I didn’t want to spend $250 on a new OEM grill and used ones seem to be on the verge of breaking so I decided to use some spare nuts and bolts to fix the issue. I’d rather spend the money on off-roading parts!
My idea was to take out the broken stud, nut and plastic and drill hole from the inside out. I centered the drill bit in the existing hole tab. Started with a pilot hole and went up to a 5mm allen head bolt 1” in length. If you can see where I’m going with this, I’m gonna use a bolt to hold down the grill from the outside.
I thought using the existing factory hardware would be a convenient fix, but the stud is about 1/2” too short!
Unfortunately, I only had 1 button head black bolt in the correct size so I had to go with these chrome ones. Spray painted them “cast iron” so it wasn’t as shiny.
I used some nuts and lock washers for the back. Do not torque too hard, the plastic grill can crack!
The only downside is the bolts are visible from the outside. It’s not too obnoxious but it fixed the problem and it was totally free! I suppose this remedy can be for any other plastic clip that is broken, however I didn’t see if there are clearance issues with the grill size.
My idea was to take out the broken stud, nut and plastic and drill hole from the inside out. I centered the drill bit in the existing hole tab. Started with a pilot hole and went up to a 5mm allen head bolt 1” in length. If you can see where I’m going with this, I’m gonna use a bolt to hold down the grill from the outside.
I thought using the existing factory hardware would be a convenient fix, but the stud is about 1/2” too short!
Unfortunately, I only had 1 button head black bolt in the correct size so I had to go with these chrome ones. Spray painted them “cast iron” so it wasn’t as shiny.
I used some nuts and lock washers for the back. Do not torque too hard, the plastic grill can crack!
The only downside is the bolts are visible from the outside. It’s not too obnoxious but it fixed the problem and it was totally free! I suppose this remedy can be for any other plastic clip that is broken, however I didn’t see if there are clearance issues with the grill size.
