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Grille insert improved fit w/o altering your JL

Shots

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I've got a few Jeep items in my Amazon wish list. My wife recently ordered a grille insert for me that she found on the list. I love it, and it turned out great, with a minor adjustment.

19 06-8 (1) resize.jpg


As it turns out the majority (or maybe all) grille inserts are basically flat sheets. To make these fit flat you need to trim the tabs on your grille, otherwise you'll have a huge gap between the vertical bars of the grille and your insert. That didn't look like a clean install to me, and I don't want to trim my grille in case I decide to take it off. I also have read reviews that say these tend to rattle because they just kinda sit in there, and I wasn't having that. The solution is to simply slot the insert. I used a tiny(roughly 1" diameter) cutoff wheel on my Dremel tool to slot it where the tabs are.

Grille (2) resize.jpg


After slotting the insert for the tabs, I put a little paint on the fresh cuts to prevent corrosion.
Then I was able to use the stock tabs that hold the OEM inserts in place to hold my new insert. Notice the small white fasteners pushed thought he stock tabs. Those are the stock fasteners which now work perfectly for the aftermarket insert.

Grille (3) resize.jpg


Everything fits nice and snug. The insert follows contour of the grille, and the tabs prevent any rattles. I'm very happy with the end result, and all it took was about 10 minutes of trimming to make it fit correctly.

Grille (8) resize.jpg


This isn't really much of a how to thread, or really any revolutionizing information. Just something I thought I'd share for anyone who's interested in a grille insert, but they don't want it to rattle around in there.
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eaglesjw

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That's perfect. I have the same grill insert and the gap has always bugged me. Thanks for the tip.
 
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Shots

Shots

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Here's a template I made before I attached it to the grille.
grille template.jpg
 

2015er

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Have you noticed any problems with engine operating temperature with the new grill? I bought the same grill shown in your pictures (thanks for the install tip by the way - great idea!). My concern rises of the more narrow holes in the new grll as opposed to the factory grill. Just want o be sure - as my JL has the 2.0 turbo and I am sensitive to keeping the engine temperature at the intended level.
 
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Shots

Shots

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No, mine seems to operate at the same temps as before. I just got back from a trip to northern MI and it ran normal temp on the interstate too. I was keeping an eye on it, because I was a bit nervous that hours of driving interstate speeds would cause it to get hot. It seems to breath well. I don't know if that would be the same for our friends in the southwest, but up here in the rust belt it runs as cool as it always has.
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