Westin HDX Grille Guard

Rybickij · December 27, 2017

I just purchased a 2017 silverado 1500 LTZ Z71 and would like to install a grille guard because I tend to drive a bit at night in deer country. My question is has anyone installed a Westin HDX on a vehicle with front parking sensors? did you end up having to relocate the sensors and just the middle 2 or all 4? My search really only came up with guys going with ranch hand or doing a full bumper swap for even more protection. I really like the looks of the Westin HDX and I like that the push guards actually cover the whole front instead of just in front of the radiator. I also looked at the Louverne but the sensor relocator looks aweful. Thanks in advance.

AgDoctor · December 27, 2017

They look nice but they don't have a sensor relocation bracket, the tow hook pockets have to be trimmed, and the tow hooks cannot be re-used. Just sharing a little info with you.

I'm not a fan of grille guards myself, but I understand your need. These Ranchhand and similar guards look homemade to me, not to mention very heavy. I have heard of a few people hitting deer with them and the frame bending backwards still busting the front of the truck. My brother is a die hard Ranchhand can though and he has hit some deer with his with only minimal damage.

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Rybickij · December 27, 2017

AgDoctor, I appreciate your reply. It is my understanding that the Westin HDX does retain the tow hooks and they are accesable, though the pocket tabs will need to be trimmed to allow mounting bracket clearance. They also do have a sensor relocation bracket though it does move the middle sensors farther outboard on the vehicle and if the outboard sensors are affected they would be relocated a bit farther inboard. It defintly does not look as clean as the guards with built in parking sensor relocation rails such as the Frontier or the RanchHand, I just don't like that the push bars don't extend to the lower side of the bumper.

My family has had 1500's for as long as I can remember and they always install the brush guards and it has saved numerous radiators and prevented us from being stranded, sure you have to replace pieces of the guard and fix minor dings/dents/scratches on some of the body work but to me thats worth it vice being stranded. Unfortunatly, until I bought my truck the newest one is a 2014 with no parking sensors so I don't have any experience in that area. Which brings up my other issue of clean wire routing if I do have to add a relocator bracket, not a fan of the rubber grommit and routing the wires through it. I was hoping to plug those holes and paint the plugs to match the paint and re painting the sensors to match the brush guard. I was kind of hoping someone had some experience or tips of installing where I could avoid that hassle and leave the sensors as is and not have to disable them.

Penguin VII · December 30, 2017

I've been looking into front bumper/grille guards as well and was pretty set on a ranch hand as I read that grille guards can cause more harm than good. Seems as with everything there are multiple opinions on the topic. Interested to see what you find though.

Rybickij · December 30, 2017

Penguin, Yeah there's a lot of different opinions on the subject for sure. I've seen it go both ways depending on what was hit and at what speed. From my experience if you have a good quality guard your vehicle will be drive able with minor damage though the guard was a bit messed up. It seems like the people that have more issues either incorrectly installed there guards or they bought something cheap... unfortunetly you get what you pay for. I also talked to a couple shops locally that have installed the hdx on various 1500's with parking sensors... I've also got a mixed answer there. One shop said even after installing the relocation brackets they were still having issues with the sensors. Another shop said they didn't have to relocate at all though the sensors would pick up the guard if you turned your wheels which isn't that big of a deal. I'll keep you guys posted.

Penguin VII · December 31, 2017

For the longest time that was one of the things I wish I had. That said I hear about issues with modifications and parking sensors so often I am kind of glad I don't have them now.

Looking forward to what you hear.

AgDoctor · January 1, 2018

AgDoctor, I appreciate your reply. It is my understanding that the Westin HDX does retain the tow hooks and they are accesable, though the pocket tabs will need to be trimmed to allow mounting bracket clearance. They also do have a sensor relocation bracket though it does move the middle sensors farther outboard on the vehicle and if the outboard sensors are affected they would be relocated a bit farther inboard. It defintly does not look as clean as the guards with built in parking sensor relocation rails such as the Frontier or the RanchHand, I just don't like that the push bars don't extend to the lower side of the bumper.

