tommyb
Active member
- First Name
- Tom
- Joined
- Oct 21, 2022
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- 28
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- Location
- Sonoma, CA
- Vehicles
- '23 F-150 Lightning Lariat
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- #1
I haven’t seen anyone do this yet so I thought I’d share my Raptor grille installed with the Putco lighted Ford emblem. I didn’t install the FORD letters, and instead of the amber lights that came with the grille I bought white LED lights. I also added a rocker switch so I could turn the emblem and grille lights off while the truck remains on. This approach solved the camera mounting issue, but created some other unanticipated issues. Those weren’t too hard to deal with though. Here’s a daytime photo of the completed install and then one at night.
So here's my summary in case anyone is interested.
I bought a Raptor style grille and the Putco lighted emblem that have been mentioned in other posts. Same for the white lights for the grille. Just search these forums and you’ll find the links.
I also got this 2-position rocker switch:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CKXRHJPF?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title&th=1
I really liked this style that made use of a fastening nut. I only needed one but I couldn’t find a lesser quantity online and couldn’t find any locally. Oh well I’ll use the others for something eventually.
First I wanted to test my approach for the wiring which included a rocker switch (photos coming up later in the write up) and make sure it worked how I wanted. The power source I used is Fuse 21, it’s a 10 amp spare that turns on and off with the truck. I used the fuse tap that came with the Putco emblem, that lead went to one of the connectors on the rocker switch. I used a crimp heat shrink connector to join these. From the other rocker switch connector, I started with a single wire and then joined it with two others, each of those becoming a power source for the emblem and the grille lights. So, my switch turns these off and on together. You could wire up two switches if you want to be able to turn these off and on separately, but for me the single switch was good enough. Then the ground wires for the emblem and grille lights were joined into one and connected to the bolt by the side of the fuse box. I tested it and it worked perfectly, lights came on when truck powered on, and off when truck turned off. And the switched worked as intended so I can leave my truck on and turn off the grille and emblem if I want to (campsite, etc.). I installed the switch in the frunk. I'll explain why below.
The following work I did before installing the new grille.
For the new grille, I made a template of the emblem oval, then transferred that to the grille and marked with pencil. The grill mesh pattern made it easy to center horizontally and vertically.
Then I used a Dremel tool to cut out all of the mesh ribs within the oval area, because I wanted the emblem to sit inside the mesh and not on top of it. The recessed look is cleaner in my opinion. I started using a plastic cutting wheel but the Dremel steel cutting wheel worked better. I set it a low speed but still got the plastic mesh ribs kinda warm and slightly melty, but it eventually cleaned up nicely. Sorry I didn’t get a photo of that.
I inserted the 3 mounting studs in the back of the emblem, dabbed a bit of white paint on the ends and then placed that on my newly carved out space to mark where to drill the holes for these mounting studs. Then I used the Dremel again to cut out a big area around and near the bottom of where the emblem would sit to make room for the camera mount. I have a 2023 Lariat ER which doesn’t have the front camera washer, but the camera mounting bracket still has the extension tube for that. This was a bit of trial and error to eventually get the right size cut out and fit. After all that I did a test fit and the emblem sat mostly flush with the new grille. There is about a 1/16” gap around the ends, I assume because the Raptor style grill has a slightly different curvature in the middle. Not sure, but it’s small and soon I might run a thin bead of black silicone just to seal it up.
I followed other posts on how to transfer the camera and mounting bracket from the old grille to the new one, no issues all worked fine.
With the grille ready I proceeded to install it. I followed instructions from other posts and videos on how to remove the existing grille. Pretty easy actually, I only removed the two L shaped trim pieces on the back of the frunk grille to access the bolts and that’s it. I also removed the big cover on the inside of the frunk to make running the wires easier later. With the old grille removed I was ready to install my new setup and ran into my unanticipated problem.
Due to the lights in the raptor grille, to get the emblem centered in the raptor grill means it ends up being about 2 inches lower than the position of the emblem in the stock grille. That I knew when I was assembling the new grille. As an aside it didn’t seem to affect the 360 camera view at all, and soonish I’m gonna level the front anyway by 2 inches and then it’ll be about where it was before all this.
There is some hard molded plastic protrusion in the “backing plate” of the stock grille. It’s below the emblem position. Nothing is attached to it, my guess is maybe it just provided some passive back support to the stock grille so as to not be able to push it in and collapse it. Anyway, that thing conflicted with the camera/washer mounting bracket because now I had that sitting two inches lower than stock, so I just used my Dremel to cut it off (see photo below). Also, the tube in the mounting bracket for the washer conflicted with the area shown in the smaller rectangle. Since I don’t have the camera washer and had no plan to install one, I ended up using the Dremel to cut most of that washer bracket tube off of the mounting bracket. With those two issues addressed, the new grille attached perfectly just as others have written up. If I did have the camera washer, I probably would’ve cut a notch in that backing plate to get the needed clearance.
I ran the wiring like shown and discussed in the Putco emblem install video. I bought these push zip ties to secure the wires to the inside of the frunk hood for a clean install.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BJP3DGQH?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title
I inserted these into holes that would’ve been used to hold the camera washer tubing.
Finally, some info on the rocker switch. I installed the switch inside the frunk next to the power outlets as shown. I think it made a nice looking and clean install. Plus this makes it really easy to wire since there is good access from the other side of the frunk right near the fuse box. I thought installing this switch in the cab would be overkill. 95% of the time this switch will just be in the on position. On those occasions where I don’t want the emblem and grille lights on while the truck is on, I’ll just open the frunk and flip the switch. On the fuse box, I used the Dremel to make a small notch in the cover to run the power lead from the fuse outside to the switch (see photo). It snaps shut just as before.
