How to Remove 2023 F-150 Lightning Front Grille in 4 Easy Steps

Hey all, I enjoy the forum and I am constantly using the resources here to figure things out, so decided to finally contribute.

One thing that I hated about my 2023 Ford Lightning Lariat was the color of the grille. I finally broke down and decided to Plasti-Dip it. The difference between the Geometric Gray-ion fine Satin Metallic that came OEM and the Plasti-Dip is subtle, but in my mind worth it.

See below for before and after images:



I found a link to a YouTube video that Intellibeam put together titled "Ford F-150 Lightning LED Emblem Swap" and will be referencing the steps in his video if you need more information than I can put together here. Here is the link to his video:


The steps you need to perform within Intellibeam's video to remove the grille are as follows:
Step 2 - remove the 5 poppers on each side of the frunk lid and the L-shaped plastic piece (X2) - requires trim removal tool of some sort.
Step 4 - remove the 6 bolts along the lower edge of the frunk using a #10mm socket.
Step 9 - pull the grille forward firmly but slowly and disconnect the wires. In the video, he disconnects three wires, I only had to disconnect 2.
Step 10 - remove the 3 #10 mm bolts holding the camera to the grille.

It took about 3 cans of Plasti-Dip to complete the grille transformation, as well as the two sections of lower bumper. I removed the upper portion of the bumper by curling my fingers around the upper edge at the corner of the opening and pulling out sharply. A couple of clips popped out, and then I was able to work my way around. I chickened out on the lower bumper section, and popped about 6 clips along the top and then used painters tape behind that. I couldn't figure out how it was mounted to the bottom, and figured I had pushed my luck far enough for one day.

For those that don't know, Plasti-Dip is a removeable rubber coating, so I can go back to OEM look with a half hour or so of work. I had previous done the rims, and was happy with the results. Some people prefer the finish color of a Rust-Oleum (home depot) type paint, and I have heard you could top off a full application of PlastiDip (5-6 coats) with that for a more glossy finish. I haven't ever done that, so perform that at your own risk.

The way I look at it, I now have a platinum grille for about 2 hours worth of work, and I saved the $900. With this post, you can now probably take off the grille in about 20 minutes, and paint and snap everything back together in an hour and a half. Good luck!

The OEM gray is quite off putting, I like the darker shade, that looks great on the AMB. I have this on my TODO list now.

Bokenator said:

Hey all, I enjoy the forum and I am constantly using the resources here to figure things out, so decided to finally contribute.

One thing that I hated about my 2023 Ford Lightning Lariat was the color of the grille. I finally broke down and decided to Plasti-Dip it. The difference between the Geometric Gray-ion fine Satin Metallic that came OEM and the Plasti-Dip is subtle, but in my mind worth it.

See below for before and after images:

I found a link to a YouTube video that Intellibeam put together titled "Ford F-150 Lightning LED Emblem Swap" and will be referencing the steps in his video if you need more information than I can put together here. Here is the link to his video:


The steps you need to perform within Intellibeam's video to remove the grille are as follows:
Step 2 - remove the 5 poppers on each side of the frunk lid and the L-shaped plastic piece (X2) - requires trim removal tool of some sort.
Step 4 - remove the 6 bolts along the lower edge of the frunk using a #10mm socket.
Step 9 - pull the grille forward gently and disconnect the wires. In the video, he disconnects three wires, I only had to disconnect 2.
Step 10 - remove the 3 #10 mm bolts holding the camera to the grille.

It took about 3 cans of Plasti-Dip to complete the grille transformation, as well as the two sections of lower bumper. I removed the upper portion of the bumper by curling my fingers around the upper edge at the corner of the opening and pulling out sharply. A couple of clips popped out, and then I was able to work my way around. I chickened out on the lower bumper section, and popped about 6 clips along the top and then used painters tape behind that. I couldn't figure out how it was mounted to the bottom, and figured I had pushed my luck far enough for one day.

For those that don't know, Plasti-Dip is a removeable rubber coating, so I can go back to OEM look with a half hour or so of work. I had previous done the rims, and was happy with the results. Some people prefer the finish color of a Rust-Oleum (home depot) type paint, and I have heard you could top off a full application of PlastiDip (5-6 coats) with that for a more glossy finish. I haven't ever done that, so perform that at your own risk.

The way I look at it, I now have a platinum grille for about 2 hours worth of work, and I saved the $900. With this post, you can now probably take off the grille in about 20 minutes, and paint and snap everything back together in an hour and a half. Good luck!

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The end result looks great. Thanks for sharing. Unfortunatly, living in the city it'll be tough for me to find a place to do this. You mentioned $900. Is that what the dealer would charge me to do it?

Where are my aftermarket grill options!?!?!?

Bokenator said:

Hey all, I enjoy the forum and I am constantly using the resources here to figure things out, so decided to finally contribute.

