My DIY vent Mod

[CanuckF350]

Hey guys! I know guys have posted theirs on here already but I am pretty proud of how these turned out so had to show you all. Hardest part of this was getting the guts to pry the vent off the body. Ya just gotta get a pair and do it! Took me about 30 mins to do the first one with all the trial fitting but the second only took 10 mins now that I had a template to go off.

[dalton1]

Looks Great!

[AW794]

Awesome! I love it. Im going to do this, for sure.

Few questions, Canuck:
How are the vents held on the fender?
Do they just pry off?
How do they re-attach?

[CanuckF350]

Attached is a pic of the body panel with the vent removed. The slots you see are where there are clips holding the vent in place. There are five for the upper piece and 3 for the lower. I used a screwdriver wrapped in tape to pry them off with. I also used a rolled up rag to pry against. Start at the upper corners, the go down the side just above the joint of the two pieces. the fifth clip is a little tough to get at but if you have the first four popped out just pull straight out on the upper piece and it should come easily. The bottom piece comes off in a similar way just 3 clips. Note the pic for the placement of the clips. The slots are where they are. To get the FUGLY red piece off it is held on by two washers on two pins of the lower piece. gently pry up on the washers until ya get them off. I flattened them a little with a hammer so they would bite hard again when I reassembled it with my mesh in place. You will understand what I am talking about when you see them yourself. I test fit mine a whole pile of time before I put the washers back on. To reinstall put bottom piece onto the fender lining up the slots and give it a good push to get the clips to grab. Repeat with the upper piece

[AW794]

Originally Posted by CanuckF350

Attached is a pic of the body panel with the vent removed. The slots you see are where there are clips holding the vent in place. There are five for the upper piece and 3 for the lower. I used a screwdriver wrapped in tape to pry them off with. I also used a rolled up rag to pry against. Start at the upper corners, the go down the side just above the joint of the two pieces. the fifth clip is a little tough to get at but if you have the first four popped out just pull straight out on the upper piece and it should come easily. The bottom piece comes off in a similar way just 3 clips. Note the pic for the placement of the clips. The slots are where they are. To get the FUGLY red piece off it is held on by two washers on two pins of the lower piece. gently pry up on the washers until ya get them off. I flattened them a little with a hammer so they would bite hard again when I reassembled it with my mesh in place. You will understand what I am talking about when you see them yourself. I test fit mine a whole pile of time before I put the washers back on. To reinstall put bottom piece onto the fender lining up the slots and give it a good push to get the clips to grab. Repeat with the upper piece

Awesome, thanks for the info brother! I think im going to spray all the chrome bits flat black, and also put similar mesh as you did in place of the ugly factory maroon color. We'll see how she turns out!

[superdutydixie]

looks great!!! I need to do this but keep putting it off

[WildmanTrev]

My question is, Where did you find the mesh for the insert? Im also in canada and would like to do this too. I hate the plastic look.

[CanuckF350]

I used to work in a shop that specialized in stainless steel. So I got it from them at no charge.I am from Saskatoon but I am sure that with some phone calls or web searches in your area you should be able to find something. Sometimes the small local guys are the ones that have this stuff. I got two 10"X10" pieces and if you had to pay for it, it should be around $60.00 with the current prices on this mesh. Even if I would have had to pay for it, it was still way cheaper that what you can find in some online stores. I found some for like $380.00 and they looked pretty much the same. The best comment so far was from my wife. "Why do you always have to change stuff on your truck?" I told he "Wait you will see." Her response. "You could sell those! They look great!" Ahhh!! Music to my ears when the wife gets it.

[rabidsnowmobiler]

I did this mod over the weekend with good results. I went with a slightly tighter mesh. I used 4x4 .080" dia and went with 316 stainless wire cloth. I ordered a 12" x 24" sheet but could have easily gotten by with 12" x 12" for the project ordered from McMaster-Carr.

[luc2121]

anyone know where to get the mesh in canada ? mcmaster carr wont ship to canada