new emblem in grill

[sunruner19]

I decided to change the front emblem cause it looked like a mexican sombero.

I bought the Harrier emblem off of ebay which was made to fit a lexus and not a Tacoma. Therefore, some slight modification with a dremel was going to be needed to do this installation. Matching the Harrier emblem (smaller) up to the Toyota emblem, (larger) there is about an 1/8 difference between the two, other than that, exact same shape.
I removed the original emblem and then cut out the inside of the grill to about a 1/4 inch of the original emblem opening. Then I took the Toyota emblem and proceeded to cut that out also to the inside edge of the outer ring, removing the "sombero". This will serve as a frame around the Harrier emblem and give me the original mounting clips to hold it into the grill. I then glued the Harrier to the ring and installed it. Here is a pic of the final result. If you look carefully at the bottom pic, you will see the outer ring of the original emblem. total time was approximate 2 hours being the first time. It should take less than an hour to do if I had to do it again.

[IMG][/IMG]

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If your wondering what that black box is on the top of the license plate, obviously your not from the northeast. This is what we call an EZ-PASS used to pay tolls on the thruway, and also so that the cops can track you wherever you are. Sorta like a LoJack run by the state.

[SteelCity]

I like it! That looks pretty cool. How much did the emblem run you? Saw one on Ebay for $75 OBO.

[phantom]

Looks Great !!!!!

[sunruner19]

Originally Posted by SteelCity

I like it! That looks pretty cool. How much did the emblem run you? Saw one on Ebay for $75 OBO.

Same one as on ebay for $70.00 That was the best offer he would take. Arrived in 5 days, which isnt too bad. Shortly after this picture of the truck was taken, the truck suffered severe damage to the drivers side upper windshield pillar, hood, dr side fender, mirror and door. Huge chunks of ice fell on the truck from the roof of a building next to the truck within a minute of me exiting truck. We estimate the weight of one chunk at over 20lbs and definetly a killer if it landed on someones head. Owner of building denies any responsibility and claims act of nature. I guess its not politically correct to say act of god anymore.
I assume if my truck slid on ice and hit him, that would be an act of nature too ! I wonder if temporary insanity is an act of nature or an act of god

[SteelCity]

Wow - looks like about 30 pounds! Sorry to hear it happened. I suppose it would look suspicious if you "slide" into him right after that happened to your truck.

[phantom]

that is a real bummer , sorry


not trying to be a barracks lawyer, BUT seem s to me he is responsible for the safety of his building and property , and should have cleaned the roof earlier


if you trip on my sidewalk and i know about it there is not way of saying act of god, i am liable ?
with the amount of damage might be worthwhile talking to your insurance company or a land shark ( lawyer)

good luck

[sunruner19]

Bottom line is this.....In NYS, not sure if this is true anywhere else, the owner of the building is not responsible, according to the insurance companies. I posed this question to them after they told me this:

If I got hit by the ice, and either suffered a massive brain injury or even death, who would be responsible?? Ans: Its an act of nature....WOW!

To add further to this.....If my truck slid on ice and hit his building, I have to pay, my fault and not an act of nature.

Well its my act of nature to urinate on his property then, sue me.

[Don G]

Hey Sunruner I like the new emblem! !! I don't like the OEM one either! !! Also I don't much like the Ice on your Taco ---_-OUCH! ! !!!!

Don G

[SteelCity]

Originally Posted by sunruner19

Bottom line is this.....In NYS, not sure if this is true anywhere else, the owner of the building is not responsible, according to the insurance companies. I posed this question to them after they told me this:

If I got hit by the ice, and either suffered a massive brain injury or even death, who would be responsible?? Ans: Its an act of nature....WOW!

To add further to this.....If my truck slid on ice and hit his building, I have to pay, my fault and not an act of nature.

Well its my act of nature to urinate on his property then, sue me.

Interesting. Here in the south it's pretty clear cut as there's no snow. People just plow into each other outright.

