JPTwinz

So coming off my last trail run I found that rocks and whatnot like to make their way through the giant openings in the front grille and bombard the exposed radiator. Defintiely something that's not good in the Arizona heat.

I used gutter mesh cut to size and then painted it using red Krylon rattle can paint. I also used small 1"x1" plastic zip tie squares from Home Depot that have a self adhesive sticky side (an idea I got from another member on here). I also thought to use a dab of Gorilla glue as well to make sure the squares didn't come loose from the AZ heat.

The mesh itself comes in 8ftx4ft sheets at Home Depot and cost me like $8. The plastic squares came in a bag of 100 for $10 and the rattle can was $4 - so about $22 total and I still had enough mesh left over to make a second grille in black plus an additonal 2ftx4ft left over square. I already had the can of black paint on hand that I used for the 2nd grille mesh along with a handful of red zip ties.

To start I simply gorilla glued each square every few inches around the backside of the grille (as seen in the 1st pic). I used 28 squares in total. I kind of guessed at where they should go, taking into consideration how the mesh would lay against the grille and where it would move around too much. I let this all sit untouched for a few hours to allow the glue to dry. The glue directions state to wait 24hrs until use but the AZ heat kind of advances the drying process.

Next I measured the distance between the top and bottom of the back of the grille along with the left and right distances. I transferred this over to the metal mesh and cut it into a big rectangle. Next I held it up to the grille to identify where it needed to be trimmed. I made provisions for the factory mounting tabs already on the grille. Once it was cut to size (make sure you wear some thick gloves) I painted it using the Krylon rattle can. Its hard to tell in the pictures but in real life the color is almost spot on to the factory flame red.

Since everything above took all of 20 min and I still had to wait for the glue to dry, I decided to make a second mesh grille but painted it flat black.

Once the paint and plastic squares had dried enough, I laid the mesh down and began to zip tie it to the grille through the plastic squares.

I then reinstalled it on the Jeep and DONE!

[N]UGE

looks good. I need to get on this mod. I bought everything to do it almost a year ago. Time to stop being lazy.

axsys

I actually like it a lot. I've been contemplating doing mine but just cant seem to find the right type of metal that I'm lookin for. Your next mod needs to be cutting your bumpstops.

JKinNNY

Do you have a Home Depot SKU # for the mesh? I've searched their website and can only find the 6" wide gutter guard. In my construction days we used this mesh for stuco, so I even searched the plaster/stuco sections with no luck. I've gone the 6" strip route, with the 3M outdoor double sided stick squares, and it's not holding up to the harsh winters we have.

Thnks,
E

Sethc84

its called expanded metal (1/2" gaps) and can be found at any industrial metal supply but usually has to be purchased in a 4'x8' section. Otherwise I've seen it at the local Ace Hardware.

Gypsy

You don't even have to use the ties if you extend your template out partially around the light wells. I did this a few years back and it sits in there just fine...

greenamphibious

color matched looks good on your rig. I was wondering what to do to th eJeep this long memorial day weekend... now I know! going with black though

JPTwinz

I can get the SKU tonight as I still have the piece with it on it in my garage. But if you can't wait, I just went over to where they sell lumber on one side of the building, inside. They've got a pallet of the stuff as it comes in a 4ft x 8ft sheet. It rolls up though so you can put it into your Jeep. I've been in several Home Depots and they all have it in the same place.

This sounds about right. I'm not sure how much they would charge but Home Depot only wanted like $8.

This is true as I did it on one of my SUVs like how you suggested. Having the ties though is inexpensive and assures you that it won't rattle loose or that a rock/debri won't mess it up either. Also, I wanted to make sure that the mesh pattern stayed running vertical which seems to only be possible with the zip ties. And for less than $25, you can't go wrong!

RA070424

I like the mod but not sure how I feel about it color matched... I think it would have looked great black with your bumpers and all. Nice job just the same.

JPTwinz

No worries, I made one in black too depending on the mood.