Bubbled Chrome Front Grill Replacement - 2007 Dodge Durango

I decided to replace the failing chrome grill on my 2007 Dodge Durango. For whatever reason the chrome bubbled on the grill. You can see how wrinkled the chrome is in a couple of the pictures. It go so bad my wife noticed people looking at the car when it was parked -think the front end had gotten hit. The are many rumors on the internet why the chrome lifts off the plastic on the grille (cold temperature, rock pinholes, etc). My estimation is that the chrome expands and the plastic shrinks over time. Either way I decided to replace it and document it in this blog post.

2007 Dodge Durango Grill Chrome Bubbled Up
 
Right Side Showing Grill Chrome Wrinkling

Left Side of Grill Showing Durango Chrome Bubbles
I didn't expect the process of replacing the Durango grill to be tough, but there are a few covers covering up the bolts to replace the grill. First I pried up the black plastic cover in the picture below. There were 4 plastic plugs holding the front of it down.

After prying up the plugs with a screw driver I could lift up the cover and get to the 4 13mm bolts that held in the top of the grill.

After removing the 4 top bolts I unclipped the grill from the bottom black plastic bracket. I easily reached down from the top and squeezed the 4 plastic clips (picture below) to release the bottom of grill. The other option is to unbolt and replace the bottom bracket.
Picture Showing 1 of 4 Plastic Clips Holding the Bottom of the Grill
The replacement grill did not have the little plastic bracket to hold the hood support rod.I actually broke the bracket out of the old grill. Then I figured out the two pieces of plastic can just be separated with a screwdriver. Hopefully the pics help you figure out how to remove it without breaking it like I did. 
 
Split Hood Support Bracket with a Screwdriver While Holding the Back Tabs Apart
Separated Dodge Durango Hood Rod Support Clip
Front to Back
Old Grille
New Grille
 Black Bottom Bracket
I bought my new grill from Amazon on prime with free shipping. I looked at eBay and decided to stick with the Dodge OEM grill Assembly-  55078015AD. The link on Amazon is http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005VWAEZS.

Old Bubbled 2007 Dodge Chrome Grill. Next to it is the Black Bottom Bracket that I Didn't Use
After transferring the Durango hood support clip. Installation of the new grill was easy.

  1. Put the new grill in the space.
  2. Push in the 4 bottom clips into the still mounted black bottom bracket.
  3. Reinstall the top of the grill with the 4 - 13mm bolts.
  4. Reinstall the top plastic cover. Just push the 4 plastic plugs back into the top of the frame making sure the plastic piece is in the right position
  5. Close the hood.
Our 2007 Durango Looks Like New Again
Article references:
Forum post from another 2007 Durango Owner with some other purchase options - http://dodgeforum.com/forum/2nd-gen-durango/276162-chrome-grill-bubbling.html

Comments

  1. UnknownMay 25, 2014 at 10:11 AM

    Thanks for the posting. I started replacing my 2006 and all went well until I got to the hood support bracket. I found your post when trying to figure it out. After reading this, I found to put a screw driver on the center of the bottom of the bracket and tap it up toward the top. Be careful as the top my go flying. It didn't break and went into the new grill just fine.

    ReplyDelete
  2. UnknownMarch 22, 2019 at 4:48 PM

    Very informative, my 08 Durango grill is doing the same.
    Gonna give it a try......Thanks !!!!

    ReplyDelete

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