How to take off front grille on 17' Sport?

Curlyp · Jul 16, 2017

How do I take off the front grille on the 17' sport to remove the RAM badge in order to PlastiDip it?

I removed the ruberish covering and there is no way to stick my hand behind the grill to pop out the badge. There is something in the way.

Is there are bigger bolts and smaller bolts. Which one do I need to remove?

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Phylodog · Jul 16, 2017

There are four bolts that hold the grill on. Once they are removed you can pull the grill out away from the radiator, grab it a little below half way down.

The arrow with the question mark after it appears to be one of the four.

S2000gtx · Jul 16, 2017

Curlyp said:
How do I take off the front grille on the 17' sport to remove the RAM badge in order to PlastiDip it?

I removed the ruberish covering and there is no way to stick my hand behind the grill to pop out the badge. There is something in the way.

Is there are bigger bolts and smaller bolts. Which one do I need to remove?

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Once you remove the four top screws , just get a firm grip on the grill and take your time and pull towards you . The grill is snap in with clips . It's tricky the first time but you get used to it afterwards .

Broyd · Jul 16, 2017

Once you have done this so you know exactly what to expect, you don't have to tape the flat surface below the grill. I would tape otherwise when you pull the grill forward you could scratch that flat surface.

There are 4 screws along the top as already been said. The fine threaded ones are in the center and go through metal; the outside ones are coarse threaded and go through plastic. There are also 4 grill clips, 2 on each side of the grill. Grab the top corner and give a sharp pull but ONLY pull the grill out about an inch! This will get the top clip on one side. Move down the side of the grill and yank to get the second clip. Again only 1 inch. Repeat for the other side of the grill. The bottom of the grill is held in by 4 tabs that just slide forward. They aren't snaps or anything. Just pull the grill straight back with a very slight lift and it will come right off. This action could scratch that bottom flat part so be careful not to drag the grill against that flat part as you slide it forward and off the truck.

Broyd · Jul 16, 2017

As an aside, those grill clips are easy to break. You can get a pack of 15 from Clips&Fasteners for about 8 bucks if you snap any of them off.

WiSH2oo0 · Jul 16, 2017

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NfbeHgQQ7Wo

There is 3M tape in the middle of the emblem as well as the clips you see.

Curlyp · Jul 16, 2017

WiSH2oo0 said:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NfbeHgQQ7Wo

There is 3M tape in the middle of the emblem as well as the clips you see.

Thanks.

Broyd said:
Once you have done this so you know exactly what to expect, you don't have to tape the flat surface below the grill. I would tape otherwise when you pull the grill forward you could scratch that flat surface.

There are 4 screws along the top as already been said. The fine threaded ones are in the center and go through metal; the outside ones are coarse threaded and go through plastic. There are also 4 grill clips, 2 on each side of the grill. Grab the top corner and give a sharp pull but ONLY pull the grill out about an inch! This will get the top clip on one side. Move down the side of the grill and yank to get the second clip. Again only 1 inch. Repeat for the other side of the grill. The bottom of the grill is held in by 4 tabs that just slide forward. They aren't snaps or anything. Just pull the grill straight back with a very slight lift and it will come right off. This action could scratch that bottom flat part so be careful not to drag the grill against that flat part as you slide it forward and off the truck.

Thanks for the detailed info. Is this the part I should tape?

S2000gtx said:
Once you remove the four top screws , just get a firm grip on the grill and take your time and pull towards you . The grill is snap in with clips . It's tricky the first time but you get used to it afterwards .

Thank you.

Phylodog said:
There are four bolts that hold the grill on. Once they are removed you can pull the grill out away from the radiator, grab it a little below half way down.

The arrow with the question mark after it appears to be one of the four.

Thanks for the info. There was a bigger bold and a smaller one and I was unsure which one to take out.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

JB1 · Jul 16, 2017

Tape up the center painted top part of the bumper where the bottom of the grille would scrape against it when it comes loose, if the gap is enough you could place a towel there.

Broyd · Jul 16, 2017

Yup, the part you marked is where you tape. I used 2" wide painters tape in short lengths. Doing this you can slide the tape under the grill in the space between the bottom of the grill and that flat part before you lightly stick it down. I put it on double wide just in case; about 3 1/2 inches worth.

Farmer Fran · Jul 16, 2017

Tape everywhere you will be working. A roll of tape is pennies on the dollar vs scratches.

Curlyp · Jul 16, 2017

Broyd said:
Yup, the part you marked is where you tape. I used 2" wide painters tape in short lengths. Doing this you can slide the tape under the grill in the space between the bottom of the grill and that flat part before you lightly stick it down. I put it on double wide just in case; about 3 1/2 inches worth.

