When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
My emblem and camera mount came in the mail today. I thought it would have tabs to let me glue it to the back of the grill, but it's a bit more complicated than I thought. I went back out and looked at my truck - much of the camera is embedded in the mount for the emblem, which is nice that it will hide it better (including the glue job I expect to do), but means some more complex fabrication/cutting.
Gonna have to give this a lot of thought... I want this to look as close to OEM appearance as possible.
(Here's to hoping my fabrication skills are as good as my thinking).
This was my problem. I wonder how closely your camera mount is to mine. Three holes at the top... one at the bottom. As you said, yes, the camera is almost entirely employed by the mount. I cut a lot of mine away, which ultimately worked just fine. It was the patch job that followed that I didn't like.
This was my problem. I wonder how closely your camera mount is to mine. Three holes at the top... one at the bottom. As you said, yes, the camera is almost entirely employed by the mount. I cut a lot of mine away, which ultimately worked just fine. It was the patch job that followed that I didn't like.
I think the front camera mount is the same for all 2015-17 F150's (I used the part # you provided I think and it looks the same as mine - think I doublechecked the fit/MY with tasca or someplace too).
So my thinking is this, so far (only looking, not cutting yet):
- cut the emblem mount from the bar. Figure out something to fill the hole in the sides, and sand it clean and smooth.
- make the cutout for the camera that matches my current truck in the bottom of the emblem mount
- make the cutout in the grill for the camera mount, add trim using the scraps from the bar, to box it in, like on the Raptor grille.
- put some machine screws in from the front side of the emblem mount, into the camera mount holes. May need a spacer to fit the right depth.
- figure out a way to screw or glue the bottom of the camera mount to the back of the grill, keeping the angle the same as stock.
Getting the angle right wasn't as hard as you might think. I took profile photos of the stock grille. I made a cardboard template of it. Then, in the end, I didn't use any of that and just made the camera slot tight enough so I could fit the cut-down bracket in there and mount up the grille temporarily and actually view the camera on screen to check its position. In the end, the best reference I had was a photo of the screen showing the stock position of the camera, and I just matched that.
Apologies if I'm hijacking your thread, but thought this post was appropriate with the evolution of the discussion.
Worked all morning on my new "bar" grill and it came out just as I hoped. Getting the front camera mounted is, of course the most challenging part of the install.
I did extensive measuring and mock up to ensure I got the camera as close to the stock position as possible. This meant tucking the camera up under the emblem similar to the stock grill. Dremel is your friend here and I took my time to carve out little-by-little until it framed the top portion of the mount very similar to the stock grill. I think I got it in almost the same position. If I'm off, it is by less than an 1/8 inch in any direction. Camera alignment in 360 looks great - actually better than it was with my "FORD" grill, which I believe was a little low, a little too far back, and didn't have the downward angle exactly correct.
To get the camera mount to sit in the right position, I did have to "re-modify" the mount, which meant I had to cut of the tabs I left behind last time and used a surface area for gluing. This left basically only the square piece of the mount. I'm not as confident in the security of the mount this time because of the lost surface area, but I used plastic weld again and it feels very solid. Unless it takes a direct hit at speed, I shouldn't have any problems. My previous modifications and gluing marred some of the surface of the mount (I actually had to cut it out of my old grill) that is now visible since I pushed it out some to match the stock position, but you'd have to be looking for the imperfections to notice, and you can't see them from more than a foot or two away. In addition, I painted the mesh portion flat black after installing the camera mount, so overall it blends pretty well with the grill itself. I could have ordered a new mount, but I really wasn't too concerned about that piece.
BTW - the I raised the bar itself by about half an inch before I started measuring for the camera mount. The tabs on the back had to be removed and flipped over since there is a block on one end that keeps the bar from shifting. Good idea. Was actually surprised to find they did this. Raising the bar aligns it better with the headlights, IMO.
I like this grill better than the FORD version. My wife, of course, liked the "FORD" better but oh well. Here are the pics. Hopefully this is the last time I have to mess with the grill.
Mesh painted black. Left the rest gray. Front camera tucked in under the emblem. Very close to stock look.
Looks good. Quite a bit lighter in color than the bumper though isn't it? So also lighter than the oem lariat sport grille.
I noticed that in the picture and it surprised me because it looks much lighter in the picture than it does in person. I compared to my old grill and it is the same color. While the old grill wasn't a perfect match, it was close enough that it never jumped out at me and it was the same with this one during installation.
Upon further inspection I noticed the grill paint appears to have different reflective qualities than the bumper paint, which in certain sun conditions makes the grill look a lot lighter than it is and that was enhanced in the photo. Painting the mesh section flat black probably enhanced the reflective qualities as well. The color is actually a closer match than the picture portrays. Again - not perfect and the grill is a little lighter, but not as light as it looks in the photo and definitely better looking than the stock Lariat grill no matter what color, IMO.
03-03-2017, 04:58 PM
