of an issue. I will be putting a 2in level(or perhaps 2.5in...) on it. With the added weight I think i will do struts and not pucks. Anyway I have this coming...

Steelcraft 60-11420CC HD Elevation Ford F150 Front Bumper 2018-2020 (bumperstock.com)

 

Nice! Don't forget to include the free 20" light bar! It might be junk seeing as its included for free but free.99 is free.99. LOL