JB1 said:
Tape up the center painted top part of the bumper where the bottom of the grille would scrape against it when it comes loose, if the gap is enough you could place a towel there.

Farmer Fran said:
Tape everywhere you will be working. A roll of tape is pennies on the dollar vs scratches.

Thanks for the info on tape. I will head to HomeDepot tomorrow and pick up some painters tape.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Broyd · Jul 16, 2017

Since you thanked me for the detail, here is a couple more thoughts. Sometimes if you know the reason something was suggested you get a much better feel for what you are trying to accomplish.

You only pull the grill out about an inch or so because of the clips along the bottom edge of the grill. You'll see these when you get the grill off and you'll also see the rectangular slots in which they fit. You'll need to observe these when you put the grill back on. If you pull the top of the grill out too far, you could break off the tabs or crack them. Also the bottom edge of the grill will rotate downwards when you pull the top of the grill outwards possibly forcing that edge into the flat part.

Leave the tape on when you get the grill off. It's much safer to have it there when you reinstall the grill.

I took my grill off when I changed all 4 halogen bulbs from 9005's to 9011's. I have the projector headlights. Its the easiest way to change these bulbs. The lumen output goes from 1850 to 2350 per bulb. Made a huge difference to night driving. And it is without the hassles and deficiencies of LED or HIDS.

Curlyp · Jul 17, 2017

Broyd said:
Since you thanked me for the detail, here is a couple more thoughts. Sometimes if you know the reason something was suggested you get a much better feel for what you are trying to accomplish.

You only pull the grill out about an inch or so because of the clips along the bottom edge of the grill. You'll see these when you get the grill off and you'll also see the rectangular slots in which they fit. You'll need to observe these when you put the grill back on. If you pull the top of the grill out too far, you could break off the tabs or crack them. Also the bottom edge of the grill will rotate downwards when you pull the top of the grill outwards possibly forcing that edge into the flat part.

Leave the tape on when you get the grill off. It's much safer to have it there when you reinstall the grill.

I took my grill off when I changed all 4 halogen bulbs from 9005's to 9011's. I have the projector headlights. Its the easiest way to change these bulbs. The lumen output goes from 1850 to 2350 per bulb. Made a huge difference to night driving. And it is without the hassles and deficiencies of LED or HIDS.

Thanks for the additional tips! Probably my luck I will break these clips! I'll make sure I tape off really well, and take my time pulling all the way around. Once I get the grill out about an inch or so, is it safe then to start on one side and pull it the rest of the way out and then work my way around?

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Broyd · Jul 17, 2017

You pop both clips from one side, then work on the other side. When you start on the other side, there is a tendency for the opposite side to swing outwards from the truck so keep an eye on that . If you have helper they can hang onto the opposite side to prevent it from swinging out. The tabs on the bottom of the grill are just resting in rectangular slots; nothing holds them into the truck. Once you get the second side clips released, the grill just comes off. Keep the face of the grill close to vertical, pull straight back with a bit of upward lift and your done.

Once you've done this your going to wonder what the fuss was all about. You'll know what to expect and what to look for next time (when you upgrade your headlights

)

outlaw · Aug 24, 2017

Very carefully.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Curlyp · Aug 31, 2017

Thank you to everyone who chipped in on how to take off the front grille. I finally did it last night and it was simple (because I knew what to do -thank to everyone).

I plastidiped my emblem and put on my new grille inserts.

Bigpaul13 · Aug 31, 2017

Did you buy the inserts or spray them? If you bought them, care to share where you got them in black?

Curlyp · Aug 31, 2017

They were given to me free from another sport owner. I plastidipped them black.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Bigpaul13 · Sep 1, 2017

Thanks. I plan on doing the same but was hoping someone was selling them in black to save me time.

Matro72 · Oct 6, 2017

Broyd said:
As an aside, those grill clips are easy to break. You can get a pack of 15 from Clips&Fasteners for about 8 bucks if you snap any of them off.

Leave it to me to be able to keep all those fasteners intact, but some how snap the head off of the screw in the picture. The one that has the more aggresive threading.

Any idea where to get a replacement of that screw. I can't find that specific one on any of the sites that have the breakdown of the grill assembly.

How to take off front grille on 17' Sport?

Senior Member

Senior Member

Member

Senior Member

Senior Member

Senior Member

Senior Member

Senior Member

Senior Member

Senior Member

Senior Member

Senior Member

Senior Member

Senior Member

Member

Senior Member

Senior Member

Senior Member

Senior Member

Junior Member

Similar threads

Forum statistics

Share this page