After installing my Stull Billet Grill I noticed that when reaching speeds of around 60+ I would get a whistling sound coming from the front end. This usually happened when driving into a wind or having a side wind. To fix the problem I cut up the removed OEM grill insert into sections and installed them inside (behind) the Stull grill using black cable straps (from Radio Shack). With the original grilll parts behind the Stull grill it breaks up the air flow and eliminates the whilstling sound. Just passing this along incase someone else is experiencing this problem with billet grills. Other readers have indicated they are not experiencing the whistling noise, but I did and didnot want to remove the billet grill because it really enhances the look of the truck.

 

I've never noticed the whistle on mine, no matter how hard I've listened for it You've got a great solution there!! They sell that expanded metal grill matierial at Autozone(mostly for ricers, lol!!) Someone could buy the larger sheet, paint it black, and install it behind the grill. Good idea for all those whistlers out there Of course there is the possibility that it could make it worse, but I think some guys would chance it to stop the racket.,,,,98

 

98Screamer:

Thanks for the info on the metal grill material carried by Auto Zone. I'm going to check it out. Sounds like that would also be a workable solution.

 

Torredor150
Can you give me more details on how you cut the OEM grill up. I just installed a Steelhorse and that thing whistles like hell.

I did think about using the mesh type material behind it but I do not want people to see billet and mesh grill both.

 

I've heard my stull grille wistle/whine a few times. It usually occures during high humidity or fog and very rarely. It does not occur but maybe 3 times a year, not enough for me to fix it.

The noise comes from the end fingers of the grille vibrating like a tuning fork. To stop the vibrating, just put a dab of black, silicone caulk from each billet end finger to the back of the front bezel. This will deaden the vibration and you will never see it from the front or side. A very simple $3 fix.

 

I came up with my own fix for all my billet grill problems. I got the SteelHorse grill and they give you 4 tiny POS screws to hold this thing in. On my first try I drilled the hole to far back and ran out of time so I had to wait until today to fix it. I'll give out all my tips in case someone else can find them useful.
What I did was to remove everything again and I tossed out the little screws and bought two 1/4 X 20 x 1inch bolts with washer and locknut for the top side and then two 1/4 x 20x 2 1/2 bolts with washer and locknuts for bottom side. I then remarked my holes and drilled new larger holes for the bolts. Works much better, looks better, easier to install, and sturdy as hell.
I also had a crack in the shell above the dirver side headlight and fixed this in about 20 minutes by sanding it down including both edges of the crack. Taped it flush on the front side with masking tape. I then used some 15 minute plastic epoxy and a small sliver of plastic to aid as a brace and give the epoxy some thing to hold around. While it may not look pretty from the back no on will ever see that. Front is not to bad and can be fixed even better with a little glazing putty, primer and paint.
Then on the filler panel between the shell and bumper the paint was all cracked and flaking off so I masked off the lower half of the shell. Sanded the filler panel down, wiped it off with paint thinner and let it dry. I then went back and hit it with two coats of primer, 3 coats of color matched paint, and then 2 coats of clear.
Listen up here cause some of you will like this. Before I put the grill shell back on I lined the entire inside edge of the grill opening with about a 1/2 wide strip of foam camper mounting tape. I also put a 1 inch wide strip down the left and right sides of the opening just for good measure. To be double sure I cured the whistle I cut little rectangles out of the foam (about 16 on each side) and put it on each end of the billet grill and then ran a strip down each side. So far I think it has tottally cured my whislte and best thing is it is 100% unnoticable.
I didn't get to far on the bumper grill. I do know the supplied brackets Steelhorse gices you are about 1 inch to short. I was able to find a piece of scrap around here and make new brakets for mine with 3 adjustable positions. I 'll let you all know if I come up with anything else.

 

KYFordFreak

Sorry I didn't get back to you until now but it looks like you found a good fix anyway. And in fact it sounds better than my fix. But just for you info, I cut out the inside of the egg crate inner grill and then cut that up into three like sized parts. Then using black plastic cable ties I connected the cut up parts to the vertical rods in the stull grill. Because the inner grill and cable ties are black they are barely noticable when looking at the grill. But like I said, your fix sound pretty darn good.

 

Well, for my update I was wrong about one thing. It's not 100% unnoticable. My friend who helped me with the first try to install, did notcie it. He had to be about 6 inches from it and stand completly to one side to basically look behind one side but you can see a little of the foam tape.
Also, I wan't for sure if the foam would stop all the whistle at all speeds or not. To my amazement it stopped about 98% of it. What I am hearing now could actually be something else whistling that I just never noticed. What ever it is it is so faint it can just barley be heard... hell I may be just imagining it too, LOL.
Now it looks like I got some unused space in there, ummm scratching my head thinking about some offroad lights?

Torredor150
Thanks for getting back with me anyways. I saved the old grill just incase the foam tape didn't work or if the effectiveness doesn't last. Right now the tape works fine and I will stick with that. I logic on this is that the air going over the billet grill vibarates the bars at just the right frequency. To stop the noise you need to disrupt the air flow (your way) dampen (sound proof my way) the bars. I say what works... works.