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Want to chrome dip the grille on my truck

Greetings,

My name is Jamil Knight and I am a college student in Tallahassee, Florida. I recently gotten into customizing and accessorizing my 2005 Ford F150. I've noticed many of the customized trucks around are fitted with horizontal billet grilles or inserts. Well, I came up with the notion of keeping my OEM grille but getting it chrome dipped. Now, I haven't seen it done before but that doesn't mean that it has not. I was wondering if the process is possible and/or are there any issues I should be concerned about such as clumping or a dull finish. Any tips or hints would be welcomed. Thanks.

Jamil Knight
Hobbyist/Customizer - Tallahassee, FL, USA
February 8, 2009

What I think you are asking about is chrome plating. Chrome dipping is a wished for process that seems to be an urban legend (as in the client who asks the plater "just take it in the back and dip it for me, I'll wait). Read the chrome plating FAQ's on this site.

Gene Packman
process supplier - Great Neck, New York
February 10, 2009

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I'm not sure whether I've posted this true story before, but it fits here, so I'll do it again.

I was working in a metal finishing shop which did mostly industrial work, but we did employ a couple employees to do custom work, mostly replating car and motorcycle parts.

One day a would-be customer walked into the shop and asked the foreman to "chrome dip" his old car part. The foreman spent considerable time explaining that "dipping" was not how chrome plating is done - that it took stripping, derusting, straightening and repairing, polishing and buffing, cleaning, pickling, and a dozen other steps.

The customer was adamant and kept insisting that his part be "dipped in chrome'. After about 20 minutes of this back and forth, the foreman, exasperated, took the part, put it on a hook, dipped it in the chrome tank, and handed it back to the man, dripping chromic acid.

Jeffrey Holmes, CEF
Spartanburg, South Carolina
February 12, 2009

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February 16, 2009

I was in the plating business for 15 years, and we had the same thing "Could You Please Dip This For Me"? Oh if only it were that easy. Gene & Jeffrey both have very good points. There is so much more to chrome plating something than just "dipping" it. There is a lot of prep work, buffing, polishing, cleaning, etc.etc.,etc. then finally the chrome plating. Most people do not realize the amount of work that goes into chrome plating, there is a lot of "Leg Work" that happens before the chrome. Good Luck with your project!


Best Regards,

Brian C. Gaylets
scranton sewer authority - Scranton, Pennsylvania, U.S.A.