suckerv
IG: @amelias550
- Joined
- Jan 20, 2015
- Threads
- 41
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- 545
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- Location
- Brentwood, CA
- Vehicle(s)
- 2015 Mustang GT PP Deep Impact Blue
- Thread starter
- #1
Got my RTR grille in the other day (upper and lower) and I thought I would do an install thread. First off, thanks to [MENTION=10447]AMAlexLazarus[/MENTION] and American Muscle for hooking up a great price and fast shipping! I had a bit of a miscommunication with UPS, but it arrived safely on my doorstep on Thursday.
I know there are plenty of bumper removal threads and videos online, but I might as well document my own process. After hearing all the horror stories about the 7mm bolt in the wheel well, I decided to remove the front wheels to see if it would makes things easier. Folks, do yourself a favor and just take the front wheels off. The 5 minutes it takes to remove the wheels will easily save you 20+ minutes fumbling around looking for the bolt. With the wheel off and the wheel liner pulled all the way back, the bolt is literally sitting right there in front of your face.
So yes, step one for me was to get Amelia on jacks and pull the wheels off. Next (since the car was already up), I removed my Steeda chin splitter. Not all of you have a chin splitter, but the process for removing that and the factory belly pan is roughly the same; simply crawl under and remove all the push pins and bolts holding it on. I have seen some videos where the belly pan was left on, but I think removing it is easier because then you have an easier time reaching the fog light connectors and the 7mm demon bolt.
Next, I popped the hood and removed all the push pins holding in the radiator cover. I believe there’s 8 in total, and they easily pop right out with a flathead screwdriver. Under the radiator cover, you’ll find 8 more bolts (8mm if I recall correctly) holding the upper lip on the bumper to the radiator support. Unscrew those, and lift the edges of the weatherstripping to reveal two more bolts on either end (5.5mm). They’re hidden, so DO NOT FORGET TO REMOVE THESE TWO BOLTS or you’re going to have a really bad day.
At this point, the front splitter/belly pan and top bolts should all be removed, so the only thing holding your bumper on are some clips along the side adjacent to the fender, and the two 7mm bolts. In the wheel well along the wheel liner should be three plastic push pins which you need to remove. I went ahead and also removed one push pin that holds the liner to the inside wall of the wheel well just so I can pull the entire liner back as far as possible.
Once that was pulled back, the 7mm bolt was exposed and easy to reach. I used a shallow 7mm socket with a tiny ¼ drive ratchet, and the bolt came out in a few seconds. I haven’t had any luck finding a good pic of the bolt’s location prior to this task, so I tried to take one. You can clearly see the bolt here; it’s nearly all the way against the outer edge, and should be the only bolt head facing upward into the engine bay. There should be no mistaking it for another bolt.
After removing the bolt, go ahead and detach the three wiring harnesses connected to the fog lights. If you removed the belly pan and wheel, they should be easily accessible with no issues.
Now the scary part…..grab the edge of the bumper (where it meets with the fender) and gently pull towards you, releasing some clips. Once those are loose on both sides, pull the lower end of the bumper towards you, and up. You’ll have to lift over some small dowels that the upper edge of the bumper sits on. If you did everything correctly, the bumper should lift off with no issues. It’s super light, and the material is very pliable, so take caution with how you hold it.
The hardest part of this whole process for me was the next part, removing the OEM grilles from the bumper. They are held in all around by tabs that are a major pain in the ass to remove. Pull the center soft support out (between the upper and lower grille) and you should be able to see where all the tabs are holding each piece in place (here's a pic look up at the tabs in the grille area of the bumper):
I grabbed as many flathead screwdrivers as I could find (four in total) and popped each tab, holding it out of place with a screwdriver and worked my way around the grille. Take your time with this part; it’s frustrating, time consuming, and hurts your fingers. Once you get 4-5 popped out, you should good to remove the screwdrivers and slowly pop the remainder of the tabs. The lower grille was the harder of the two to remove for me. I think it’s because the lower grille is a smaller piece overall and therefore you have less give when pulling the tabs out. Again, just be patient and don’t force it.
Once the grilles are off, you’re ready to put the RTR grille in! I had one extra step in this process because I wanted to retain my Stangintor pony emblem, so I pulled that off of the OEM grille and swapped it over to the RTR one. Those who are wanting to transfer their pony over, rest assured that it’s a perfect fit and looks very good on the RTR grille. Since the Stanginator has four threaded studs in the back, I held the emblem in place with a ton of 3M tape, and bought a few speed nuts and 4-40 nuts and actually held the emblem in place via the 3m tape and studs/nuts. It looks great, is very sturdy, and you can’t see the speed nuts when viewing the grille from the front.
Since the RTR grille is a direct OEM replacement, installation is as easy as popping it back on the tabs. Once the grille is installed, simply do everything in reverse order, and you’re good to go!
I love this grille because I wanted something that was close to the OEM look without it actually being the OEM grille. I never liked the honeycomb design of the OEM grille, but at the same time, I didn’t want something as flashy as those T-Rex grilles or the MMD one. I still wanted something where if you were to glance at it quickly, you would still think it was OEM. My favorite going into this decision were this RTR grille, and [MENTION=11533]Project Whitemare[/MENTION] 's grille, which I have seen in person and love the quality of. I’m glad I went with RTR because it basically was exactly what I was looking for in design.
I know there are plenty of bumper removal threads and videos online, but I might as well document my own process. After hearing all the horror stories about the 7mm bolt in the wheel well, I decided to remove the front wheels to see if it would makes things easier. Folks, do yourself a favor and just take the front wheels off. The 5 minutes it takes to remove the wheels will easily save you 20+ minutes fumbling around looking for the bolt. With the wheel off and the wheel liner pulled all the way back, the bolt is literally sitting right there in front of your face.
So yes, step one for me was to get Amelia on jacks and pull the wheels off. Next (since the car was already up), I removed my Steeda chin splitter. Not all of you have a chin splitter, but the process for removing that and the factory belly pan is roughly the same; simply crawl under and remove all the push pins and bolts holding it on. I have seen some videos where the belly pan was left on, but I think removing it is easier because then you have an easier time reaching the fog light connectors and the 7mm demon bolt.
Next, I popped the hood and removed all the push pins holding in the radiator cover. I believe there’s 8 in total, and they easily pop right out with a flathead screwdriver. Under the radiator cover, you’ll find 8 more bolts (8mm if I recall correctly) holding the upper lip on the bumper to the radiator support. Unscrew those, and lift the edges of the weatherstripping to reveal two more bolts on either end (5.5mm). They’re hidden, so DO NOT FORGET TO REMOVE THESE TWO BOLTS or you’re going to have a really bad day.
At this point, the front splitter/belly pan and top bolts should all be removed, so the only thing holding your bumper on are some clips along the side adjacent to the fender, and the two 7mm bolts. In the wheel well along the wheel liner should be three plastic push pins which you need to remove. I went ahead and also removed one push pin that holds the liner to the inside wall of the wheel well just so I can pull the entire liner back as far as possible.
Once that was pulled back, the 7mm bolt was exposed and easy to reach. I used a shallow 7mm socket with a tiny ¼ drive ratchet, and the bolt came out in a few seconds. I haven’t had any luck finding a good pic of the bolt’s location prior to this task, so I tried to take one. You can clearly see the bolt here; it’s nearly all the way against the outer edge, and should be the only bolt head facing upward into the engine bay. There should be no mistaking it for another bolt.
After removing the bolt, go ahead and detach the three wiring harnesses connected to the fog lights. If you removed the belly pan and wheel, they should be easily accessible with no issues.
Now the scary part…..grab the edge of the bumper (where it meets with the fender) and gently pull towards you, releasing some clips. Once those are loose on both sides, pull the lower end of the bumper towards you, and up. You’ll have to lift over some small dowels that the upper edge of the bumper sits on. If you did everything correctly, the bumper should lift off with no issues. It’s super light, and the material is very pliable, so take caution with how you hold it.
The hardest part of this whole process for me was the next part, removing the OEM grilles from the bumper. They are held in all around by tabs that are a major pain in the ass to remove. Pull the center soft support out (between the upper and lower grille) and you should be able to see where all the tabs are holding each piece in place (here's a pic look up at the tabs in the grille area of the bumper):
I grabbed as many flathead screwdrivers as I could find (four in total) and popped each tab, holding it out of place with a screwdriver and worked my way around the grille. Take your time with this part; it’s frustrating, time consuming, and hurts your fingers. Once you get 4-5 popped out, you should good to remove the screwdrivers and slowly pop the remainder of the tabs. The lower grille was the harder of the two to remove for me. I think it’s because the lower grille is a smaller piece overall and therefore you have less give when pulling the tabs out. Again, just be patient and don’t force it.
Once the grilles are off, you’re ready to put the RTR grille in! I had one extra step in this process because I wanted to retain my Stangintor pony emblem, so I pulled that off of the OEM grille and swapped it over to the RTR one. Those who are wanting to transfer their pony over, rest assured that it’s a perfect fit and looks very good on the RTR grille. Since the Stanginator has four threaded studs in the back, I held the emblem in place with a ton of 3M tape, and bought a few speed nuts and 4-40 nuts and actually held the emblem in place via the 3m tape and studs/nuts. It looks great, is very sturdy, and you can’t see the speed nuts when viewing the grille from the front.
Since the RTR grille is a direct OEM replacement, installation is as easy as popping it back on the tabs. Once the grille is installed, simply do everything in reverse order, and you’re good to go!
I love this grille because I wanted something that was close to the OEM look without it actually being the OEM grille. I never liked the honeycomb design of the OEM grille, but at the same time, I didn’t want something as flashy as those T-Rex grilles or the MMD one. I still wanted something where if you were to glance at it quickly, you would still think it was OEM. My favorite going into this decision were this RTR grille, and [MENTION=11533]Project Whitemare[/MENTION] 's grille, which I have seen in person and love the quality of. I’m glad I went with RTR because it basically was exactly what I was looking for in design.
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