Hey, guys, Adam here with americantrucks.com.
Today, we're taking a quick look at and installing the Barricade Brush Guard in black, available
for the 2015 to 2018 F-150, excluding the Raptor models.
You should be checking out this brush guard if you want that front end aggressive protection
for both on and off-road use while also giving you that mean off-road appearance.
Protecting your front end is pretty crucial when taking your truck off-road, whether it
be extreme off-roading or just hitting some light trails or even just going to the beach.
Having that extra protection at the front end can guarantee that your front end is staying
safe in the case of somebody maybe backing into you or getting in contact with some of
those low-hanging tree branches on the trail.
No matter what you're tackling, this has got you covered from head to toe on that front
end.
As you can see, it's a full wrap-around design, which isn't really something you see on every
single brush guard in the category.
Some of those options just cover the front end, but not really the headlights.
Some of them don't have that center grille protection for the glass itself on the lenses.
Some of them don't offer that lower bottom protection for the lower bumper.
This one has every single base covered.
The only thing that this particular brush guard does not have is some grille going across
the front to protect this oval logo in the center.
But still, it's got something protruding out far enough that if someone did back up into
you, it's not gonna come in contact with the grille, it'll hit that brush guard first.
It also has these rubber stops around the edges.
If someone were to back into you, this is gonna take the beating and not actually scratch
up that paint.
The whole thing here is a one-piece heavy-duty tubular steel.
What that basically means is this is not a detachable three-piece set like some other
options.
The headlight protection that comes around here is actually welded to the base on the
center.
Some of those other options out there have detachable pieces, which, in my opinion, and
I think you'll agree with this, if it bolts together in three separate pieces, it's just
not gonna be as strong and as durable as something that is fully-welded.
So having that one piece is definitely gonna come in handy against bigger obstacles.
Another thing, those grille pieces in the center here are actually detachable, so you
can unbolt the centerpiece, but this whole thing is welded to the center.
Something to keep in mind, if you don't really like the look of this, you could just unbolt
them with a hex key and they're out of the way.
Another thing worth mentioning is you don't have to cut or trim if you have factory tow
hooks.
If you do not have factory tow hooks, you will have to make a little bit of modification
and cut open a hole here to get those bottom brackets to bolt in.
Not a whole lot of cutting, but it is worth noting for the guys without those tow hooks
from the factory.
The whole thing here is also powder coated in a high-quality, high-gloss finish in black
as you can see, but there also is a stainless steel finish available if you're not really
into this.
If your truck has a lot of chrome on the front end, some of those polished stainless steel
options do come in handy because they'll blend in a little bit better.
I, personally, like the black finish.
It is a little bit stealthier and, in my opinion, just looks a lot more aggressive.
This whole thing in the black finish comes in right under the $400 mark, around 375 bucks
for your F-150.
One more feature I wanna point out here with this option and something I really, really
like is that it does these plugs here in the center bar, which you can pop right out pretty
easily.
They're pre-drilled holes if you wanted to mount a light bar.
You can mount that right in the center here without having to drill into the brush guard,
thanks to those pre-drilled holes from Barricade.
And finally, I think one of the coolest features here on the side where this extends for your
headlights, the curvature on the back end here is identical or almost identical to the
way that your headlight lines come on this new 2018.
The edge of the headlights have that curve.
This follows that, so it's really, really particular to the way it follows those body
lines.
Barricade did a really good job making sure this fit in with the front end look on your
F-150, something I thought worth pointing out.
The install is a little bit different for the 2018 than it is for the '15 to '17 models,
but all of them come in the same exact kit, just with a couple of different brackets,
something to keep in mind depending on which gen of that F-150 you have.
The redesigned 2018 uses the brackets we have here.
'15 to '17, exact same installation process but with two different upper brackets.
I'll speak about that in just a little bit.
The install, one out of three wrenches on our difficulty meter.
Pretty straightforward, but because it is pretty heavy, I'd recommend having a helping
hand on deck.
Being able to have someone lift this into place while you work the ratchet or impact
gun goes a long way.
