2005 GMC Yukon Grille Install - Orthodontics For Your Ride!

Place the grille on a padded worktable or use a blanket with stains that you've used before on other automotive projects without your wife's permission. Then, apply masking tape to the face of the grille to prevent scratching the chrome.

Mark the area to be cut out with a felt pen for visibility and cut the center plastic bars along the top and bottom. Be sure to be careful and leave the black plastic lip on the inside of the grille. The new chrome insert will rest on this lip.

Here is what the insert looks like after it's been cut out.

Using an orbital sander or file, smooth the rough edges of the plastic for a better fit of the chrome insert.

Wipe off any residue or fingerprints before installing the chrome grille insert. This makes it easy to reach those difficult places that you may not be able to get to after the insert is installed.

A Little Outta The Middle
In With The New
Install the threaded studs into the grille. Don't overtighten or you could run the risk of warping the frame. A small amount of liquid thread-lock may be applied at this time

Install the brackets, and tighten the supplied washers and nuts. Again, be sure not to overtighten the nuts.

Here is a back view of the finished grille install. Looks good, huh? We thought so.

Here's the GMC logo we chose. You can either add an emblem for custom identity or just leave blank, but either way, it will look better than stock.

The emblem is installed the same way using the same type of threaded studs, which are also included in the emblem kit. Liquid thread-lock can be used on this also.

Before installing the emblem, it pays to measure from each side to guarantee that the emblem is truly centered. We know a lot of you guys out there like to eyeball things instead of measuring. But, this might save you some headaches later after the grille is back in the truck and you wonder why it looks funny. We have also seen some innovative placement of the emblems, such as at the lower left or right corner, which is cool, but we chose the old-fashion style of right smack-dab in the middle.

Make a quick check to see if everything is tight and apply another quick dab of polish to get rid of any unnecessary fingerprints.

Now reinstall the assembly back onto the vehicle. Check the grille for any adjustments. Close the hood to check for clearance.