Tips to protect front “grill”

[jthiesse13]

I have a Lariat ER with the “dull” front grill. It takes every rock on the road and after 3,000 miles it’s already getting chips. Has anyone found a solution to protecting the grill? I had PPF installed on the front end but they said they can’t apply it to the grill because it’s not a painted surface.

Thanks in advance.

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[ctuan13]

I have a Lariat ER with the “dull” front grill. It takes every rock on the road and after 3,000 miles it’s already getting chips. Has anyone found a solution to protecting the grill? I had PPF installed on the front end but they said they can’t apply it to the grill because it’s not a painted surface.

Thanks in advance.

I don't really have any great tips, but I will say based on the posts of Platinum owners, if you think your grille damage is bad, just be glad you don't have a Platinum, it could be way worse!

 

[Sneakypetie78]

I don't really have any great tips, but I will say based on the posts of Platinum owners, if you think your grille damage is bad, just be glad you don't have a Platinum, it could be way worse!

Meaning what? What's their grill made of? Isn't it the same? Shiny as opposed to matte?

 

[Piquette]

In July we were looking at a low mileage pre-owned Lightning Platinum on a dealer’s lot. When we opened the frunk we noticed that the front grill had little cratered pok marks all over it, although the rapid red metallic paint didn’t show any damage.

As we looked over the vehicle we could see the same little pok marks along the sides of the running boards and inside the rear wheel wells. We speculated that the truck must have been driven behind a highway sand truck over the winter, and flying sand or debris must have caused the damage. The salesman was apologetic of the grill’s condition, but said the dealer‘s body shop had examined the it but concluded there was nothing that could be done except replace the grill. The pok marks were bad enough that the dealer was having trouble selling the truck. We walked away from it even though the salesman kept offering us the truck at a lower and lower price (eventually dropping it to under $75k).

We found a similar low mileage, excellent condition Lariat at another dealer a week later, but the memory of the cosmetically damaged Platinum‘s front has us wondering what we can do to protect ours against similar damage. I have been looking for protective plastic coatings or maybe a bra, but haven’t found anything yet.

Has anyone else seen a Lightning with a damaged front grill from tiny debris? Has anyone found something to protect the finish of the grill against flying sand or dust?

 

[RickLightning]

pock...

 

[Mike G]

pock...

You are sooo nitpicky....

 

[Mike G]

Check out Trent's signature....based on the other vehicles he owns it's a safe bet that back in the early 1900's it was spelled "pok".

 

[Heliian]

Best way to protect a vehicle is to park it in a garage, covered, and never drive it.

If you drive on the open roads, your vehicle is going to get "damaged".

Maybe a bra for the front?

 

[TaxmanHog]

 

[RickLightning]

You are sooo nitpicky....

If you say so...

 

[Bills R Electric]

I have a Lariat ER with the “dull” front grill. It takes every rock on the road and after 3,000 miles it’s already getting chips. Has anyone found a solution to protecting the grill? I had PPF installed on the front end but they said they can’t apply it to the grill because it’s not a painted surface.

Thanks in advance.

Coat the front grill with vaseline. Thick.


(Just kidding of course, but I am looking for solutions myself. In the meantime Ford needs to rethink the material for its Gen2 version "grill". Trucks are a brick, and they are going to catch everything. Maybe those tear aways like they use in Nascar. Hmmm.

 

[Henry Ford]

My Platinum grill is pretty dinged up. I thought I had a solution but it didn't work out. I hit a truck tire on the highway which took out the air dam as well as the plastic bumper trim pieces. The lower trim piece has the same finish as the grill so I asked the body shop to paint the grill - which wasn't damaged - at the same time. The trim piece didn't end up needing paint. The body shop has had bad luck painting plastic in the past and didn't think I'd be happy with it. They're probably right so I'm rolling with a chipped up grill.

My body shop suggested asking about a warranty replacement grill. I'm pretty sure paint chips aren't covered and if they were I'd just have a new grill that would instantly be chipped up.

 

[Piquette]

Pock not “pok”. That’s what I get for trying to type a comment at 5:21 in the morning.

The pock marking on Platinum front grills is described in a May 17, 2023 thread:
https://www.f150lightningforum.com/...int-chip-mitigation-repair-suggestions.15505/

 

[Stevo]

I have a Lariat ER with the “dull” front grill. It takes every rock on the road and after 3,000 miles it’s already getting chips. Has anyone found a solution to protecting the grill? I had PPF installed on the front end but they said they can’t apply it to the grill because it’s not a painted surface.

Thanks in advance.

I sprayed my “grill” with 12 coats of plasti dip. Looking good so far.
I sprayed it to match the truck but I am sure they make a more subtle color.

 

[kbuicker]

I was going to say spray with a coating, but Stevo beat me to it. I'm sure there is a matchable grey out there. My Lariat grill is getting dings (25k miles), but not too bad. Maybe increase your following distance?

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