Finally got a Tacoma! Question....

Well after searching for about a year I finally found a nice Tacoma. 2002 Double Cab Prerunner with 89000 original miles and immaculate condition on the inside.

Outside has normal wear that you would expect from a 13 year old truck like paint starting to fade a little on the roof and minor scratches, but....

The black rubber/paint/whatever that stuff is thats under the windows is peeling off, showing that ugly chrome underneath. It is very unsightly to me lol. I was wondering if anybody else had this problem and was there a easy (cheap) way to fix it. I thought about maybe sanding it off and painting it?

Not sure, any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

 

Pictures?

Or just sand, degrease, tape off, degrease again paint with rustoleum matte black, possibly some primer.

 

Yep no easy fix outside of dippin em. Or painting them. Even a light satin coat would work until you could replace those. They are the felt strips. About $30 a piece from online dealers for new ones. And no aftermarket available. There's also two strips on the inside of Windows as well. So for all four of needed will be about $100.

Edit: usually when that paint peels off, it usually means that the strips need replacing anyways. So if it's just the paint or whatever, then yeah I'd paint them. But I bet the strips are gonna be bad.

 

Pics

 

Since it is just that isolated piece at the bottom of the window I would use a razor blade and carefully finish the job of peeling the old stuff away. Sand the area lightly then degrease for painting. Use masking tape and newspaper/paper bags/printer paper to tape off that piece of trim and degrease again. Then spray with your choice of rattle can primer and matte black paint.

My guess would be that this isolated pice of trim started losing paint because of a combination of things - bad paint prep job to begin with, greasy arms hanging out the windows. Things like bug spray, sunscreen and even the oils from your skin contain acids that can eat paint if they are not cleaned away often enough. Maybe the previous owner had kids, and he/she took them to the beach a lot? That's some wild speculation but in that situation you could count on just repairing that piece and the rest of the trim paint around the windows looking good and not failing.

Do some research on how to paint cars to get a feel for what needs to be done and the supplies you'll need (if you don't know already). Probably all you need is some acetone and paint, but you may even have that laying around if you are like me. Just remember 90% of painting is in the prep work, so clean it up nice.

I think it would be way easier to paint it then take it apart and replace because they don't always go back together looking the same as they did before taken apart. As far as matching the color, some color fade is inevitable. If you can live with it the new paint will probably fade a bit too and match the older trim color nearby.

This all coming from someone who doesn't mind a little rust and dents on their truck because - "function over fashion".

 

I have the same issues but don't seem to bother me. Truck is not old it's classic lol

 

Cheap and easy. Q-tips and flat black modeling paint.

 

Lol, cover it in mud and it will be a lot less noticeable.

 

On Amazon you can get "trim tape" or "black out tape" trimbright i think is one brand name of the stuff...it works pretty well for that very same issue you got goin on, which is quite common by the way..https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/how-to-touch-up-paint-rear-window.368940/#post-10188389

 

I'm sure if you look hard enough, you'll be able to find replacements. Someone on here has got to have some extras...

 

Normal plastic/ rubberized coating peeling.
I got new ones from the dealer.
For the front doors, takes about 10 minutes to replace... not sure about the rear doors, I don't have any.

 

I personally would just take them off and paint them. They're easy to do.

 

I actually like the chrome underneath the chipping trim .

there are several threads in the 1st gen section addressing this issue. just gotta do a bit of searching.

 

Are those a one piece type deal and do they just pop out with a little upward tugging, or?

 

Thanks everybody for your suggestions.

I think I'm gonna try to repaint it, whenever I get a day off work! lol

 

Just go buy new OEM and replace them. They are about $30 each and you can replace all of them in about 30 minutes or less. A lot less hassle than painting.

 

For the forward doors in your case, remove the mirrors.

Start with the black trim pie shaped piece on the inside... pull it off slowly with your fingers. Remove the 3 - 10mm nuts while holding the mirror. Gently pull the mirror outward so you can unplug the electric connector.
The black trim piece can now be pulled up beginning at the front. Once it's started, gently pull forward as it sort of tucks into the rear trim piece.

You'll figure it out.