So I've been trying to find a grille surround (without the centre peace) so that i can put my own mesh inside to better hide the lights I'm putting in my grille when they're off.
Trouble is my current grill is a one peace and i don't really like the idea of cutting it, and i can't find a full grille or surround to mod for any reasonable price, everything seems to be $200+. Please help me find a low cost grille that will let light through and hide my lights when they're off.

 

cut the H bar out

 

If you block the lights so you can’t see them then you WILL reduce the amount of light that gets through the grille.

 

Reduce yes, but with the way I have it right now the horizontal bars block the centre of the light, which is really the most important part

 

Wow the crossbars DO block the light position.

Why put the lights back there ?

 

Cause I'll be adding some aux lighting and I'm not a big fan of the exposed outer lights.
I want the extra light without looking like some chump with a baja kit.

 

Understood !
But you are trying to block them off enough so you can't see them right, which may block most of the light output, that is why ask.

How about adding some super fog or driving lights in the valance, you will get all the light to use, they will look more OEM not add- on and you will be able to have any grille,you want ?

Just asking, not telling...

 

I'll actually be doing that as well, I'm adding 4 to the middle opening in the valence, 1 on each side in the factory spots, and 2 in the grille.
The billet grill hides them quite well, but not well enough for me, plus the billet isn't really my style.
The centre of the honeycomb grille pops right out doesn't it?

 

My ’03 Grille has some bitch snaps… PITA +++.
Watch out if they are similar they break easily.
The 04+ has a separate center section not sure but remembering back I took one apart and they had similar clips, take it slow and it should come apart.
The one I took apart was from a Sport or STX with the slat type grille I attempted to unclip it but cut it out instead.
I will be adapting it to my ’03 housing so I do not need the OEM Clips.

ltr/luck with the grille chg.

 

All 04+ grilles are interchangable. I suggest finding the ones that came stock on a 04-05 Edge or XLT 4x4. The mesh ones. Bottom of the below pic, item #4. $100.






The other option is going to Certifit ( http://www.certifit.com/ ) and seeing if there's a local store near you. They used to make their in-store prices viewable online but not anymore. They're generally really cheap on parts. But they only ship small items, not grilles.

A yet another option is checking out RockAuto ( http://www.rockauto.com/ ). They list the Edge/Fx4LII painted surround mesh grille at $31.79. Plus shipping.



Uh yeah no. Talk about hacking up with poor results... resulting in a hackjob of a grille. There's no way to make it look good.

 

mount them like me

 

Thanks shane! That was really helpful.
Thanks dave, but that is the look I'm trying to avoid, its not really my style to have them all exposed all the time.

 

Although Dave’s bumper lights don’t impress me the rectangular unit behind the upper part of the grille look good.

 

Yeah no probs. Another thing to consider is color match painting the outer of your new grille. Will give your XL a higher end look.

I've also seen good results from a simple scuff and shoot of your upper bumper cover. Giving her an Edge/Sport look on the cheap!


I do like his grille lights. Haven't seen that before. But typically those lamps are only putting out 35w. Pointless up front IMO.

 

Ok, one last question.
I don't think I should really make a whole new thread for this so I'll just ask here.
WHEN I paint my grille, mirror caps, valence and the like, do I go with white? Gloss black? Or flat black?

 

To me Flat Blk or a Satin/Semi-gloss.

White is your call, the truck is white as P.C. did E4 RED on his mirrors.

WHEN I get my mirrors, OEM or Aftr-Mkt they will be BLACK on a RED Truck.

 

You have mirrors with paintable caps? Avatar looks like an XL...which means no caps. Leave the mirrors as-is. Colormatch the grille surround with Ford Oxford White and clear it miles deep. Also, scuff up the upper bumper and shoot it with the same stuff. This will give your truck the appearance of a upper scale Ranger package, like an Edge/Sport. Or even FX4.


That's what I'd do if I had your truck. Heck it's what I want to do with one of my work trucks....2007 XL 4.0 regcab.

 

Ok that sounds about right.
Won't the mirror caps from say a jy truck just slap on there?

 

Nope!




They're specific. Capped mirrors have caps. Non-capped mirrors can't accept caps. Although, you can make do with chopping off the clips off the caps and 3M taping the caps to the non-cap mirrors. Fit and finish is kinda dirty, but it works. Good luck finding caps alone. I've been unsuccessful in that.

There may be add-on caps, but I haven't seen them. I've seen them for 2005 and older mirrors though.

 

Thank you my good sir. The help is much appreciated.
Now just to save up and finally do this stuff without sacrificing a roof at night or something stupid.

 

lol.....make your mirrors last. You've already got the good looking and visibility mirrors on the truck. Get the bumper and grille taken care of first! lol