Grille Guard on ‘22 Expy

[murrdawg50]

Well, after making lots of phone calls for the last 6 months trying to confirm if an 18-21 grille guard will fit on a 22 expedition, I finally bit the bullet and bought one to try out. Picked this one up (SteelCraft) that was a scratch/dent special on eBay for $400 after shipping. It went on relatively easy, the hardest part I had was “trying” to remove the rubber trim around the tow hooks. After taking off the valence pieces in an attempt to remove the rubber pieces surrounding the tow hooks, I found out they were scored and made to be cut out. So, note to those looking to fool around with those rubber pieces in the future. Other than that delay, I wasn’t able to get the tow hooks back in with the grille guard brackets due to very tight clearance underneath for the front tow hook bolts. I might could have got the tow hooks in if I disassembled the bumper further, but I didn’t feel comfortable enough breaking down the bumper anymore than what I had. I also wasn’t too concerned about being without tow hooks either. My only concern with the SteelCraft grille guard and the standard headlights for XLT’s is that the uprights somewhat obscure the turn signals but the glow of them is still readily visible even in bright day light. All-in-all, it was a pretty straight forward install, and think it really looks at home of the front of the truck, despite not being made for it. Feel free to leave any questions or comments.

 

[2020FordRaptor]

That looks amazing! I wouldn't see having a difference anyway since the 2022s were just a refresh and not a full redesign.

 

[murrdawg50]

That looks amazing! I wouldn't see having a difference anyway since the 2022s were just a refresh and not a full redesign.

Thanks, and I know that there wasn’t a huge change, just a refresh But with that refresh, some of the stuff changed up on the bumper like the trim pieces I think. Not enough to make it a huge deal but enough to keep the grille guard manufacturers from saying whether it would work or not. Also doesn’t help that there aren’t any YouTube videos on this yet, which I almost always need to get any sort of mechanic work done lol

 

[rd618]

Thanks, and I know that there wasn’t a huge change, just a refresh But with that refresh, some of the stuff changed up on the bumper like the trim pieces I think. Not enough to make it a huge deal but enough to keep the grille guard manufacturers from saying whether it would work or not. Also doesn’t help that there aren’t any YouTube videos on this yet, which I almost always need to get any sort of mechanic work done lol

How does it work with the sensors?

 

[murrdawg50]

How does it work with the sensors?

We don’t have front sensors on our expedition, so we can’t speak on the functionality of the sensors with the grill guard.

 

[bjacobs]

Yours looks damn good. I saw Ranch Hand just updated their site to include model years '22 and '23 on the same part number as the earlier models. Hard to find any pictures online of guards on the refreshed front end, glad I stumbled on yours. Here's another one I found to add to the collection in case other people are looking. Looking forward to getting ours on.

 

[GixxerJasen]

Nice, I never saw the point of these. I drove down to Hill Country Texas and noticed nearly every truck had a grill guard and scratched my head. On the way home I saw 20 dead deer in about 30 miles. Seem very useful in certain areas I guess. It's nice yours looks so good on your vehicle.

 

[Gumby]

Man, if you came up behind me quickly I would for sure think I was caught....

A deer hit me last summer and caused what I thought was just a bit of grille damage. $6500 later it was a lot more. A BullGuard would have helped out immensely!

 

[5280tunage]

They do help a lot, but so many of these I've had over the years rust badly. Its like the powder coating is never enough. On my last vehicle, I ended up coating my rocker panel protectors and winch plate in some textured undercarriage spray, that helped a lot. I've never heard of this brand, definitely interested in how it does for you. Do they make ones compatible with the front cameras and sensors? Suppose I should shush up and look myself.

Shoot, I'm also one of those folks that put an LED lightbar under the grill in the wide opening, looks like the lower crossbar on this completely blocks that opening. UGH.

 

[Calidad]

The dumb as a rock buck that ran down the middle of the road and hit me head on (I was stopped literally waving go that way idiot ran right into me‍) between the headlights at 801miles on my ODO. Would probably have done frame damage with the brush guard. $15,000 in parts and labor. Didn’t touch the engine, or fenders. Just wiped out everything between the headlights and left a head print in my hood. Big fat dude with a huge rack.

 

[familyman2k17]

Man, if you came up behind me quickly I would for sure think I was caught....

A deer hit me last summer and caused what I thought was just a bit of grille damage. $6500 later it was a lot more. A BullGuard would have helped out immensely!

“A deer hit me”. Someone has talked to insurance companies a few times…

 

[Lumberjack]

We are over run with deer here so we took a chance on an F150 front bumper and it worked great!

