aftermarket grilles installed, amazon and autoanything
03-06-2017, 06:02 PM
#1
aftermarket grilles installed, amazon and autoanything
here are the products used:
the lower grille was dead easy to install and took me all of 45 seconds. as others have noted it is much easier to use a pair of zipties vs the supplied hardware, and i use the term hardware rather loosely. the quality of the product was excellent.
http://www.autoanything.com/billet-g...let-bar-grille
the upper grille, well not so much. i watched a handful of videos on how to remove the factory grille and keep the clips intact. despite spending a good 45 minutes trying to get them out clean 4 of the 5 clips broke. i guess it will look good on the wall in the shop.
i went with this product because it replaced the entire factory grille and i didn't have to cut anything like you would an insert. that being said the quality of this product wasn't really so good. the horizontal part is billet however the surround is plastic and the application of the black surface to the upper corners left something to be desired. there were a couple of pinched areas (think trying to wrap a disc in paper which results in certain areas not being a flush folded over part) on the upper corners and one small section where it looked as if it had been bumped/scraped. the area was small and unless you are on top of it looking for it you most likely won't see it, but i will always know it's there. i know i did not cause these blemishes as i am kinda **** about installing new items and left it wrapped in the protective foam until the last minute. i plan on borrowing a bottle of black nail polish from the girlfriend and doing a little touch-up to it (also the screws, see below).
the bottom of the grille was not a match to the factory piece. the factory grille has, for lack of a better term, curves in that mold around the lower support brace mounting point. this one did not, the bottom edge was straight. this resulted in not being able to fully seat the two bottom bolts while installing it. i just snugged them up as tight as i felt safe with and crossed my fingers that the screws would not vibrate out over time.
this grille did not sit as flush with the hood as the factory one did. you can notice it if you are close up and looking from the side, but from the front it looks fine.
lastly for some reason known only to god and the people who made this grille some genius decided to use silver screws to hold the billet part to the surround when everything else is black. again, the normal person may not notice this but to those of us who love our vehicles and the parts we install on them it would stick out like a sore thumb (nail polish will hopefully correct this).
i guess overall i am happy with the results but i would not suggest the upper from from auto anything that i purchased. we all know this isn't one of those $800-1,000 fully machined grilles but for the price i expected something better. if the grille was easier to remove i would have probably removed it and sent it back but based on my experience removing the factory grille the odds of me getting it off and not breaking clips on something i was going to return would be slim to none. i figured the front of the truck takes the most abuse/damage over the course of driving it so i let it go.
i do like how it changed the appearance of the truck though. to me it makes the front end look much bigger/wider than the stock grille did.
grilles installed
notice the silver screws
top corner
side view
the lower grille was dead easy to install and took me all of 45 seconds. as others have noted it is much easier to use a pair of zipties vs the supplied hardware, and i use the term hardware rather loosely. the quality of the product was excellent.
http://www.autoanything.com/billet-g...let-bar-grille
the upper grille, well not so much. i watched a handful of videos on how to remove the factory grille and keep the clips intact. despite spending a good 45 minutes trying to get them out clean 4 of the 5 clips broke. i guess it will look good on the wall in the shop.
i went with this product because it replaced the entire factory grille and i didn't have to cut anything like you would an insert. that being said the quality of this product wasn't really so good. the horizontal part is billet however the surround is plastic and the application of the black surface to the upper corners left something to be desired. there were a couple of pinched areas (think trying to wrap a disc in paper which results in certain areas not being a flush folded over part) on the upper corners and one small section where it looked as if it had been bumped/scraped. the area was small and unless you are on top of it looking for it you most likely won't see it, but i will always know it's there. i know i did not cause these blemishes as i am kinda **** about installing new items and left it wrapped in the protective foam until the last minute. i plan on borrowing a bottle of black nail polish from the girlfriend and doing a little touch-up to it (also the screws, see below).
the bottom of the grille was not a match to the factory piece. the factory grille has, for lack of a better term, curves in that mold around the lower support brace mounting point. this one did not, the bottom edge was straight. this resulted in not being able to fully seat the two bottom bolts while installing it. i just snugged them up as tight as i felt safe with and crossed my fingers that the screws would not vibrate out over time.
this grille did not sit as flush with the hood as the factory one did. you can notice it if you are close up and looking from the side, but from the front it looks fine.
lastly for some reason known only to god and the people who made this grille some genius decided to use silver screws to hold the billet part to the surround when everything else is black. again, the normal person may not notice this but to those of us who love our vehicles and the parts we install on them it would stick out like a sore thumb (nail polish will hopefully correct this).
i guess overall i am happy with the results but i would not suggest the upper from from auto anything that i purchased. we all know this isn't one of those $800-1,000 fully machined grilles but for the price i expected something better. if the grille was easier to remove i would have probably removed it and sent it back but based on my experience removing the factory grille the odds of me getting it off and not breaking clips on something i was going to return would be slim to none. i figured the front of the truck takes the most abuse/damage over the course of driving it so i let it go.
i do like how it changed the appearance of the truck though. to me it makes the front end look much bigger/wider than the stock grille did.
grilles installed
notice the silver screws
top corner
side view