[sunruner19]

I have to add this comment to the grill emblem installation that I did a few weeks ago. There is a slight curve to the Harrier emblem that the original toyota emblem does NOT have. You will have a slight gap on either side about the thickness of a pigs hair. One way to overcome this is to glue the harrier to the cutout toyota emblem one side at a time with a soft jaw clamp. Onces that sets, glue the other side. The cutout toyota emblem is flexible enough to fill this gap which when snapped into the grill, will hide any gaps. This mod is not for the timid and does require a dremel or similar tool to accomplish it. The harrier emblem costs $70.00 so take your time, patience is needed on this one.

While waiting 17 days for a geico insurance adjuster to show up, the truck once again got hit by ice, this time taking the roof out, and crushing the fender that was previously hit. To add insult to injury, when the adjuster finally did decide to show up, after one helluva threatening phone call by myself to geico, this moron tells me that the damage to the roof was from a previous hail storm! I was about to say something to this moron, but the bodyshop manager said it for me which I am forbidden to print it for fear of being banned forever from the forum. Needless to say, the truck will be fixed and sold. Whoever buys it will be shown pics of the damage so nothing can be said that I hid anything and they will know the history of the truck. I have my eyes on either a 08 trd access cab, or dare I say, the FJ cruiser offroad limited edition in artic white. Hey I am almost 62 now and a little spice in life wont hurt. I could do the unforgiveable and buy a chevy corvette!,

[phantom]

that's sad about the truck !

but since you are a member of the "graybeard's club" ( over62)
i would say go out and get the wheels you have always wanted !!!!!

but with your luck with snow i wonder if they could make kevlar body panels for it?

[surfsupl]

Wow! 20lbs of ice did that?...Seems like taco's are getting cheaper by the year!..Sorry for your misfortune!..I have worked in the rental business for residential and retail. That owner should own up to what happened. What if that hit you or someone elese?...I think the courts would agree. Look up your local laws on business responsibility. Looks like you live where ice is very common. I would think their would be some sort of law.

Good Luck!

[socalman22]

Not a fan of that emblem but hey its your truck, i like mine thats why i painted it black to match.

[sunruner19]

Originally Posted by surfsupl

Wow! 20lbs of ice did that?...Seems like taco's are getting cheaper by the year!..Sorry for your misfortune!..I have worked in the rental business for residential and retail. That owner should own up to what happened. What if that hit you or someone elese?...I think the courts would agree. Look up your local laws on business responsibility. Looks like you live where ice is very common. I would think their would be some sort of law.

Good Luck!

we estimated the ice chunk at about 20lbs. Falling from a roof three stories high or even just one story would do some serious damage to any truck. Hitting a human being at either height would cause serious injury if not death if it landed on a persons head. As far as who is responsible, you have to prove negligence by the owner of the building. The point in this case, as far as my truck goes, I had written permission to park in that driveway as stated in the lease agreement. A employee of the insurance agency that the owner purchased insurance through, stated that the owners insurance company is not liable as its considered a act of nature. The insurance company itself says if i can prove negligence, which i can thru photographs etc, then they will pay all damages. What this all means is that this person, employed by the insurance agency, was talking through her ass and made a false statement to myself and my own insurance company, thinking that I would accept it as truth and not go after the owners insurance company. I seriously believe she is related to george bush, lol! or at least voted for him.
Bottom line is this.....I was stupid to park there, knowing that when it warmed up, there was a strong possibility that it could happen.

On the bright side of all this, I purchased a house yesterday, and I am going to build a nice, warm, garage. And I will also stay away from Walmart parking lots too, lol.

[sunruner19]

Just got word that my Tacoma will be out of the body shop by friday of this week. However, I saw this FJ Cruiser at my Toyota dealer in sandstone and bought it. I decided to give my son the Tacoma for a birthday present. He has had a rough few years and I think this will really cheer him up. It keeps it in the family which is a good thing, so now he will have to take my place here in the forum also. He hates Fords with a passion, i might add, and loves Toyota's. All my kids own Toyota's including my gf. My ex never learned how to drive so until Toyota makes a pedal bike, she is out of luck. Here's a pic of a similar fj cruiser in sandstone that i purchased.