I skipped over a lot of details because others did a great job explaining those steps in other posts in these forums. I appreciate all who have shared their install experiences, I really helped me on this one. I hope this helps others...
So here's my summary in case anyone is interested.
I bought a Raptor style grille and the Putco lighted emblem that have been mentioned in other posts. Same for the white lights for the grille. Just search these forums and you’ll find the links.
I also got this 2-position rocker switch:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CKXRHJPF?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title&th=1
I really liked this style that made use of a fastening nut. I only needed one but I couldn’t find a lesser quantity online and couldn’t find any locally. Oh well I’ll use the others for something eventually.
First I wanted to test my approach for the wiring which included a rocker switch (photos coming up later in the write up) and make sure it worked how I wanted. The power source I used is Fuse 21, it’s a 10 amp spare that turns on and off with the truck. I used the fuse tap that came with the Putco emblem, that lead went to one of the connectors on the rocker switch. I used a crimp heat shrink connector to join these. From the other rocker switch connector, I started with a single wire and then joined it with two others, each of those becoming a power source for the emblem and the grille lights. So, my switch turns these off and on together. You could wire up two switches if you want to be able to turn these off and on separately, but for me the single switch was good enough. Then the ground wires for the emblem and grille lights were joined into one and connected to the bolt by the side of the fuse box. I tested it and it worked perfectly, lights came on when truck powered on, and off when truck turned off. And the switched worked as intended so I can leave my truck on and turn off the grille and emblem if I want to (campsite, etc.). I installed the switch in the frunk. I'll explain why below.
The following work I did before installing the new grille.
For the new grille, I made a template of the emblem oval, then transferred that to the grille and marked with pencil. The grill mesh pattern made it easy to center horizontally and vertically.
Then I used a Dremel tool to cut out all of the mesh ribs within the oval area, because I wanted the emblem to sit inside the mesh and not on top of it. The recessed look is cleaner in my opinion. I started using a plastic cutting wheel but the Dremel steel cutting wheel worked better. I set it a low speed but still got the plastic mesh ribs kinda warm and slightly melty, but it eventually cleaned up nicely. Sorry I didn’t get a photo of that.
I inserted the 3 mounting studs in the back of the emblem, dabbed a bit of white paint on the ends and then placed that on my newly carved out space to mark where to drill the holes for these mounting studs. Then I used the Dremel again to cut out a big area around and near the bottom of where the emblem would sit to make room for the camera mount. I have a 2023 Lariat ER which doesn’t have the front camera washer, but the camera mounting bracket still has the extension tube for that. This was a bit of trial and error to eventually get the right size cut out and fit. After all that I did a test fit and the emblem sat mostly flush with the new grille. There is about a 1/16” gap around the ends, I assume because the Raptor style grill has a slightly different curvature in the middle. Not sure, but it’s small and soon I might run a thin bead of black silicone just to seal it up.
I followed other posts on how to transfer the camera and mounting bracket from the old grille to the new one, no issues all worked fine.
With the grille ready I proceeded to install it. I followed instructions from other posts and videos on how to remove the existing grille. Pretty easy actually, I only removed the two L shaped trim pieces on the back of the frunk grille to access the bolts and that’s it. I also removed the big cover on the inside of the frunk to make running the wires easier later. With the old grille removed I was ready to install my new setup and ran into my unanticipated problem.
Due to the lights in the raptor grille, to get the emblem centered in the raptor grill means it ends up being about 2 inches lower than the position of the emblem in the stock grille. That I knew when I was assembling the new grille. As an aside it didn’t seem to affect the 360 camera view at all, and soonish I’m gonna level the front anyway by 2 inches and then it’ll be about where it was before all this.
There is some hard molded plastic protrusion in the “backing plate” of the stock grille. It’s below the emblem position. Nothing is attached to it, my guess is maybe it just provided some passive back support to the stock grille so as to not be able to push it in and collapse it. Anyway, that thing conflicted with the camera/washer mounting bracket because now I had that sitting two inches lower than stock, so I just used my Dremel to cut it off (see photo below). Also, the tube in the mounting bracket for the washer conflicted with the area shown in the smaller rectangle. Since I don’t have the camera washer and had no plan to install one, I ended up using the Dremel to cut most of that washer bracket tube off of the mounting bracket. With those two issues addressed, the new grille attached perfectly just as others have written up. If I did have the camera washer, I probably would’ve cut a notch in that backing plate to get the needed clearance.
I ran the wiring like shown and discussed in the Putco emblem install video. I bought these push zip ties to secure the wires to the inside of the frunk hood for a clean install.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BJP3DGQH?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title
I inserted these into holes that would’ve been used to hold the camera washer tubing.
Finally, some info on the rocker switch. I installed the switch inside the frunk next to the power outlets as shown. I think it made a nice looking and clean install. Plus this makes it really easy to wire since there is good access from the other side of the frunk right near the fuse box. I thought installing this switch in the cab would be overkill. 95% of the time this switch will just be in the on position. On those occasions where I don’t want the emblem and grille lights on while the truck is on, I’ll just open the frunk and flip the switch. On the fuse box, I used the Dremel to make a small notch in the cover to run the power lead from the fuse outside to the switch (see photo). It snaps shut just as before.
I skipped over a lot of details because others did a great job explaining those steps in other posts in these forums. I appreciate all who have shared their install experiences, I really helped me on this one. I hope this helps others...