It's a little awkward to do by yourself.
That helping hand will definitely come in handy.
When all's said and done, you can expect to have this done in about an hour.
Basic hand tools required.
I'll show you guys how it gets done step by step, so let's get into it.
Tools used in this install include an impact gun or a ratchet, extension, 13 and 18-millimeter
wrenches, 13-millimeter, 15-millimeter deep sockets, 15-millimeter short socket, 17 and
21-millimeter deep sockets, and a universal swivel joint.
The first step here for the installation on our 2018 equipped with tow hooks here.
We'll get around to the tow hooks in just a second and I'll explain the difference between
a non-tow hook and a tow hook-equipped 2018.
For now, we're gonna start here with these plastic caps.
You wanna pop these off by pushing outward and then just pulling straight off.
Those come off pretty easily and that'll expose the two 21-millimeter nuts over top of those
studs that we'll have to take off.
So, get your 21-millimeter socket.
I'm gonna use an extension here and take these off.
We're gonna do the same thing on the other side.
All right, the next step, you're actually underneath of the front bumper.
And you're gonna remove the two 21-millimeter hex bolts or hex nuts attaching it to the
frame bracket.
You can find that if you follow the fog light to the back of it and it's directly to the
side of the fog light, right on the frame.
Same exact size as the two bolts you removed on the front.
Repeat for the other side.
All right, now we're over on the other side.
I'm gonna remove this bumper bolt as well.
You wanna make sure you have some support on the front of the bumper so it doesn't crash
down on you.
It's a good idea to thread those nuts back on the front of the bumper just to hold it
in place.
There we go.
Now we can go up to the front and pop the whole thing off.
All right, next up, we can remove our front bumper.
All right, now we're gonna install our top brackets on the back of the bumper here.
We have to remove the 13-millimeter nut on the back of the bumper support.
We're gonna take this one off.
Now, there's two at the top.
You wanna do the one toward the outside of the bumper.
And we're gonna pop that off and set that aside.
We're gonna take our passenger side top mount bracket, that's going to install right here.
You wanna make sure it's pointing outward, that's how you know what's on the right side.
It also has a P stamped on it for passenger.
We're gonna take the bolt provided in the kit here with a lock washer and a flat washer,
and we're gonna thread that through.
All right, tighten it down.
Perfect.
Do the same thing on the opposite side.
All right, next up, we're gonna start removing our tow hooks with our bumper still uninstalled.
So, right now, you can see that there's a splash shield around the tow hook.
You're gonna start at the back, pull straight down, and push straight out.
We're gonna set these aside.
These will not be reinstalled.
So, with that aside, there are two bolts holding the tow hook in place.
Grab your 15-millimeter socket and get those off.
All right, repeat on the other side.
Next up, we're gonna grab our tow hook mounting bracket.
Of course, these are driver and passenger side-specific.
If you have tow hooks, you can reinstall these underneath of the bracket, so it will sit
just like this up on the frame.
If you don't have tow hooks, of course, you'll have to do some modifications to the trim
panel to get this to poke through.
Of course, we do have tow hooks, so we don't need to do that.
So what we're gonna do is put our tow hook underneath, use our factory bolts to rethread
them through.
All right, repeat for the other side.
All right, now we can put our bumper into place.
Once your bumper's in place, take your 21-millimeter nuts, thread them onto the stud through those
open holes, and tighten them down with your 21-millimeter socket.
Repeat that for both sides.
Once you have those bolts in place, crawl underneath the bumper and do the same thing
for the bolts holding it to the frame.
With all the brackets in place, use a helping hand of a friend to help get the brush guard
into place and bolt it down using the hardware provided.
Once you have the bolts down on the one side, repeat for the other one and then tighten
them all down.
All right, last step here, we're gonna throw on our black caps.
All right, plug all your lights back in for your fog lights.
If you have to go back underneath to plug those in, make sure that's all taken care
of and you're good to go.
That's gonna wrap up my review and install for the Barricade Brush Guard in black, also
available in a polished stainless steel finish, both of which you can find right here at americantrucks.com.