‼️ UPDATE FORD E-RAPTOR grille swap and install tutorial

[Al_V]

Took a bit of modification for the camera and sprayer but I think it came out alright.

What do you mean by "sprayer" ?
And, great job, it looks awesome!

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[AZT9]

What do you mean by "sprayer" ?
And, great job, it looks awesome!

There is a spray nozzle on the bottom of the ford emblem that pops out and cleans the front camera when you activate the windshield wipers. Needs to be relocated with the camera swap

 

[Pioneer74]

That’s actually a great idea

I did it to my 2018 F150 when I swapped in the Lariat BAP grille. I didn't like the fact that it was a grayish color. I also used it on bumper covers and the tailgate letters.

 

[AZT9]

I did it to my 2018 F150 when I swapped in the Lariat BAP grille. I didn't like the fact that it was a grayish color. I also used it on bumper covers and the tailgate letters.

Looks good! Since it’s sitting in my garage, it should be easy to take it down and get it sprayed. Likely a few pounds heavier but hey, we’re already driving a brick thru space anyway!
if the color holds up like it has been in my bed, it’s a win! What rock chips?!

 

[Al_V]

There is a spray nozzle on the bottom of the ford emblem that pops out and cleans the front camera when you activate the windshield wipers. Needs to be relocated with the camera swap

O, I did not know that, makes sense, thanks for the clarification.

 

[AZT9]

Okay, as promised, I’ll get into how i was able to relocate the camera and sprayer into this new grille. First off, the build. As @Zaptor had noted, the initial impressions are good! Build quality is good with minor imperfections noted to some small parts of the grille. Mostly in locations that are not seen when it is mounted. Fortunately They did a great job w/ the mounting holes and alignment pins. It fit perfect on truck without modification.

 

[AZT9]

Now, for mounting the letters. There are faint depressions molded into the rear of the grille that i can confirm match the mounting points in the corresponding letters. I highly recommend pre drilling all the holes before screwing the letters in. The plastic is robust ABS but can crack if not careful. Now. Take your time mounting each letter as it’s obviously difficult to see and lineup the screws with the screw posts on each letter. I did had an issue with the screws appearing to seat only to find a letter misaligned. They to match up. Just take your time

 

[AZT9]

Note on the photo above. I measured and made a pilot hole for camera approximation. The arrow was to help me remember the location of the camera plug orientation. This is obviously critical.

 

[AZT9]

Now for the parts list. I did a lot of research for the most elegant solution. Ford did a great job integrating the camera and sprayer into the ford emblem. That said, made it difficult. To modify it he set up for this grille. Lots of research brought me to the front camera assembly for the 2019 Gen F150 Raptor. This seems to work best as the camera mount is modular and not moulded into the grille as is the latest gen F series trucks and raptors. I was hoping for a fast and easy install however it too some modification but i feel it is still the most elegant solution short of measuring and maybe 3D printing a custom mount. The parts list is shot fortunately

note* when searching the part numbers, reference a 2019 F-150 Raptor for the correct parts as part numbers repeat And apply to different parts depending on the year, make and model of vehicle. (I didn’t know this)

1. Camera housing : HL3Z-19H421-B

2. Camera housing back bracket : HL3Z-19H421-A

3 camera spray Jet : FL3Z-17603-D

 

[AZT9]

Now for the surgery. So this is where measuring 10 times and cutting once is critical. I opted to use a Dremel tool for all cuts with mainly a plastic carving bit. The main measurements that are critical are finding center and vertical height of the grille. I didn’t write down my exact measurements unfortunately however, center was found to be right in between the “O” and the “R”. I then measured the distance from the bottom of the grille to the center of the camera. And that was my starting point. Remember. Ya can always remove material, kinda hard to ad more!

 

[AZT9]

Now you can remove the letters before drilling as the hole gets close to them. I Chose to leave them in place as it helped me keep my Center while making cuts. At this point, the process is a bit slow as i wanted to take small cuts and check to ensure that the camera was in the correct location. Repeated cuts and measurements until i got is right.

 

[AZT9]

I wanted the make the cut as minimal as possible but soon found out that in order to the the proper camera angle, i needed to make the cut larger as pictured in the above post. The angle is critical for the 360 camera to stick properly.

No on to the camera mount. I knew i was going To have to modify the mount as our cameras plug exits at a 90* angle. This mount was meant for a rear plug connection. Generally the lens fit perfectly into the housing opening but fount that the neck of the camera caused it to protrude too far out of the housing. A fix i found lying around the garage that worked very well was a few rubber washers around the collar of the lens made the camera sit perfectly inside the housing. I then turned my attention to the camera plug. I took a few measurements and slowly made my cut on the side of the housing ensuring To only go deep enough for the plug to fit. Too far and the connection would prevent the proper angle of the housing once mounted.

 

[AZT9]

On to the mounting bracket. It’s needed to keep the camera in place as there is no way other was to secured the camera into the housing. First thing i had to to do was cut part of the plate to hold the camera as it was not designed for this cameras plug location. This is another point where i took my time and made several small cuts until it held the camera properly.

 

[AZT9]

Once I was satisfied with the tension the bracket was holding on the camera, i looked into holding it together as it was designed for the bottom of the bracket to latch into a cut out on the bottom and a screw into the OEM mount on top. I couldn’t decide on a way to mount it to the beck of this grille as the plastic is too thin to put screws thru. I imagine that one could work out another way but will note that if you attempt to get the mounts flush with the rear of the grille, it will be poking out about an inch and a half farther than the OEM camera compromising the video quality. I ultimately opted to fire a screw into the side of the bracket as there was plenty of material to grab. After securing the camera, i again test fitted it and noticed amother problem. To keep the camera in the correct location as the original, a lot of the bracket was protruding out of the rear of the grille. There isn’t a lot of space between the grille and the rear support. So more surgery was needed. Not being needed, i cut the top and bottom of the bracket at the line noted below.

 

[AZT9]

Unfortunately, I got caught up in finishing and didn’t take any photos but I’ll do my best to describe my final Tweaks. Now that i had the bracket cut to size and the camera mounted. I placed the camera into the grille and lid it next to the OEM grille. Using an angle finder or a Pen if you don’t have an angle finder. Place a pen in the camera hole of both the OEM grille and the new grille and adjust the angle of the new grilles camera housing until the angles are approximately the same. This is critical to getting the 360 camera to stick properly as well as the front parking camera to show a small portion of the front bumper to aid in Parking. This is another slow process but will net the best results. Taking your time will pay off.

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