How to Remove and Paint Lower Grille on a 04-05

Hey Everyone,
I decided to give my lower bumper grille and surround a few coats of paint this morning. Since I haven’t seen a write up for this, I figured I’d try to document my process. It’s an easy piece to remove and worth doing to clean up that piece of faded plastic in your bumper.

The lower grille on our trucks is held in place by 9 plastic plugs. 5 on the top, and 4 on bottom, I took a pair of pliers and just pulled them out. To get to the bottom 4, I found it easier to open the hood and reach down at them. As for the top 5, just lay down and you will see them and be able to get at them easily.

Plugs removed and what I used:


The plugs you have to pull out are located in the circles; The lower 4 are on the supports and connected to the bumper, while the top 5 are more in the front of the grille.



There are also 8 little teeth on the bottom hugging it to the bumper, just push on the bottom of the grille and it should give. Once it is free, I found it easiest to pull the grille through the hole by pulling it towards the driver side door and twisting it face down. The top part is very flexible so just pull and it will make its way out.

Out:


Once you get it out of the bumper, clean it really good, rinse it off and let it dry.


Next I hit it with the remainder of Krylon paint I had sitting around from the past few days. Unfortunately I had no more Fusion or I would have opted for that instead. Give it a few light coats of paint and clear coat if you choose and let it dry.

Painted:


To reinstall it takes a bit of strong-arming to fit it back through that hole. Be patient, or you may crack part of it (like I did). I recommend unclipping the 2 side grills and sliding them out and then replacing them after the surround is secure in the bumper, would give the plastic a little more room to flex. In hindsight I wish I had done that myself.

Reinstalled:


Enjoy your newly painted grille! Total time might have taken a little over an hour and a half (not including dry time) due to having some trouble fitting the grille back into the bumper. Any questions please don't hesitate to leave me a message.

-Barrett

 

Nice write up!

 

I need to do that to mine. I washed my truck a couple hours ago and I was eyeballing that thing telling myself it needs some freshening up. Looks dull and lifeless.
A little Plastic Fusion should liven it up again.
I think I'll take it off tomorrow.
Thanks for the write up.

 

Almost looks better with it removed. I don't know why Ford made that grill thing...

Nice write up!

 

Thanks y'all, and Pethel if you do it tomorrow make sure to post the results!

 

I just did that last weekend... it's too hard getting it out but putting it back in was a little more tricky!! Nice write-up though...

 

Still haven't got a chance to do it. Been working alot, but I did get a chance to remove the Lariat grill and install a freshly painted FX4 HBar yesterday. Picked it up from a member here and I painted it Arizona Beige to match the truck with the background grill areas painted trim black.

I like it, but cant figure out how to post a pic. LOL Although I just added fresh pics in my Garage. "Easy enough"

Back on topic: I hope to get to the lower grill this weekend. I plan to use the same paint scheme I used on my HBar grill. Should make the lower grill stand out more by painting the vertical bar lines Arizona Beige to flow with the upper Bar lines somewhat. We'll see

Check out my grill pic in my garage and you'll see what I'm talking about.

Carry on Guys

 

Ok, sorry for the delay, I've been busy. I finally removed this lower grill and painted it yesterday. I painted it Arizona beige to match my truck with the small grill sections trim black. I did the same to my Hbar grill earlier so now both grills match.
Now you can actually see the grill and it complements the front end of the truck and upper grill instead of just disappearing behind the bumper as it did when it was black.

IMO little details make a big difference.

Later guys, Randy

 

Fresh pics of this detail are in my Garage.

 

Looks great Pethel! Very nice subtle touch, makes a big difference.

 

Thanks! The shadow makes it hard to see in the pics. I ordered a GAP accent filler grill panel from Ruxem Ford today to fill the void in the middle. That should finish it off nicely.

 

I agree. I had a rock ping off my bumper and take out the drivers side of it so i just removed it totally.