[oldman858585]

Did not have our 2023 for a week and a pebble made it through openings in grille and punctured radiator... Bull****,
$1400 dollar fix at dealership
Poor design on grilles and/or cheap radiators
I have not been able to find a manufactured screen that I can fix in behind grille for extra protection, so plan to buy some stainless mesh and make one up myself... Not that I should have to, but what choice do I have, I can't keep replacing radiators at that price, never mind taking a chance at overheating and burning up a motor, what a joke

 

[Sparklander]

This person makes them for a variety of vehicles including Hyundai's.

Hyundai Santa Cruz

Love your Santa Cruz? Nice ride!! A very stylish face! But that grill is...so....wide....open... And just like the Palisade, Sportage, Kona, and others, rocks are getting through the...

voltshelf.weebly.com

 

[ELP_JC]

I was disappointed to see the actual radiator at the bottom of my SF Calligraphy grille. On most vehicles, what you see is the A/C condenser, which is what would be punctured by a pebble. Still a PITA to deal with, but at least you're just out of A/C, and not stranded. I typically use fiberglass screening material to protect the condensers, but can't install it on these new vehicles without removing the bumper, which I don't want to do. So I'm running the risk of damage too. I have tons of chips in the front with only 8,200 miles, but so far no radiator nor evaporator damage yet. Saw those screens, but they don't remotely pass my OCD filter, especially the upper one. Ha ha.

 

[CaptainJackOC]

Your insurance should cover it like a rock to the windshield

 

[oldman858585]

Put a fix on it yesterday
Stainless 1/4 " carpenter mesh, cut to fit and fixed into place w/ stainless nuts/bolts

 

[nohonda]

Put a fix on it yesterday
Stainless 1/4 " carpenter mesh, cut to fit and fixed into place w/ stainless nuts/bolts
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Nice job. Could you explain the procedure on how to remove the front bumper

 

[oldman858585]

Each wheel well has 1 screw and several plastic pop-out type fasteners, easy enough to get to w/o taking wheels off, two bolts underneath along with another ~half dozen of same fasteners, two bolts up top and another 4 or so fasteners. Once this is done it will still be attatched via some molded tabs that are towards top and part of nose clip, so pull out and slip your fingers in behind the plastic to left and or right of each headlight and give it a bit of a jerk, they will pop out of their seats and your done. When you put it back on, line everything up and with your fist, gently hit plastic from outside and these tabs pop right back into place and you can re-attatch all fasteners and hardware.
I did not take wire harness apart for camera and sensors as I had room enough to do what I wanted. The bolts and screw heads were all 10mm I believe. Now that I've done it, I'm sure I could pull it off next time in less than 15 minutes. I was amazed at how easy it actually was and disgusted at how the whole thing is merely a flimsy piece of plastic.

 

[nohonda]

Each wheel well has 1 screw and several plastic pop-out type fasteners, easy enough to get to w/o taking wheels off, two bolts underneath along with another ~half dozen of same fasteners, two bolts up top and another 4 or so fasteners. Once this is done it will still be attatched via some molded tabs that are towards top and part of nose clip, so pull out and slip your fingers in behind the plastic to left and or right of each headlight and give it a bit of a jerk, they will pop out of their seats and your done. When you put it back on, line everything up and with your fist, gently hit plastic from outside and these tabs pop right back into place and you can re-attatch all fasteners and hardware.
I did not take wire harness apart for camera and sensors as I had room enough to do what I wanted. The bolts and screw heads were all 10mm I believe. Now that I've done it, I'm sure I could pull it off next time in less than 15 minutes. I was amazed at how easy it actually was and disgusted at how the whole thing is merely a flimsy piece of plastic.

Thank you for this information. Might be time-consuming but looks simple enough .

 

[ELP_JC]

Did you take any pictures of the bumper cover tabs, by any chance? Want to see what exactly I'd be dealing with. And did you break any tabs? I've never been able to pop a bumper without breaking something, so that's why I didn't try it on my '22 Calli or '23 G70. I typically use black fiberglass screening material, which is pretty tough, practically invisible, cleans super easy on manual carwashes, and has has better bug protection. A big stone could pierce it, I'd guess but should slow down the pebble enough not to cause damage IMO. And it's easier to install (I use thin safety wire). Wish you had made a video, to see if I'd gather enough courage to tackle that job on these cars. Everything is made crappier now, so I'm afraid to do it again unless really necessary. Good job though.

 

[oldman858585]

This is the video I watched prior to doing the work, it's a 2022 and must not have the front camera cable and wire harness tethering the bumper to the car, but all else is identicle to the 2023

 

[oldman858585]

This is the video I watched prior to doing the work

 

[ELP_JC]

Now my question is how many tabs you break on the bumper when pulling it from the fenders. That's the main reason I don't remove bumpers unless I absolutely have to.

 

[oldman858585]

Didn't break any... I didn't rip it off like the guy in the video did, lol for fear of doing just that, so I just kind of felt around and pulled where I felt like I wasn't twisting as I pulled, so it worked out just fine, at least this time
I plan to replace the stock chrome grille with a black one when I can find one, so I'll have to pull it off again at some point.