My family has had 1500's for as long as I can remember and they always install the brush guards and it has saved numerous radiators and prevented us from being stranded, sure you have to replace pieces of the guard and fix minor dings/dents/scratches on some of the body work but to me thats worth it vice being stranded. Unfortunatly, until I bought my truck the newest one is a 2014 with no parking sensors so I don't have any experience in that area. Which brings up my other issue of clean wire routing if I do have to add a relocator bracket, not a fan of the rubber grommit and routing the wires through it. I was hoping to plug those holes and paint the plugs to match the paint and re painting the sensors to match the brush guard. I was kind of hoping someone had some experience or tips of installing where I could avoid that hassle and leave the sensors as is and not have to disable them.

I was looking at that guard and just restated what their website says about that application. I'd be interested if you get to keep the towhooks. That's a deal breaker for me. They look great if you haven't seen them in person. Their is a shop local to me that sells quite a few of them. If you like the Ranchhand, these look more refined IMO.

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Rybickij · January 1, 2018

1 hour ago, AgDoctor said:

I was looking at that guard and just restated what their website says about that application. I'd be interested if you get to keep the towhooks. That's a deal breaker for me. They look great if you haven't seen them in person. Their is a shop local to me that sells quite a few of them. If you like the Ranchhand, these look more refined IMO.

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AgDoctor, It seems like for the HDX it depends on your application for retaining tow hooks. For the '17 Silverado 1500 you are able to retain the tow hooks as per the notes and the installation instructions. I did however also look at the '17 Sierra and noticed that the notes do echo the sensor issue and trimming of tow hook pockets, but has the additional note of "Factory Tow Hooks Cannot Be Re-Used". I'm not really sure what the speciffic differences are in the front end of the Silverado vice Sierra that would make the use of the factory tow hooks on one usable and the other not. I guess if I do end up pulling the trigger on the HDS I'll have to keep that in mind and hope that they didn't just miss print on the Silverado.

Penguin, It was a feature I thought would be a nice addition to the truck for those tight areas without a spotter around town. Honestly if I would have realized how many potential issues the sensors still caused with modifications, I probably would have not gotten them. I figured that sensor technology has been around long enough now that most of those issues would have been resolved. For now I will look at it as a growing pain as I don't plan on doing anything too drastic as far as modifications go while the truck is new. However, down the road once it has been paid off and warranties expire, I might let my Jeep life cross over to the truck world and get a little crazy with the modifications.

MrWeller · October 3, 2019

On 12/31/2017 at 9:45 PM, Rybickij said:

AgDoctor, It seems like for the HDX it depends on your application for retaining tow hooks. For the '17 Silverado 1500 you are able to retain the tow hooks as per the notes and the installation instructions. I did however also look at the '17 Sierra and noticed that the notes do echo the sensor issue and trimming of tow hook pockets, but has the additional note of "Factory Tow Hooks Cannot Be Re-Used". I'm not really sure what the speciffic differences are in the front end of the Silverado vice Sierra that would make the use of the factory tow hooks on one usable and the other not. I guess if I do end up pulling the trigger on the HDS I'll have to keep that in mind and hope that they didn't just miss print on the Silverado.

Penguin, It was a feature I thought would be a nice addition to the truck for those tight areas without a spotter around town. Honestly if I would have realized how many potential issues the sensors still caused with modifications, I probably would have not gotten them. I figured that sensor technology has been around long enough now that most of those issues would have been resolved. For now I will look at it as a growing pain as I don't plan on doing anything too drastic as far as modifications go while the truck is new. However, down the road once it has been paid off and warranties expire, I might let my Jeep life cross over to the truck world and get a little crazy with the modifications.

Did you ever get your Westin HDX grille guard installed and the sensors relocated? I've had my grille guard on for several months but have been shutting off the parking sensors each time I drive it so far. I have one set of sensors here and another set that should be here tomorrow. I am wondering how well things went during the install and how well they work now... Thanks!