FJ Cruisers of Northern California

Cheap $3 Headlight Stone Guard Write-up

Hey guys, so I decided to make my own Headlight Guard. I went to OSH and got a 1 x 3ft piece of mesh for $3.

I started by cutting it into a 8" x 16" piece for painting

Then primed and painted Flat Black and cut them into 8 x 8 pieces (the piece of paper was just to show mesh better)

Start by poping the hood and remove the fascia with 2 bolts, and 2 snap bolts
2 Bolt's:

and 2 Snap Bolts (easily removed with a flat head)

Then carefully pull on the right then left top of the fascia to unsnap the clips. There are 3 more clips holding the bottom of the fascia on.

If you have Bumper mounted Fog Lights you will need to disconnect the cables and pull them through the Grill.

If you don't have the bumper lights just remove your fascia

With the fascia off cut your mesh to fit in the headlight surroundings

Now just place the fascia back into place and make sure you pop all 5 clips back into place , 2 bolts, 2 snap bolts, and reconnect fog lights if necessary and your DONE!!!

Final product:

I have leftover mesh seen in pic 2 if anyone is interested in trying this!

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Bz on September 4, 2010 at 7:29pm

Nice Jobby Bro!! Looks good!

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Permalink Reply by potatomutato on September 4, 2010 at 7:39pm

nice write-up, Robbie! looks pretty sweet. couple questions...how resilient is the mesh and is there any space between the mesh and the headlight? as mentioned at the game, one of my Aeroflows got demolished when i was in a bumper thumper last year, so i'm looking to either replace it or find another solution.

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Permalink Reply by Robbie on September 4, 2010 at 7:53pm

Tater, the mesh is right up against the headlight and its a pretty snug fit. I was originally going to try and bend it so there was a gap between it and the light, but it wanted to stay flat. As for how well it protects, I guess well just see.....

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Permalink Reply by terry52 on September 4, 2010 at 8:39pm

i think you need a gap of some kind to protect anything,(my 2 cents) and maybe thicker,closer mesh ?good luck with that,allthough it looks good cosmeticly,i think it will only hold in the big pieces of headlight when you do get hit with a rock.we just replaced the windshield on my wifes highlander from a rock strike.

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Permalink Reply by Robbie on September 4, 2010 at 9:05pm

im going to see if I can make the middle pop out, right now the outside dosent touch, only the very center does.

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Permalink Reply by NestahEdition on September 4, 2010 at 9:28pm

Good job.

You can try a diagonal mount for a diamond effect;

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Permalink Reply by Jack Dossey on December 12, 2010 at 6:34pm

Hey, NDA431F Jr, where did you get those??? Are those home-made???

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Permalink Reply by SMJ2010 on June 5, 2014 at 7:46pm

That looks sweet thx for the idea.

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Permalink Reply by Steve Hope on June 6, 2014 at 4:44pm

That material is also called "hardware cloth" We use it in louvers and exterior duct penetrations as bird screen. It is not very strong and will probably not stop a stone but I have never seen a stone hit and break a headlamp in over 30 years of driving. Ornamental effect and does look good. Only prob I see is when you try to wash those bugs off the lens!!

Steve.