Aftermarket Bumper Interference with Grill Removal

[Jeff2018]

HI Everyone,

I have an aftermarket bumper that is awesome. I had a little trouble today when removing the grill so that I could route some camera wiring around the driver side headlight.

With the bumper in place I could not remove the grill. I had to loosen all the bumper bolts (and remove two) so that I could slide the bumper forward about an inch. I'm curious if that is a common problem for aftermarket bumpers. It was hard to pop out the bottom clips with the bumper secured in place. I was able to get everything free. The problem was some parts of the grill could not clear the headlights without more room between the grill and the bumper.

It's not a big deal in this case. My concern is having to go through this in the future if I need to replace a headlight or something else that requires grill removal. And with the winch install I'm about do, it will make accessing the bumper bolts a lot more difficult.

Anyone else run across similar problems?

Thanks,

Jeff

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[swang]

Reviving this thread as I want to replace my halogen headlights with OEM LED, but my winch is tight against the front grille and it's a PITA to move. Someone on another forum said he was able to replace a headlight without removing the grille completely - he just pulled the grille forward at the top, leaving the bottom attached. Apparently it flexes and provides enough room to swap headlights.

Can anyone confirm this?

 

[blnewt]

Reviving this thread as I want to replace my halogen headlights with OEM LED, but my winch is tight against the front grille and it's a PITA to move. Someone on another forum said he was able to replace a headlight without removing the grille completely - he just pulled the grille forward at the top, leaving the bottom attached. Apparently it flexes and provides enough room to swap headlights.

Can anyone confirm this?

It does, I was able to pull the top away enough to put in new 9" LED headlights. I would put some painters tape along the bottom of the grill prior to pulling it loose on top in case any of the lower clips pop loose or you need to pop the lowers loose to give you a bit more movement. Better safe there than nicking up the grill.

 

[BigMaCro]

I removed my grill to install my winch in a recessed mount bumper. It definitely interferes, but the grill is also surprisingly flexible plastic. Put tape or a cardboard spacer in there if you want. After removing the push pins in the top, the bottom clips do need to come forward. Grab the bottom corners and give a pull and it'll pop right off.

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