Cheap Front End Upgrade

[rjuarezjr915]

Droopy thanks for the great idea. I did however end up using galvinzed mesh in the insert man it looks sweet people never even notice the pull ties. Dude the chrome look with the silver is super sweet.

[mistergib]

The mesh looks good...I might go that route if I could figure acleaner way of mounting it other than using the plastic ties...personalchoice...

I, too, thought that the lower grille area just didn't look the best, so, Ipainted all the background behind the lower grille with semi-glossblack, then.... I installed a single chrome strip on the single horizontalgrille bar, then.... I bought a roll of black rubber door edge moulding andcut to exact length, and placed them over the 8 little vertical bracesthat secure the center grille bar.

This gave it a look of a "floating" single chrome bar in the lower grille.

(P.S. You will now notice that I have since removed the 1" mouldingaround the complete lower grille opening....the more I looked at thatpart, the more I didn't like it......the rest I liked, so stays.)
Modified by mistergib at 7:36 PM 5/13/2008

[droopy170]

Take some pictures and post when you can. It sounds like it should look great!

mistergib, zip ties are practically invisable unless you know they are there. Please post a pic of your idea, I'd love to see it.

Droopy

[mistergib]

Take some pictures and post when you can. It sounds like it should look great!

mistergib, zip ties are practically invisable unless you know they are there. Please post a pic of your idea, I'd love to see it.

Droopy

Hey Droopy....Go to the link at the bottom of my signature....it takesyou to my photo gallery where I have a bunch of pics including twoof my grille work... Gib

[roguetoad]

Now...this is one of the most useful/practical tips we've seen on *any* car forum!

Thanks a huge lot, Droopy!

Put it on our FIT, as well as the Rogue. used 8" ties 'cuz we live at high altitude where UV munches the 4 inchers pretty quick. Doesn't look quite as smooth, but OK.

The really cool thing about your suggestion is that I've had a roll of that stuff gathering dust in the barn for much too long. Finally got to use it. THANKS!!!

Even found a place for it on our JD tractor! Cool!

[droopy170]

Glad to be of help.

Just thought I would upadate everyone. Still no issues with the install after 4 months. All kinds of weather and driving conditions. No problems at all.

Droopy

[roguetoad]

Great news

[philipa_240sx]

I took mine a step further and doubled up the mesh to 2 rows high. The lower section just 'hangs' to screen the 4 lower openings in the bumper. The goal was to provide some added stone protection for the A/C condenser. You don't really see the mesh on those lower openings BTW.

[droopy170]

I've thought about that but wasn't sure it would be worth the trouble.

droopy

[roguetoad]

The doubling sounds like a good idea and simple.

[chove1437]

I'm not usually the type to join forums but after searching through this one and came across droopy's idea, I had to join.

Can anyone who installed this tell me if they had any paint scratches from the zip ties? I had bought the gutter guard and the zip ties and am ready to install. Just not sure if the zip ties might scratch the paint of the bumper.Please advise...Thanks!

[droopy170]

So far no scratches noted at all.

droopy

[chove1437]

Thanks droopy! I'll install tonight and try to post some pics as soon as possible.

[chove1437]

So far no scratches noted at all.

droopy

Hey droopy...how snug were the zip ties? I installed it last night but it doesn't look as clean as yours.

[philipa_240sx]

I did thid mod. The zip ties need to be tight. A few tips:

- The 'nub' of the zip tie should be oriented so that it's close to the mesh and facing towards the middle of the grille so it's well hidden.- You will also have to stretch the mesh a bit so it doesn't sag.- Always start from the middle and work you way to the edges.- You cannot attach the mesh to the outside edge of the grille opening, so just tuck it in place.

[droopy170]

what phil, said. One other trick I have been testing for a bit is 3m command mini hooks. Put one in the center between the verticle posts under the horizontal center and use a zip tie again to secure to the command hooks. If you look at the hole for the tow hook, go straight down to horizontal bar and mount a mini hook to the underside of the bar. I didn't use them in my original install, but they make the mesh conform to the contors better. I have had them on in the 95-98 degree heat down here with no coming loose. If you still have problems let me know and I'll be happy to try to help.

droopy

[chove1437]

Thanks guys! I'll try and clean up the install

[chove1437]

what phil, said. One other trick I have been testing for a bit is 3m command mini hooks. Put one in the center between the verticle posts under the horizontal center and use a zip tie again to secure to the command hooks. If you look at the hole for the tow hook, go straight down to horizontal bar and mount a mini hook to the underside of the bar. I didn't use them in my original install, but they make the mesh conform to the contors better. I have had them on in the 95-98 degree heat down here with no coming loose. If you still have problems let me know and I'll be happy to try to help.

droopy

Sorry....one last thing....any pics of the 3m hook? Sounds interesting and worth doing.

