JT to JK Grill Hack

[imallcrawl]

Okay, okay, before anyone gets their panties in a bunch, this is not an actual JT Gladiator DIY...well it sort of is, just think of it in reverse. I just wanted to share this just in case any of you has a JKU and wanted to swap grills...that's probably none of you so you can just disregard this post

Before I owned a JT I ran across this video And out of curiosity and boredom I wanted to see for myself if it will fit.


This guy was selling his JT grill for only $50 so I picked it up and tried this mod for myself. Here is a comparison of the JKU / JT grill...JT grill before I painted it black and significantly wider:

With minimum cutting, I first tried to fit it outside of the fender:

...then inside of the fender:

...and both looked absolutely ridiculous!


So here's what I did to make it fit. I had an old JKU grill hanging on my wall that I used to mesh the JT grill into, but first I had to cut out the center which left me with just the JKU grill frame:

I then removed the mesh from the JT grill and cut out the center of the JT grill:

Then I took my plastic welder thing and went at it...

I cut off all the staples and smoothed it out, I also cut a bit off the headlight area:

I then bondo'd the heck out if, reshaping the attached areas of the grill and filling in all those gaps:

The grill became really sturdy after all those staples, and the bondo smoothed out pretty nice:

This is the test fit on the JKU. If you're wondering what is that thing behind the grill? That's a speaker for my megaphone, it came in handy on the trails and telling people to get out of my way (kidding - I never went on the trails)

Painted the grill using semi-gloss black and bed covering:

JT mesh back on and weather strip added:

Done and installed..not perfect, but not bad either:

...turn signals initiated:

This was a fun cheap DIY hack and it only took me 2 days to complete it. The bondo worked out great and you couldn't even see where I meshed the two grills together. Cost was $50 for grill, $10 for paint (I had the bondo and plastic welder from other projects). I'm almost 100% sure no one in this forum will try this hack, but maybe you can share it with someone who may want to? Peace out JT brothers!

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[Hootbro]

I will tap out, too much work for me. It does look good though.

 

[imallcrawl]

I will tap out, too much work for me. It does look good though.

I only tap out when the mod is too much for me to handle LOL, this was pretty fun especially the shaping part of it!

 

[Hootbro]

I only tap out when the mod is too much for me to handle LOL, this was pretty fun especially the shaping part of it!

Good skill set to have. I can do wiring , nuts and bolt stuff but body work and fab is not my forte as most times it comes out looking like a bad ashtray I made Mom in kindergarten arts and crafts.

 

[imallcrawl]

...most times it comes out looking like a bad ashtray I made Mom in kindergarten arts and crafts.

I've done that too LMAO

 

[NotSo Bright White]

Do you think it allows more airflow into the radiator? It sure looks like it. If so, a diesel would totally appreciate your hack!!!

 

[D_JT]

You titled this thread wong. You worded it as if you were going from a JT grille to a JK grille. Putting a JK grille on a JT. You should have worded it "JK to JL/JT grille hack". But this is nothing new. You can buy a JL/JT style grille for a JK off amazon and ebay. You can even get the updated '25 style grille for the JK.

 

[Mr Miami]

Good skill set to have. I can do wiring , nuts and bolt stuff but body work and fab is not my forte as most times it comes out looking like a bad ashtray I made Mom in kindergarten arts and crafts.

I'm with you on that one. If I tried maybe I would get lucky and end up with something I could stick on a pole, give it a name, and take it downtown to the Art District.

 

[imallcrawl]

You titled this thread wong. You worded it as if you were going from a JT grille to a JK grille. Putting a JK grille on a JT. You should have worded it "JK to JL/JT grille hack". But this is nothing new. You can buy a JL/JT style grille for a JK off amazon and ebay. You can even get the updated '25 style grille for the JK.

I've seen those JL/JT grills for a JKU, but that's not what this DIY was about, if it was it wouldn't be a hack

 

[Stan H]

I will tap out, too much work for me. It does look good though.

Ditto , thats way too involved for me . I would get P.Oed about half way through throw it in the yard and set it on fire .

 

[NotSo Bright White]

Ditto , thats way too involved for me . I would get P.Oed about half way through throw it in the yard and set it on fire .

Not me. I would eat the paste!

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