Grill loose? Fender to bumper cover fit?

Normal?

I never noticed before, but just had some work done to replace a bent right fender, broken headlight and running light. It's been a nightmare, having to call the shop on it's crapy work and redo it three times. So, was spending some quality time trying to see if I could adjust the fender/bumper cover fit which is dismal at best.

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When I noticed the grill rattled. Closer inspection shows it is held in with four clip in points,

and the whole thing moves in and out 1/4" or better.


I would think there would be a few screws holding it in place, or some rubber/foam bumpers/pads that would take up the slack. But I'm seeing none, nor any place they should go.
I will make some to correct the problem, but was wondering if others grills are as loose as this one, or if perhaps this crappy body shop left something out or broke some mounting point I have not yet found.

So how does your grill fit? Fender to bumper cover fit?

Thanks

bigcat said:

can you post or send me a copy of your repair order or final estimate? i want to see if they used a remanufactured or aftermarket bumper. that could explain the poor fit.

also, can you take a few shots from a little further away? then i can see the whole picture.

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The bumper was not replaced. Left fender, headlight bucket and marker/turn sig light were all replaced with OEM parts. Deer cought the leading edge of the fender and folded it in a bit. Really not much damage.

MD07GT said:

I found out today that mine is the same when I replaced the fog lamp bulbs on my '07 GT with Silverstars. It wasn't caused by your body work, it's just the way the grill is designed. I noticed that the slop in the grill helped me a great deal in changing out the fog lamp bulbs. If the grill was hard mounted, you would have to take the entire front fascia off to get the bulbs out.

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Thanks for the insight... I'm not worried,, just not happy with the design. I'll build a mount or bracket to fix the grill in place.

bigcat said:

the way the fender meets the bumper, something is not properly adjusted. if it is OEM parts, then there should not be much of a problem. i have not had the front apart myself, so i cant say for sure exactly what needs to be adjusted.

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Thanks.. It looks like there are somefasteners I can loosen and that might allow me to line up the bumper and fender. I'll know more tomorrow.