One thing that I hated about my 2023 Ford Lightning Lariat was the color of the grille. I finally broke down and decided to Plasti-Dip it. The difference between the Geometric Gray-ion fine Satin Metallic that came OEM and the Plasti-Dip is subtle, but in my mind worth it.

See below for before and after images:

I found a link to a YouTube video that Intellibeam put together titled "Ford F-150 Lightning LED Emblem Swap" and will be referencing the steps in his video if you need more information than I can put together here. Here is the link to his video:


The steps you need to perform within Intellibeam's video to remove the grille are as follows:
Step 2 - remove the 5 poppers on each side of the frunk lid and the L-shaped plastic piece (X2) - requires trim removal tool of some sort.
Step 4 - remove the 6 bolts along the lower edge of the frunk using a #10mm socket.
Step 9 - pull the grille forward gently and disconnect the wires. In the video, he disconnects three wires, I only had to disconnect 2.
Step 10 - remove the 3 #10 mm bolts holding the camera to the grille.

It took about 3 cans of Plasti-Dip to complete the grille transformation, as well as the two sections of lower bumper. I removed the upper portion of the bumper by curling my fingers around the upper edge at the corner of the opening and pulling out sharply. A couple of clips popped out, and then I was able to work my way around. I chickened out on the lower bumper section, and popped about 6 clips along the top and then used painters tape behind that. I couldn't figure out how it was mounted to the bottom, and figured I had pushed my luck far enough for one day.

For those that don't know, Plasti-Dip is a removeable rubber coating, so I can go back to OEM look with a half hour or so of work. I had previous done the rims, and was happy with the results. Some people prefer the finish color of a Rust-Oleum (home depot) type paint, and I have heard you could top off a full application of PlastiDip (5-6 coats) with that for a more glossy finish. I haven't ever done that, so perform that at your own risk.

The way I look at it, I now have a platinum grille for about 2 hours worth of work, and I saved the $900. With this post, you can now probably take off the grille in about 20 minutes, and paint and snap everything back together in an hour and a half. Good luck!

Click to expand...

Did you use just black Plasti-Dip or did you apply Glossifier over it?

Have before/after pics of the plasti-dipped wheels?

Paint mine on the xlt black, painted the mirror too. loved it.

Hmmmm wonder if that would look good on a black truck. Did you paint that yourself or get it done? Have a cost if someone else did it?

Blochead21 said:

Hmmmm wonder if that would look good on a black truck. Did you paint that yourself or get it done? Have a cost if someone else did it?

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Cost 300$ for the grill and mirrors, i remove them myself dough.

kvasiir said:

Where are my aftermarket grill options!?!?!?

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But seriously. I have so many Ideas for ways to improve this grill. Just no clue who to reach out to to create/fabricate a new one. Don't love the color or pattern they have on the current OEM grill

This came in very timely today! I live a 120 mile round trip from the nearest Ford dealer. So when my wonderful truck arrived in October, and I discovered that the hose to the camera washer on the emblem was disconnected, thus utterly draining the tank, I was in no hurry to take it to the shop for repair; I'd just combine it with something else. I'm not much of a do it yourself guy on cars, but this thread made it clear it was simple, 10 poppers, six 10mm bolts, bingo.

The one thing I'd add to the steps is a note about removing the grille. You say "pull the grille forward gently". So I spent about an hour trying to figure out if I had missed a step, or if my model was different, or what. After watching that part of video a few times, I noticed where he was pulling it first (from the top) and that it took some strength to pull it out. So I'd change "gently" to "firmly but slowly" or something like that.

Voila, I now have a windshield washer again. Thanks!

FirstF150InCasco said:

The end result looks great. Thanks for sharing. Unfortunatly, living in the city it'll be tough for me to find a place to do this. You mentioned $900. Is that what the dealer would charge me to do it?

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That is what the platinum grille part is going for on Ebay. I haven't attempted to verify if that is inflated, but I believe that I saw in a couple of places around the forum that is about what the part alone costs. If you aren't comfortable with this type of DIY project, take your truck to a local body shop and ask for a cost to paint. I imagine it would run you a few hundred dollars versus a replacement at the dealership which would probably run upwards of $1000.

Bokenator said:

That is what the platinum grille part is going for on Ebay. I haven't attempted to verify if that is inflated, but I believe that I saw in a couple of places around the forum that is about what the part alone costs. If you aren't comfortable with this type of DIY project, take your truck to a local body shop and ask for a cost to paint. I imagine it would run you a few hundred dollars versus a replacement at the dealership which would probably run upwards of $1000.

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Thank you. That's what I needed to know. Much appreciated.

Pioneer74 said:

Did you use just black Plasti-Dip or did you apply Glossifier over it?

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I used Plasti Dip Glossy. No separate Glossifier, it was supposedly built in. It says Glossy on the can. Came as a 6 pack. Available on Amazon.

Alex said:

Paint mine on the xlt black, painted the mirror too. loved it.

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Mind if I ask for details about your wheel package? Looks sharp. Any noticeable drop in mileage/range?