 

[sjwhiteley]

We are over run with deer here so we took a chance on an F150 front bumper and it worked great!View attachment 80792View attachment 80793View attachment 80794

That looks fricking awesome! Did you do it yourself or have it done? What are the specs on the bumper? Looks like Baja lights or a similar design?

 

[Lumberjack]

The bumper is from Ironman 4x4, it is intended for an F150. I did have to do a little cutting on the frame horn bumper mounts. Took maybe 3 minutes. Disassembling the front bumper plastics took longer. After I had the bumper mocked up I slid the plastics behind into place marked my cuts and put the rubber trim on. The lights in the bumper are from Ironman but the 4 big lights are cheap Temu units (like $25 each) but the give out plenty of light for our needs. We may upgrade to BajaDesigns later but with 2k on the bumper and winch, 2k on the Icon lift I ordered and 2500 on wheels and tires I had to cut cost somewhere. The lift should be here next week. I’ll update a pic with the bead locks and 35s once I get it finished.

 

[Lumberjack]

 

[VCFP153]

Well, after making lots of phone calls for the last 6 months trying to confirm if an 18-21 grille guard will fit on a 22 expedition, I finally bit the bullet and bought one to try out. Picked this one up (SteelCraft) that was a scratch/dent special on eBay for $400 after shipping. It went on relatively easy, the hardest part I had was “trying” to remove the rubber trim around the tow hooks. After taking off the valence pieces in an attempt to remove the rubber pieces surrounding the tow hooks, I found out they were scored and made to be cut out. So, note to those looking to fool around with those rubber pieces in the future. Other than that delay, I wasn’t able to get the tow hooks back in with the grille guard brackets due to very tight clearance underneath for the front tow hook bolts. I might could have got the tow hooks in if I disassembled the bumper further, but I didn’t feel comfortable enough breaking down the bumper anymore than what I had. I also wasn’t too concerned about being without tow hooks either. My only concern with the SteelCraft grille guard and the standard headlights for XLT’s is that the uprights somewhat obscure the turn signals but the glow of them is still readily visible even in bright day light. All-in-all, it was a pretty straight forward install, and think it really looks at home of the front of the truck, despite not being made for it. Feel free to leave any questions or comments.

View attachment 75828

Looks a lot like mine, except mine is Black Horse branded.

 

[nationalgallery]

Nice, I never saw the point of these. I drove down to Hill Country Texas and noticed nearly every truck had a grill guard and scratched my head. On the way home I saw 20 dead deer in about 30 miles. Seem very useful in certain areas I guess. It's nice yours looks so good on your vehicle.

I've had kamikaze deer bolt out of the treeline and ram into the side of my cars twice, so you really need a force field surrounding the car for true protection.

 

[sjwhiteley]

I've had kamikaze deer bolt out of the treeline and ram into the side of my cars twice, so you really need a force field surrounding the car for true protection.

Yep, two work associates have had deer run into the side of their cars. One a Tesla and the other a Camry: just body damage, and cars were drivable.

If it hits the front, there are a few critical items that can make it non-drivable. While nothing is guaranteed, a big bumper may protect some of the critical stuff.

 

[AofJ]

Nice, I never saw the point of these. I drove down to Hill Country Texas and noticed nearly every truck had a grill guard and scratched my head. On the way home I saw 20 dead deer in about 30 miles. Seem very useful in certain areas I guess. It's nice yours looks so good on your vehicle.

I've had kamikaze deer bolt out of the treeline and ram into the side of my cars twice, so you really need a force field surrounding the car for true protection.

Same but add bear and wild horses. I don’t expect ANY grill guard to protect against a 1,500lb horse but it might absorb some of the impact and energy away from the occupants. I’ve seen the damage of a bear strike and I’ll pay for the guard to lessen that incident. I’m super interested in Lumberjack’s guard after seeing it. Looks much more capable than the Ranch Hands.

 

[Hardcase60]

After over five decades of owning Ford trucks, we decided that age and lifestyle changes dictated moving to a full-size SUV. Hence the purchase of a pre-owned 2018 Expedition Max Platinum. The bottom line this is our first vehicle without a full front bumper. Scary! It’s not so much the nighttime driving encountering deer and ferial hogs but the misguided drivers in Texas's major metro areas that are worrisome. My quest for protection started with a push bar like those seen on LE vehicles. It was soon learned that, for some inexplicable reason, those are only available to Gov. agencies. That left brush guards but finding one that doesn’t interfere with the front sensors has also proved daunting. The wish list item is still not checked.