Handle With Care
When dealing with starters, turbos and exhaust pipes, I feel like I can man-handle these a little bit. But in the box the Royalty Core grille looked so nice I was hesitant to pick it up at first, which is kind of funny since it's so durable. The frame, mesh, studs, logos and hardware are all made from 100 percent stainless steel. I went with the Ford Super Duty 1999-2004 RC1 Main Grille 3 Piece with Emblem, which wasn't an easy choice because they offer so many different types for this specific truck.
The grille came with installation hardware and easy-to-follow instructions, so really the biggest challenge was cutting away the old one. The truck didn't just roll off the factory line yesterday so naturally there are a few dings and scrapes on my current grille. Had this been a 2012 model instead of a 2002, I would have taped around the part of the grille we're keeping to protect it during the next step. But I knew I didn't need to be that cautious for my install.
The old grille is just plastic and with a cutting wheel, sawzall and any other tool we could find to reach those tight corners, we cut away the center piece as well as the two side panels. Then it was just a matter of smoothing out the rough edges and making sure the new grille pieces fit snug and mounted correctly. The grille is solid and has a nice added weight to it, which speaks volumes on the quality.
Photos truly don't do this grille justice and I was amazed at what a big improvement it made to the look of the truck. I'm extremely pleased with this grille and I love the custom look it gives Big Blue.