Replacing the R A M grill emblems

[TestPilot57]

I got new blacked out ones and can't really tell from looking at them whether I will be able to just pop the old ones off or if I will need to take the grill out to release them.

TIA!

 

[bellaireroad]

I don’t have one of these grills, but was thinking of getting one. Here is a pic I found of the backside letters for a 2019 classic...yours may be different though




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[TestPilot57]

I don’t have one of these grills, but was thinking of getting one. Here is a pic I found of the backside letters for a 2019 classic...yours may be different though

Definitely different. But thanks!

 

[TestPilot57]

OK, went at it today. First tried (not too hard) to just pop them off. Not the slightest joy.

So I figured I'd need to remove the grill to get at the back. Not a 5 minute job. Found a YouTube that seemed pretty complete so went at it. However, I have the Laramie factory fender flares, and those have to be removed in order to get the mid 1/4 front fascia off which is required to be removed to access the lower grill attachment. Of course I didn't figure that out until I was about 30 minutes in...

I tried just prying the top of the grill forward enough to get my hand in there. It was a tight fit, but I was somewhat successful. However, I discovered that the back of the grill does not seem to be completely open where the R A M are attached. In fact I quickly discovered that I could tell from the front that most of the attachment points seem to be totally inaccessible...

So I tried harder from the front to pry them out, figuring that I don't really care if they're still usable or not. The "A" I was able to feel the two bottom clips from the front, and in my attempt to release them, presumably broke them off. Made not the slightest bit of difference.

So I've given up for now. It seems likely that if I got the grill off I'd be able to do something. But I'm not dealing with the double-sided tape that holds the fender flares on for right now. When I put the Whipple SC in I will HAVE to remove the grill, so I will probably just wait and do it then. And replace the 1/2" factory flares with something a little more substantial that will handle a 12.5" tire on a 0 offset wheel.

 

[TestPilot57]

I don’t have one of these grills, but was thinking of getting one. Here is a pic I found of the backside letters for a 2019 classic...yours may be different though

Actually may be similar - I thought the pins on my letters were just for locating. But after going Rambo on mine to get them off I discovered that in addition to the clips (as shown in my pic above) there are also the one-way metal washer-like things on the pins.

But, I got them off, and the new ones on. Great improvement IMO. Now I need to get the hood side badges off so I can plasti-dip them.

 

[johnts]

Ram has made the front of these trucks needlessly complicated to work on or customize. You shouldn't have to take off fender flares to remove grill lettering. There are so many pieces to the front end it is a wonder they all line up.
On the Classic, guys were removing the mesh grill inserts or horizontal bars in less than a half hour. The grill shell itself was easily removable also. The Ram's head badge on the cross hair came off easy. My local body shop replaced all of my chrome badges and letters with the blackout versions and only charged me $50. That is how little the labor time was to do all that.
On the 5th generation everything seems to be overly complicated. The hood badges can't be removed without leaving a big hole in the hood. Basically it seems like Ram wants to shove the new look in our face and not let you change it with any kind of ease.
I thought by now there would be some custom grills out that brought back the crosshair look. Guess the front design is so convoluted, that nobody wants to try and make it work.

 

[TestPilot57]

Ram has made the front of these trucks needlessly complicated to work on or customize.

While I agree, my guess is that, like most corporate moves (remember the Pinto?!!) it comes down to dollars.

While I have no idea why/how, it HAS to save them money to be doing it the way they are. I am very sure that they are NOT spending additional $$$ just to thwart the aftermarket.

 

[johnts]

They may not be trying to thwart the aftermarket, but the design makes it difficult to customize or even change out the letters in this case. The brow is 3 pieces. If the front end was designed without it, it would have been a better looking and simpler design. They should redesign the front by bringing out the hood to meet the grill and remove the brow which would get rid of that horrible gap between the hood and the brow. Then you could probably just reach in and change out the letters if you wanted to. To further fix the front, dump the hood badges and just put a Hemi badge on the tailgate instead.
I have disliked the front of the 5th gen Rams since the day the pics broke at their introduction. I have not grown to like it after all this time except maybe the blackout versions, as that hides some of the design flaws.

 

[Hendrix De Leon]

A lot of work to remove 3 letters.

 

[TestPilot57]

A lot of work to remove 3 letters.

Yes. And...?

 

[BOWERSFJ]

Yes. And...?

Can you tell me what you did when you "went Rambo" on the letters to get them out ? The black letters look sooooo much better in the black grill.

 

[TestPilot57]

Can you tell me what you did when you "went Rambo" on the letters to get them out ? The black letters look sooooo much better in the black grill.

I took a 1/2" drill bit and drilled into them, then got a pair of needlenose Vice Grips and worked them off.

Then I screwed them to the three sliding doors of the barn where I park it in the summer.

I thought about arranging them this way:

 

[BOWERSFJ]

Thanks ... Yeah, all my badges from my 2012 are stuck all over my garage ... Lol


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[TestPilot57]

Thanks ... Yeah, all my badges from my 2012 are stuck all over my garage ... Lol

For some reason I never thought about doing that with any of the rest of them, probably because these were junk I thought one more hole wouldn't hurt...

By the way, the tailgate LARAMIE badge has got to be half the cost of the upgrade from whatever level is below it. 99% sure it's solid aluminum or fairly hefty Al alloy. Very impressive piece of work. Almost a shame to take it off. Almost.

 

[BOWERSFJ]

For some reason I never thought about doing that with any of the rest of them, probably because these were junk I thought one more hole wouldn't hurt...

By the way, the tailgate LARAMIE badge has got to be half the cost of the upgrade from whatever level is below it. 99% sure it's solid aluminum or fairly hefty Al alloy. Very impressive piece of work. Almost a shame to take it off. Almost.

Just watched a vid on replacing 5th Gen tailgate ram head, and hood badges ... What did we do before Youtube ?


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[TestPilot57]

Just watched a vid on replacing 5th Gen tailgate ram head, and hood badges ... What did we do before Youtube ?

I need to watch that. I finally (took about 6 months) got my new tailgate badge - custom CNC routed and painted. I do want to do the Sport Hood badges too, need to figure out how to get the hood insulation out without breaking stuff.

 

[BOWERSFJ]

Saw a vid on that too ... The badges on the Sport hood cowl are just double sided taped in the cowl ... Also saw you can buy a whole new cowl with black letter badges for $120 ... In either case, no need to remove insulation ... Just need the plastic pry tool kit from Amazon $10


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[JGabriel]

I don’t have one of these grills, but was thinking of getting one. Here is a pic I found of the backside letters for a 2019 classic...yours may be different though

View attachment 436593


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I removed my letters and cannot put it back, I have the same stile, pins and washers to hold it, do I need to remove the whole griil to have access on the back?

 

[TestPilot57]

...do I need to remove the whole griil to have access on the back?

Yes.

But I didn't remove my grill. The replacement letters went in pretty firmly so I decided to chance it and leave them. So far, after nearly two years, they haven't fallen out or gotten loose. If I were afraid of them falling out I'd use some double sided VHB tape to hold them. But on my Laramie I'd have to remove the factory fender flares (as far as I could tell) to get the grill off so that was why I resorted to extreme measures. Even without having fender flares, taking the grill off is a pretty big job.

 

[18Delta]

Definitely different. But thanks!

sorry. Replying to the wrong post