got myself a free grille guard

Skylark65 · #1 04-19-2011, 06:50 AM

i was up at my buddies hunting camp messing around with some friends, and im walking though the woods and my foot catches something and i fall flat on my face. once i stopped cursing i looked to see what i tripped on and i see this small grille guard poking out of the weeds. and it really looks like it would almost fit the ranger. held it up and damned if it's not close enough to work... buddie said i could have it!

so now i've gotta paint it and figure out if it'll mount halfway decent... the top tabs line right up with the top of the bumper, but the bottem ones only line up with the tow tabs. im thinking i'll eather clamp it to the tabs, or mabe make a bracket off of the tow tab mount that i can bolt the guard to properly, and still have my tow tabs.... anyway, i held it up for a test fit and took a couple of pics. what's everyone think? good? bad?

Jimmeh · #2 04-19-2011, 07:09 AM

Please don't actually bolt it to the bumper. I did that with mine, and it was a mistake. Get some brackets made that go from where the bumper and tow hooks mount and mount it that way.

Otherwise, a little paint and I think it'll look alright.

02maz · #3 04-19-2011, 07:46 AM

lol looks like mine and I don't like mine, but hey if you got it for free might as well throw some paint on it and mount and see if you like it.

In retrospect idk if mounting it on the tow hooks is the best way but thats how I did mine. May be a little hard to see in the picture but what I did was run a piece across the bottom of the tow hooks, a peice across the bottom of the brush guard and then had ran peices to connect the two. Mines kinda sturdy, it vibrates if I hit a big enough bump. To do that you'd have to get longer bolts for the tow hook, but my tow hooks are still useable.

In the end I wasn't happy with how mine turned out though and I plan on selling it soon

More_Cowbell · #4 04-19-2011, 07:55 AM

looks like a 1st/2nd gen brush guard

02maz · #5 04-19-2011, 07:58 AM

yea it does, mines off an 88

Skylark65 · #6 04-19-2011, 08:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jimmeh

Please don't actually bolt it to the bumper. I did that with mine, and it was a mistake. Get some brackets made that go from where the bumper and tow hooks mount and mount it that way.

Otherwise, a little paint and I think it'll look alright.

im still working out how im gonna mount it, honestly im a bit reluctant to drill into my nice bumper anyways, i would much rather run some brackets from behind or something....

Quote:

Originally Posted by 02maz

lol looks like mine and I don't like mine, but hey if you got it for free might as well throw some paint on it and mount and see if you like it.

In retrospect idk if mounting it on the tow hooks is the best way but thats how I did mine. May be a little hard to see in the picture but what I did was run a piece across the bottom of the tow hooks, a peice across the bottom of the brush guard and then had ran peices to connect the two. Mines kinda sturdy, it vibrates if I hit a big enough bump. To do that you'd have to get longer bolts for the tow hook, but my tow hooks are still useable.

In the end I wasn't happy with how mine turned out though and I plan on selling it soon

that's what i figure, although this one is quite a bit narrower than the one you've got by the looks of it, actually alot narrower than most i've seen. plus it dosint have the headlight guards. hopefully it'll look good.

Quote:

Originally Posted by More_Cowbell

looks like a 1st/2nd gen brush guard

i think it may have been on an 80's S10 blazer but that POS got buried. im glad they took the brush guard off before they filled in the hole though! i think it's amazing how close the bumper contour is on the guard though... if my truck had no air dam peice on the front i think it would sit almost flush to the bumper

02maz · #7 04-19-2011, 08:13 AM

yea now that you mention it, it does look pretty narrow, I think it should turn out good.

One of the reasons I don't like mine is because its so thick and sticks out so far

dixie_boysles · #8 04-19-2011, 08:24 AM

meh not a fan of em

pooleo · #9 04-19-2011, 08:37 AM

I like it. I think it will fit nice and look good since you have the front end for it. The vert bars in the grill help make it look good.

ON the mazda truck above I dont like it, prolly since the grill looks smaller. I also dont like the head light gaurds

DieHard4rd · #10 04-19-2011, 08:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dixie_boysles

meh not a fan of em

X2

Christianguy · #11 04-19-2011, 09:49 AM

It should look alright after you mount to tow hook brackets or frame

They DO stick out alot
You might find out later that you
need that extra space to parallel park in right spaces
(hence mounting solid to frame will
Enable you to remove easily in the future
Should you change your mind)

terryduanemiller · #12 04-19-2011, 10:19 AM

paint it with this, this stuff is awesome!

Skylark65 · #13 04-20-2011, 05:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 02maz

yea now that you mention it, it does look pretty narrow, I think it should turn out good.

One of the reasons I don't like mine is because its so thick and sticks out so far

you can definitly tell that the guard you've got was made for a boxyer front end. probibly look great on a second gen ranger.

Quote:

Originally Posted by terryduanemiller

paint it with this, this stuff is awesome!

funny, that's EXACTLY what i had in mind for painting it. i figure it'll probibly help hide some of the pitting that's at the end of the center bar from it being partially buried

racsan · #14 04-20-2011, 10:06 AM

ive used areosol truck bed liner for painting the rear leaf spring hanger brackets and my step bars. ive got a free grille guard from a 70's full size ford, thought about putting it on the S-blazer. i have a warn trans4mer on the ranger.