Grill removal question

[houstonstroker]

I have a Rock Hard 4x4 bumper and Badlands winch. No clearance for grill removal. I rerouted the winch cables to the side instead of the rear and still no go. I found a hack. I had to loosen the bumper bolts, remove the grill and cut of the 4 middle clips. I believe there are 6. You leave intact the outside one on each end. Now I can remove the grill without having to remove the bumper bolts.

North Ridge 4x4 hack

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[Grayhound]

I removed the control box on my winch and that gave me enough room to get the grill off.

I then removed the middle 4 clips with a grinder so I can pop the grill on and off a needed.

 

[Aussicon]

I have my winch mounted as far forward as it will go, and with some (ok, a lot) of cursing, I can remove the grill using the aforementioned pry bar method. Good luck!

 

[Mocopo]

Sounds like your speaking from personal experience

I regularly "get my grill off" just fine.

 

[YBABRAT]

I am remotely locating the contacter controller... makes it clean and easy for grill removal. All cables free from clearance issues.

 

[21JLURDG]

I have a Warn XD9000 winch on an OEM steel bumper. The first time I tried to take the grille off I thought it was not possible without removing the winch. The grille first makes contact with the winch wires. The second time, I played around, stressing the grille and hoping it wouldn't break. It ended up coming off past the winch without damage. I would suggest putting something thin and slick between the grille and winch to help it slide past it.

 

[AVGeek99]

Thanks!!! No angry grill intentions here. Just changing out my headlights.

I had the same issue with my JK. The winch was pretty tight up against the grill, so much so that the winch wiring had worn the paint off off the grill in one spot. I was able to pull grill down and get enough room to work and switch out the headlights.

Not sure if the same would be possible on a JL or not. The JL grills are a bit more rigid, but it's worth a shot.

 

[shooting4625]

I don’t know why folks live with this issue, Rockhard 4x4 bumpers come with long bolts and spacers, I just added a little more, I lost about 1/2 degree of approach angle but I can also remove the grill easily, also prevents cable rubbing, discovered that on the first Jeep we had where they wore a groove in the grill
No issues with this

 

[Steph1]

What I had to do is remove the skid plate to access the winch plate and only unscrewed the winchplate bolts enough to be able to wiggle it. By doing so, I succeeded but it was a PIA.

 

[LostNotStuck-Yet]

Maybe the original winch installer removed the clips. It’s not uncommon for folks to do that. If so you’ll be able to slide the grill up after the other clips are loose.

If the center clips are still there and you end up removing the grill, use a hot knife (any piece of thin metal - like a hacksaw blade held with some vice grips heated with a torch) to cut the center tabs off flush. The grill is ABS so they’ll come off cleanly and easily - like a hot knife through butter.
Much easier and cleaner than sawing or grinding them off.

 

[mishkajb]

Unfortunately my bumper & winch sets fairly tight against the grill. If I have to remove it. It's 8 bolts for the bumper, I stack cinder blocks and wood and slide the bumper off winch and all.

Someone posted the lights could be accessed from the inside, no need to remove anything. I have not done this yet.

I have the same issue. Both the winch control housing and wiring are up close to the grille, and the actual top plate of the winch bumper only has about 1 inch of clearance. I'll also have to remove the entire assembly to install LED bulbs. I've seen the access hole in the back of the assembly in the engine bay, but everything I've watched shows removing the assembly to replace the bulbs. I also don't think my gorilla hands would fit inside the opening from the engine bay.

It's sucks, but I'm not willing to scratch or break my grille trying to "make it work".

I like the idea of setting up blocks to slide the bumper onto without removing the winch. Just disconnect the wiring at the control housing and slide forward.

Thanks @Flip!

 

[Flip]

I have the same issue. Both the winch control housing and wiring are up close to the grille, and the actual top plate of the winch bumper only has about 1 inch of clearance. I'll also have to remove the entire assembly to install LED bulbs. I've seen the access hole in the back of the assembly in the engine bay, but everything I've watched shows removing the assembly to replace the bulbs. I also don't think my gorilla hands would fit inside the opening from the engine bay.

It's sucks, but I'm not willing to scratch or break my grille trying to "make it work".

I like the idea of setting up blocks to slide the bumper onto without removing the winch. Just disconnect the wiring at the control housing and slide forward.

Thanks @Flip!

I didn't even need to discounted any wiring. I have enough slack in the wires, I only needed to slide the bumper off about 2" or less to remove the grill.

I used blocks of wood on top of the cinder blocks to get the correct height. Place something like a towel on the wood so I didn't scuff my bumper. I've done it twice by myself and once with an extra set of hands. 2 people was really easy. Be careful the weight of the winch wants to roll the bumper over.

Best of luck my friend.

 

[Grayhound]

Isn't it easier to just remove the control box from the top of the winch?

I didn't unplug any wire when I did it. Just unbolted it from the winch, set it aside pulled the grill and modified it.

On my winch this was 4 corner bolts and 6 large battery size nuts and it was movable and tethered by the wires.

 

[Terrymo]

Once you have it off, as others have said, do this

 

[gavilan1]

Hi everyone! Quick question for the group regarding a grill removal on a 2018 JLU. I have a winch installed and I'm wondering how much travel is needed to clear the bottom clips on the grill. I really don't want to remove the winch and I'm hoping that I have enough space to pull the bottom of the grill to release the lower clips. Thanks in advance!

Depending on which grill, which bumper, which mounting plate, and which winch you have, you may or may not be anle to remove the grill for radiator replacement, headlight assembly replacement, etc. You will need anout 2” of clearance to be able to pull the lower grill clips attached to the lower horizontal bracket with clip openings. Replacing the OEM 2018-2023 grill with the new style 2024 version will be easy (once you have the 2018-2023 grill out), as it does not protrude toward the winch as much as the OEM 2018-2023 version does.

If you have the RR Arcus bumper, mounting plate, and Warn Zeon winch, like I do on my 2018 JLU, you will have 1/8” clearance between the grill and the winch, which gets used up by the electrical cables powering the winch. Grill replacement (and the ability to service the radiator, headlight assemblies, etc.), will be labor intensive at the shop. I managed to swap grills myself with “minimal” pain. Worth the effort.

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