[Viper-2]

Damn! That emblem was some bad ass luck.

[robrjohnson]

Originally Posted by sunruner19

I decided to change the front emblem cause it looked like a mexican sombero.

I heard from a Toyota marketer who visited my business class in college that design was made from the letters in Toyota. If you look at it, you can make out each letter in the design.

[sunruner19]

Originally Posted by Viper-2

Damn! That emblem was some bad ass luck.

well, they say if a seagull craps on your car or truck, its good luck. However, the bird in question here, a Harrier or hawk as it looks to me, is a bird of prey, and whether it craps or attacks you, it very well is bad luck.

Now to prove whether this emblem is bad luck in general, or just my own bad luck, we will find out shortly as another member of this forum has installed it in his grill too. If something happens to his truck also, within two weeks of the installation as in my case, then I feel we shall have to post a warning, lol, not to install this bird of ill forboddings. I have two other emblems that I have yet to install on that truck, one is the hilux and the other is the vigo.

My tacoma comes out of the body shop at the end of the week with a new sport hood installed instead of the plain hood it replaces. Both hoods are the exact same price, but the sport hood scoop requires an insert which costs $118.00 extra. This price is what I paid for it since I worked for Toyota and still get my discount. I have no clue what retail is to the public.

I decided to give my son this truck with the condition he becomes a member here. I will still own the tacoma and just let him use it. If this emblem does indeed prove to be a bad luck charm, I will remove it and reinstall the stock emblem before giving it to him. He has suffered enough bad luck already and doesnt need any additional. I opted for the FJ cruiser in the new sancastle color. The dealership that i worked at didnt stock this one, but their sister dealership did so I went out there to pick it up and drove it back today.

[Buzz]

Originally Posted by sunruner19

While waiting 17 days for a geico insurance adjuster to show up...

I'd be looking for a new insurance company. I'd be an very unhappy customer unhappy if I had a damaged vehcile and the insurance company took 17 days to get around to looking at it.

[SteelCity]

Originally Posted by sunruner19

well, they say if a seagull craps on your car or truck, its good luck. However, the bird in question here, a Harrier or hawk as it looks to me, is a bird of prey, and whether it craps or attacks you, it very well is bad luck.

Now to prove whether this emblem is bad luck in general, or just my own bad luck, we will find out shortly as another member of this forum has installed it in his grill too. If something happens to his truck also, within two weeks of the installation as in my case, then I feel we shall have to post a warning, lol, not to install this bird of ill forboddings. I have two other emblems that I have yet to install on that truck, one is the hilux and the other is the vigo.

My tacoma comes out of the body shop at the end of the week with a new sport hood installed instead of the plain hood it replaces. Both hoods are the exact same price, but the sport hood scoop requires an insert which costs $118.00 extra. This price is what I paid for it since I worked for Toyota and still get my discount. I have no clue what retail is to the public.

I decided to give my son this truck with the condition he becomes a member here. I will still own the tacoma and just let him use it. If this emblem does indeed prove to be a bad luck charm, I will remove it and reinstall the stock emblem before giving it to him. He has suffered enough bad luck already and doesnt need any additional. I opted for the FJ cruiser in the new sancastle color. The dealership that i worked at didnt stock this one, but their sister dealership did so I went out there to pick it up and drove it back today.

I'm the other guy! I emailed sunruner numerous times (who I really appreciate for taking the time to help me out) and finally got the harrier on the truck. Well 2 days went by and it was a cold rain here today when I pulled into the garage. I got out and shut the truck door and the emblem fell onto the floor. I can't seem to make the dang bird stay on the truck so I'm going back to the Taco symbol. Oh well!