Grill Mounting

I'm looking for feedback from anyone that may have done what I'm going to try... The stock grill hard mounts in (3) locations: Left, Right, and Center. However, I believe just about every other grill after the flat fender family (ie CJ-5/6/7/8, YJ, TJ) is only hard mounted in the center, and then just uses some rubber bumpers or such on the Left and Right corners. Anyone tried this on a flatty? I'm thinking with all the frame flex and whatnot, this may be a wise idea anyways? Plus, it'll save me from making two more mounting tabs

 

I mount the Jalopy's grille with the two end mounts and have some 3/4" rubber between it and the frame. I also don't have the fenders mounted to the frame in the center. The hat channels flexed too much and broke.

 

CJ 5's use a rubber mount in the center of the grill only, the sides are bolted to the fenders, and therefore to the body. The grill flexes the same as the body, eliminating stress on the fenders. Might be the best way to eliminate fender cracks on a flattie.

 

This is more or less exactly what I was thinking... Made the center mount last night, so I guess we'll see what happens.

 

I used the side mounts only, with ureathane spacers. However, I do not have any significant frame flex-a lot of extra steel under there.

 

Here's a shot of how the new center-only mount turned out:



The mount is cushioned via a stock shock bushing from our '08 JK Unlimited. The two outside edges now rest on the frame with some stock rubber grill bumpers from when I put a body lift on our '03 TJ Rubicon. My wife hates all the stuff I save, but this is exactly why