T-Rex Super Duty Grille Upgrade
Previously, we showed you our Fusion Bumpers upgrade on our 2011 Ford F-250. While that gave our truck the functionality we were looking for, our next mod was to add a bit of style to our truck’s rather plain looking front end. The aftermarket is flooded with grille options for the Super Duty. From basic billet and mesh to lightbar integrated, there’s an assortment of grille options.
For our truck, we turned to T-Rex Grilles, a company that’s offered grille and accessory options for nearly 20 years. T-Rex offers an assortment grille options, giving you the ability to truly customize your vehicle. With auxiliary lighting taken care of thanks to four ARB Intensity LED lights, we sought out a clean black mesh grille in place of the chipped and flaking OE unit.
Here’s how the install of the X-Metal series mesh grille went on our Ford F-250 Super Duty:
1. Starting out, the factory grille assembly needs to be removed and stripped down.
Start with the five screws along the top to free up slack. Then tilt the grille forward to access the lower clips. Pop the grille out and place it on your workbench face down. Remove the top mounting rail and release all clips to separate the inner frame from the outer shell.
2. Unlike other grill installs, there’s no turning back on the late model Super Duty.
Using a zig saw or cutoff wheel trim the center section out of the inner grille assembly.
3. With the initial cut complete, a quick sanding cleans up the trimmed edges ready to accept the replacement T-Rex grille.
4. The only issue we ran into on this install involved the factory grille shell clips.
We noticed the grille was loose during disassembly. This was due to all but three of the clips that connect the shell to the inner frame had snapped off. While one option would be a new grille shell from the dealer, we went the more affordable route of reattaching them with epoxy. Good as new for a $5 investment and 30 minutes of our time.
5. Insert the T-Rex mesh grille from the backside to be flush with the front of the grille.
Using vise grips, temporarily secure the lower section of the T-Rex grille to inner frame.
6. At the top use the supplied “L” brackets and hardware to secure the four clip mounting points along with top.
7. Follow that by drilling out the lower mounting holes in the inner frame, sliding on the clip nuts and securing the lower mounts.
Be sure to check grille positioning to ensure it is flush with the front of the OE assembly prior to drilling the lower holes.
8. With the grille reassembled with the top rail, it’s ready to be reinstalled.
It’s a tight fit with the aftermarket bumper already installed, but can be finessed into place. Start with the bottom, snapping the grille into the lower clips followed by the five top screws. Be sure to check clearances between the hood and grille to ensure proper gap.
And there we go:
T-Rex builds a high quality grille assembly for the Super Duty. The fit on this X-Metal grille is perfect and install took a matter of and about two hours even with needing to repair the factory grille. The standard X-Metal grille uses a large “X” in the center, but we opted for a cleaner “T-Rex” badge for run in the lower corner. This new grille finishes off the look we were after for this Super Duty when combined with our other accessories.
