Front Blackout - Bronco Raptor

[KansasRaptor]

I've completed (are we ever really done?) my front end blackout; I included before and after pics. Not looking for any comments, just sharing what my version was. It consisted of 3 very simple measures:

1) Paint the skidplate and center bumper trim black with bedliner black.
2) Paint the tow hooks with a rubberized black coating.
3) Apply headlight tint film (I haven't driven it at night yet; these may be short lived if too dim). If you decide to take this on, a few pointers: 1) Wipe down plastic with rubbing alcohol and immediately follow with a clean microfiber. 2) Lightly mist with a clean spray bottle filled with bottled water (not tap). 3) Use a heat gun on medium or low setting after using squeegee. Your fingers will do a better job than the blade does; just don't burn yourself in the process. 4) Start with the straight edge of the marker lights for alignment, then fold the application outwards towards the outside of the headlight edge.


Have a great day.

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[Taltyman]

Looks good.

 

[Derrick]

Well done! I like it a lot and the more I look the more I like, even more that I may consider doing mine. I like the complete black look of the bumper.
So in the finished pic it looks like the drivers side lower control arm is painted? Also did you remove the plates to paint them? Thanks

 

[nabronco21]

Much better I never did understand why ford made it silver.

 

[Bkbk]

Looks great! What headlight film did you use?

 

['18 M2]

Do you have plans to paint the grill black?

 

[KansasRaptor]

Well done! I like it a lot and the more I look the more I like, even more that I may consider doing mine. I like the complete black look of the bumper.
So in the finished pic it looks like the drivers side lower control arm is painted? Also did you remove the plates to paint them? Thanks

Thanks! The control arm in the finshed picture looks painted, but that is just shadowcast. Since I was using a heavier painted material I didn't want to risk it curing and causing movement issues in the joint. I plan on hitting it with some basic auto flat when the weather warms up enough.

Painting steps:
1) Remove the silver plastic trim piece. Don't use a spray on paint adhere spray as the part is lightly coated with a clear or silver and it caused a few lift issues. I would lightly sand with 400 grit and then paint. Once cured I would suggest a few shots of flat clear coat. Removal is crazy easy: The part is held on by a bunch of plastic pull tabs, and a couple of spring clips behind the part. Once tabs are removed (all of mine popped out with finger pressure), pull one end to release the spring clips, then do the opposite side.

2) The actual skid plate is a substantial piece of metal. 4 bolts, but be prepared for this thing to drop. I saved the rear driver side bolt for last as this has a slide slot that will support it. You don't need to pull this bolt out completely. Once you have it down and painted, I suggest using a floor jack to lift it back in place. I did this and it made reinstalling easy; I used a piece of carboard to insulate the fresh paint from jack pad damage.

3) While the trim piece was drying I lightly sanded the tow hooks and coated that with a rubberized paint. Holds up well, but I'm sure that if I ever need to use the hooks I'll need to touch up a bit.

Let me know if you need any more info. I would say that, as far as cosmetic mods go, the whole thing was as easy as it gets. Good luck.

 

[KansasRaptor]

Much better I never did understand why ford made it silver.

I'm sure it came down to either cost savings or production efficiency. But I agree, it should have been a factory preset for the raptor.

 

[KansasRaptor]

Looks great! What headlight film did you use?

Update.....The headlight film is off. Although it was super east to apply and looked great, it dimmed the lights enough where I decided to pull it off. I originally removed the lower lens part, which looked great, only to realize that the upper lens is for lowbeam and the lower is high.

 

[KansasRaptor]

Do you have plans to paint the grill black?

I like the color it is now, at least enough to skip the amount of work it would take to paint the grill.

 

[Derrick]

Thanks! The control arm in the finshed picture looks painted, but that is just shadowcast. Since I was using a heavier painted material I didn't want to risk it curing and causing movement issues in the joint. I plan on hitting it with some basic auto flat when the weather warms up enough.

Painting steps:
1) Remove the silver plastic trim piece. Don't use a spray on paint adhere spray as the part is lightly coated with a clear or silver and it caused a few lift issues. I would lightly sand with 400 grit and then paint. Once cured I would suggest a few shots of flat clear coat. Removal is crazy easy: The part is held on by a bunch of plastic pull tabs, and a couple of spring clips behind the part. Once tabs are removed (all of mine popped out with finger pressure), pull one end to release the spring clips, then do the opposite side.

2) The actual skid plate is a substantial piece of metal. 4 bolts, but be prepared for this thing to drop. I saved the rear driver side bolt for last as this has a slide slot that will support it. You don't need to pull this bolt out completely. Once you have it down and painted, I suggest using a floor jack to lift it back in place. I did this and it made reinstalling easy; I used a piece of carboard to insulate the fresh paint from jack pad damage.

3) While the trim piece was drying I lightly sanded the tow hooks and coated that with a rubberized paint. Holds up well, but I'm sure that if I ever need to use the hooks I'll need to touch up a bit.

Let me know if you need any more info. I would say that, as far as cosmetic mods go, the whole thing was as easy as it gets. Good luck.

Great info I will do as you have described and thanks for the details . If you get a chance could you supply the paint manufacture and part numbers. The more I think about it the sooner I want to do it. lol

 

[Finbox]

Much better I never did understand why ford made it silver.

They made it silver because it’s made out of aluminum with no paint and when you scratch it, you won’t notice the scratches, it’s a skid plate made to skid over things when you paint it it’s gonna look like crap when the paint scrapes off

 

[STONEWALKER]

Looks good.

Whoa whoa whoa, easy there tiger! Let’s not make it awkward

 

[nabronco21]

They made it silver because it’s made out of aluminum with no paint and when you scratch it, you won’t notice the scratches, it’s a skid plate made to skid over things when you paint it it’s gonna look like crap when the paint scrapes off

I didn't know it was aluminum, well ya learn something new everyday they say.

 

[Tye]

Much better I never did understand why ford made it silver.

They did the skid in silver because it hides scratches for the intended use of the vehicle. The silver plastic panel above the skid, which has pop rivets, is meant to be taken off when you offroad, then popped back on after.

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