|
Ford F450 Front Grills, F450 Vertical Grills, Aftermarket Grilles, Replacement Grills at TunersDepot
Ford F450 Front Grills (whether they be replacements of overlays) are the most common exterior appearance upgrade that F450 owners will do. That’s because compared to other exterior appearance upgrades like body kits and spoilers, replacing a F450’s grille is usually quick, painless, and doesn’t require painting. Also, the simple upgrade usually leaves the vehicle with a completely different look.
Our line of Ford F450 Front Grills carry thru 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007 or 99, 00, 01, 02, 03, 04, 05, 06, 07 models.
99-07 F450 Front Grills
F450 Front Grills: What do they do?
The Front Hood Grill on your Ford F450 is not just for looks. The grill allows for ventilation into the front part of your F450 to allow for better cooling for your radiator and engine bay. If your F450 had no grill, you would suffocate your engine bay and significantly raise the amount of heat in your engine’s environment, leading to decreased performance. The factory Ford grille is there to let air in while keeping larger debris out to prevent damage to the relatively fragile radiator.
While most Aftermarket Ford F450 Replacement Grills can increase performance a bit by allowing even more airflow, they are not generally considered a high performance upgrade. Basically it’s just a looks thing. Change the look of the grill and your entire front end is transformed into a different vehicle, setting it apart from the thousands of other F450s out on the road.
Types of Ford F450 Front Grilles
While there are plenty of companies out there that make grills for Ford F450s, they generally can fall within a few categories of fitment and look.
Replacement Type F450 Front Grills
Replacement F450 Grills are the most common type of grill and require you to completely remove the Ford grille from your F450. These types of grills can be the hardest type to install since they require undoing several tabs and/or screws, and then fitting the new grill in. They usually have the advantage of being more securely attached and having more of a stock flush look to them.
In some very rare occasions where the stock grill is physically a part of the rest of the bumper, you may have to make modifications by cutting out a proper install area. You could usually tell by looking at your stock grill whether cutting would be required or not (if the grill is not a separate independent piece, then you probably need to cut). While such grills exist, we try not to carry cutting type grills due to the amount of labor and permanent modification involved.
F450 Front Grill Overlay
For a small amount of vehicles, grill overlays are available. In this case, you would leave your stock F450 alone, and the grill overlay would fit over the existing grill. The grille overlay would then snap in or have hidden screws to attach somewhere around the edge of the stock grill. The overwhelming majority of overlay type grills are billet type.
Usually, installing a F450 Grille overlay is simple, but due to the nature of the grill, it may sit out further than your stock Ford Grill, which may or may not look right depending on your tastes. Also, if it is a snap on type (which is also pretty rare), it might pop off in the event of a hard collision... which would probably be the least of your worries if your F450 hit something that hard.
Ford F450 Front Vertical Grills, F450 Vertical Grills
Vertical F450 Grills refer to the newest type of grill style available on the market; those with thick vertical bars across the grill... basically the opposite of traditional billet grilles. Materials are almost always ABS plastic, even in cases where the vertical grill appears chrome, in which case, the chrome would be just painted plastic.
Installation wise, F450 Vertical Front Grills usually replace the entire grill, thus, installation is expected to be a bit more difficult than overlay billet grills. Color wise, they are almost always black or chrome, with the intention that they stay that way. Most people do NOT paint vertical grilles.
Designs with more vertical bars tend to look nicer on bigger, beefier vehicles, while designs with only a few bars come out nice on performance vehicles with short and long grills. Vertical grills tend to be a favorite with the Truck and “Dub” type of crowd, and in sport compact applications, with the JDM import crowd. As with all other grills, chrome “pops” better on darker vehicles (especially with chrome wheels and other chrome accents), while black vertical grills look best on light vehicles.