[droopy170]

Don't have any pics of it on the Rogue, but you will be able to tell where to put them. Do a google search for 3M Command™ Adhesive Mini Hook and you should be able to find them. Most chain stores carry them for about $5.00 for a six pack.Droopy

[ilinimud]

This sounds like a great mod, and will be done shortly after i purchase my Rogue. Thanks!!

[kerrton]

Sorry to ask this question again, but I'm having a real hard time finding this product in stores. Can someone in Canada tell me exactly where they bought theirs? I found Gutter Guard at Canadian Tire, but they had two designs that were very different than the one used for the Rogue mod, both of them would not be what you want to use.

Thanks a lot, I appreciate it.

[Pescakl1]

Any Rona, Homedepot, HomeHardware, etc.. should have it (or will have it when Autumn will come ).

You will find it in the section for gutters and everything for the roof.

The Rona close to my house had not anymore when I looked for and I was too lazy to go to another hardware store... so I wait .

[chove1437]

I got mine at Canadian Tire.

[philipa_240sx]

Got mine at Home Depot.

[lbr119]

That is very cool. I'm going to have to try this.

[sileung]

I did thid mod. The zip ties need to be tight. A few tips:

- The 'nub' of the zip tie should be oriented so that it's close to the mesh and facing towards the middle of the grille so it's well hidden.- You will also have to stretch the mesh a bit so it doesn't sag.- Always start from the middle and work you way to the edges.- You cannot attach the mesh to the outside edge of the grille opening, so just tuck it in place.

Where abouts would you tuck in the ends? is there a slot on the inner bumper?

I'm afraid of the ends being loose and having the mesh curl in since it seems like the plastic holds a memory of the curl after i unwind it.

[philipa_240sx]

Yes, it does curl a bit towards the outside edges as there is nothing to fasten to.

But the mesh is so dark against my Iridium Graphite Rogue, you can't really see it.

[Elton Noway]

Hey, great idea. I didn't notice it is wide open down there, no protection for the radiator.

Ironically... it was one of the first things I noticed! I had a 1975 Chevy Monza that had similar opening in the grille. As luck would have it a bouncing stone on the highway managed to fly thru one of the openings and punch a small pin hole in the radiator. It ended up leaving me with an overheated car and stranded on the side of the road (in the days before cell phones).

The first this I did after getting my Rogue was put black plastic window screen over the openings (until I could find a better solution) I held in place behind the grill with a couple dabs of silicon adhesive. The gutter guard is a great solution. I'll be changing over to the gutter guard as soon as I get some free time because the window screen catches too many small bugs.

I've also been considering getting these inserts from SES Trims but was waiting for another Rogue owner to do a review.

Interestingly enough...they don't seem to be a popular aftermarket upgrade. I think it has to do with how they look after being installed. While the "lower grill' inserts are actually inserts and sit "inside" the grill openings... the upper "Main Grille" does not! Yes... there are plenty of photo shopped images showing them on the Rogue... but no forum posts from real Rogue owners that I could find.

One reason the upper (top grille) insert is not popular is because they are not really inserts but sit "ON TOP OF" of the existing Nissan egg crate grille! As a result they stick out - protrude - above the surface of the factory grille by at least a 1/4 inch and look tacky from a side view. It would scream: "Hey look at me I'm a tacky add-on". To do it right you would really need to remove the egg crate grille so the billet bars would sit recessed "inside" the opening. The very same billet bar grille from SES Trim is available for the Nissan Maxima and is very popular. Why? ...because you remove the factory grille and the billet bars sit inside the opening. Looks great. I've seen plenty of them on the road.

For the Rogue... you can find the lower grille inserts available in both ABS plastic and stainless steel. I considered getting the plastic ones and painting them black... but the gutter guard is a much cheaper solution. I actually like the look of the chrome billet inserts and would be willing to take a chance and buy them... but would only consider doing the entire front end of the Rogue (including the main grille). So, unless some company redesigns the aftermarket install of the main grille... like the install design of the Maxima install, I'll pass.

[ve3kir]

Hi;

Could you please tell me more about where to tie-wrap the mesh behind the grille?

Thanks

[philipa_240sx]

Hi;

Could you please tell me more about where to tie-wrap the mesh behind the grille?

Thanks

I don' think there is a way to do this 'invisibly'. Most have just used tie-wraps around the small vertical bars of the grille. A portion of the tie-wrap is visible, but if you have a dark colored Rogue, you won't see them.

Look closely here: