Let's try Ford now.

[Jeff V.]

The song puts it over the top.

[Jeff V.]

So, grille idea. Here's the 2018-2020 STX. It's got the nice open honeycomb grille, and painted surround.



And here's someone who did something really similar with an aftermarket grille on a 2015. I don't think I'd do the giant Super Duty Ford oval though. I'd either go stock size or blank.



It's basically a Raptor grille without the giant text. You can get them on Amazon and eBay for around $100. I especially like this one because it doesn't have the Raptor style size lights. It's a bit more pricey though.

https://www.amazon.com/DNA-MOTORING-GRF ... B07YMVBWMB

The big problem is I'd need to do the frame in red. I'd be worried about the color match if I tried to do it myself. I don't think I want to spend several hundred dollars having it painted. I don't know if vinyl is an option due to the contours.

Or I just get an undamaged version of the stock grille I already have. I actually like that grill.

[Chris GTO TT]

I do like that look especially without the Raptor LEDs. You do need some logo in the middle otherwise it just looks like a blank hole to me. You should be able to get a spray can of Race Red from just about any auto parts store or online. It should match close enough.

[Jeff V.]

I might pick up a can and try it. Just need to find a scrap piece to practice on.

[aaronatstate]

Snapped a pic of my buddies grille on the way back in from lunch, just for this thread. I like the look of the grill without the Raptor lights, and with the blacked out Ford Logo. The blacked out logo breaks up the grill some, but because it's black still blends in.

[Jeff V.]

I plan to do all my badges black and gray. It's just going to be a pain in the ass since I can't chemically strip the chrome off them. It's going to be a bunch of painstaking sanding, prep and paint.

[ChargerX3]

what's wrong with the stock emblem? I think they've aged well.

You take the bronze off your chevy emblems too?

[alienviking]

Snapped a pic of my buddies grille on the way back in from lunch, just for this thread. I like the look of the grill without the Raptor lights, and with the blacked out Ford Logo. The blacked out logo breaks up the grill some, but because it's black still blends in.

I like that look. The parking job not so much

[Jeff V.]

I don't have anything with a Chevy emblem on it. But if I did, I'd probably black it out.

[Duck Vader]

I wish I could find a nice black grille for mine but can't find anything that doesn't scream brodozer wannabe for the 250

[Chris GTO TT]

I wish I could find a nice black grille for mine but can't find anything that doesn't scream brodozer wannabe for the 250

yeah there aren't any actually good options for your gen super duty.

[aaronatstate]

Snapped a pic of my buddies grille on the way back in from lunch, just for this thread. I like the look of the grill without the Raptor lights, and with the blacked out Ford Logo. The blacked out logo breaks up the grill some, but because it's black still blends in.

I like that look. The parking job not so much

The spot to the right is not a spot, as it’s the end of the row. We park there and over like that to avoid door dings. (You can see my RS parked very near the line in the background as well)

[Jeff V.]

Found a really good condition stock grille about 30 minutes away for $25. Even included the oval. Went and picked it up after work. So now I've got a backup plan if the STX wannabe doesn't work out.

[Chris GTO TT]

Nice deal!

[ChargerX3]

Great find.

[DCIV]

Nice!


Coop

[Jeff V.]

As I mentioned in shout, I decided to roll the dice on a set of new-ish Morimoto XB Hybrid headlights on eBay. They were in new condition in the sense they'd never been installed on a truck, but they had been modded with aftermarket RGB LEDs for the DRL halo. My hope was that someone had disconnected the original LEDs and just added the RGB LEDs on top or something. I got them for less than half the new price, and only slightly more than I would have paid for some no-name headlights.

Overall they looked pretty good. The lenses were brand new, as promised. The running light reflectors had been painted over, but that should be fairly easily fixed. The high and low beams worked fine. The turn signal is just re-used straight from my original halogen lights (hence the Hybrid name) so that's a non-issue.



Inside it was a shitshow. Whoever modded these things did a total hack job. They trashed the nice Motimoto LED boards and hot glued some Amazon garbage to the reflectors.





I'm going to get an email off to Morimoto to see if they'll sell me a set of their LED PCBs. I'm not optimistic about that though. They'll work just fine as headlights, but I'd really like that DRL halo to work. Maybe I'll try to have my own circuit boards fabbed. We'll see.

[Chris GTO TT]

Oof that's a bummer

[Jeff V.]

It's not that bad. There's a little circuit board inside that drives the headlights, marker lights and DRL ring. So there's a nice little 12v tap with an easily available connector ready to go. I've got some ideas kicking around in my head. We'll see how far I go with it.

These aren't even necessarily bad LEDs. As far as I can tell, they're addressable WS2812 or similar. It's mainly the garbage installation I'm taking issue with.

The nice thing about these is they use butyl rubber as a seal. So a few minutes in the oven opens them right up. Reminds me of the good old days of modding 3S and DSM headlights.

When I put my test headlight in the oven, I used a beat up old cutting board to keep it off the metal oven rack. That headlight still smells slightly of charred bamboo.

[Chris GTO TT]

Chefs usually work hard for that kind of smell/flavor