Sport to SLT grille swap

[David Muench]

Here's a picture of the swap in progress, from the chrome grille to the black SLT grille:



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So far, I love it. Thanks yogibear. Re-using the old plastic rivets works great.

 

[CATCRACKER]

david,

i will be doing this swap soon from slt grill to sport any tips will help. that is good to know that i can reuse the rivits. how can i post pics on this site. i have lots of mods lined up when my 03 comes in and i will share them with the tdr if i learn how to post a pic. thanks

 

[Prairie Dog]

I suggest having a nice thick, soft blanket to work on (for the grill I mean) to prevent any scratching. Other than that, it's really easy - took me about 40 minutes.

If someone out there is local to the western Washington area and want's a standard black honeycomb style grill insert, let me know as I have one you can have for free.

 

[David Muench]

Yeah, use a blanket. I had a one folded over a bunch of times. You won't need to re-use the rivets since you bought the kit from Mopar. You just need a hammer, and something to push the center of the rivets through. . I used a small phillips screwdriver to get them started, and then a blunt thin nail to push them the rest of the way through. Some needle nose pliers to pull the remaining part of the rivet up, and a big flat bladed screwdriver to release the snap-clips after all the rivets are out. Oh, and a 8mm socket to remove the grille from the truck.



You can post pictures by setting up a photo album under Readers Rigs up at the top of the page, and then you can link to pictures that you add there (there is link called Forum Codes for each picture, click on that and you can cut and paste the text you need to paste into your post).

 

[David Muench]

Done. I really like it, it's a subtle change. It sticks out like a sore thumb at the moment because it's the only part of the truck not coated in salt , but once it gets above freezing again and I can wash it it should look great.



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[CATCRACKER]

LOOK AT ALL THE SALT ON THAT BEAUTIFUL DODGE Glad we dont have that problem down here. The only problem we have is bottomless swamp mud holes which the 1100lb cummins will try to dive into everytime it gets a chance :-laf and gumbo mud that turns into concrete when it hardens. That is why as they say i keep a good shine on

 

[David Muench]

Yeah, the salt's a killer. And it's much worse than the pictures show. The temperature hasn't been above freezing (or even near it) for weeks, so I can't do a thing about it.



Supposed to be in the single digits this week, I've got my extension cord ready just in case.

 

[nickleinonen]

beauty that is so what i am going to do to my truck when i do get one... looks great!

 

[robobx]

looks good. nice Jeeps too

 

[PCline]

Do you still have your chrome sport grille? Interested in getting rid of it? If I would have known I would have traded you straight across for my SLT grille.



Each to his own.



I probably violated one of the board rules by asking the above. I hope not.

 

[Duck]

How about pics from anyone that's done the opposite- Put the chrome in place of the black honeycomb?

I'm seriously considering doing this to my truck. I have the chrome surround with black honeycomb, and I think the chrome insert would look pretty sharp. Since Dodge doesn't offer this configuration, it would great to see some actual pics out there from people who have done it.

 

[Duck]

Hey, if anyone else out there has a chrome sport grill insert that they wished were black- let me know! We can swap straight across and only have to pay shipping. Might be the cheapest upgrade for these beasts yet! Oo.

 

[David Muench]

Just so no one else asks, I traded my chrome grille to yogibear, so it's not available. In fact, that's how I got the black inserts - by trading with yogibear.



I know there are a few people on here with SLT's that have put the chrome inserts in, so hopefully someone will come up with pictures.



robobx: Thanks. They're both my wife's actually. The yellow one is her new Jeep, and the brown one is her old Jeep that's still for sale. I sold my Jeep this past summer - what a heartbreaker. I had a red early '97 TJ that I'd done just about everything to. It was perfect.