Would anyone be interested in replica TRD Faux grilles?

I used a video on youtube to install the grill. It was the same instructions, the only difference was that I ordered the letters, and I had to drill the holes for the letters to be mounted. They did not provide instructions, which created a bit of confusion when I wanted to mount the letters, but nothing any member couldn't figure out.

 

Everything seems pretty stable and solid. The letters feel solid and don't look like they will fall off anytime soon.

 

Na man, I definitely do not work for the guy. I live in Atwater, I think they're in San Fran? Im not even sure. I joined to get ideas for my truck, just haven't added anything to my truck worth showing until now. I did purchase a coin holder a while back for the square insert, but nothing else. Just wanted to show you guys how they looked. I was pretty surprised myself how quickly it arrived, but if you don't want to believe me, you can wait for another member to post.

 

The grill has the drill points already placed so you would just need to drill on those spots and then each letter would have matching pegs so you wouldnt be able to make a mistake where they should be going. They are then held by metal clips so they would not fall off which are also provided. Easiest DIY out there

 

If this is what other replica companies act like, I wouldn't be as critical about replicas like I usually am (though ethically to me its still wrong). But good on you for at least being mature and humble about why you're actually around instead of just trying to make a quick buck and actually understanding both sides.

 

Seems kind of silly to have two personalization tabs for one word.

Just give me the option for Tacoma letters.

 

I hear that's in the works

 

There's a reason for it

 

Just ordered my "faux" Pro-style grille...I'll post a pic or two once installed. I'm in SoCal, so I'm hoping it'll get here relatively fast.

 

Got mine in Saturday.
Went camping this weekend and was surprised it was here! So far, it looks good. Amazing level of quality and attention to detail just from a visual inspection. The color is darker and the finish is smoother than the Factory Pro grille.
I'll see how it fits over the next few days since I've got quite a few bugs to clean off from the 500+ miles drive to go camping with two black bears in Sequoia National Park that kept us awake two nights in a row.

 

Thanks for post GP,


Got any new pics?

 

I sure do, but I need to organize them on my phone. I will give an honest review about them, some may not be in your favor, but mostly favorable as I'm still impressed with the overall look and finish of it.
I'm in the auto manufacturing and design side, so I noticed many things about it compared to the OEM pro grille. We look at computer models and data all day long for refinement and approval before anything can go into production.
I'll update in this post to reduce the clutter in the thread.

 

What are you gonna do with the extra 9 grilles?

 

If you update an existing post, a lot of people miss it. Better to quote the previous post and expand on it.

 

Sure, however it works for the general population. I'm at work, so give me some time. Don't always sit at my desk. Will have to load pics from phone and update text.

 

Ok, some pics of side by side for now. I'll see how I can update the text later as doing it on my phone is a chore over the keyboard and mouse at times.
Here are some pics for comparison. There are fit and finish issues I would pass off as "improperly secured" by work standards, but most will be fine with it. After all, it is aftermarket and a good viable option as vankulture mentioned.

FYI, things may get "wordy" and my train of thought may end up being confusing as I update this through my lunch break. I'll be referring to the Vankulture grille as the "FauxPro".

First 3 pics, you notice the extra material and bracing/ gussets to stiffen up the OEM grille. This adds tooling cost sometimes and of course extra material. The OEM has the integration of the safety sense? unit for future application below the logo. The FauxPro is much simpler in construction, which contributes to it being noticeably lighter and less rigid, torsionally and laterally.




Next two, only small discernible differences in the thickness and radii/ fillets of the main part appearance, but no one would even know at a quick glance.



The manufacturing info for the two parts. Toyota OEM on top and the FauxPro on the bottom.



The following four pics were the key things that stood out as far as fit/ finish "issues", but overall still done well.

Notice the lack of the gap at the angled retention tab.


Same tab with gap at about ~1.8mm. This allows for some deflection and movement of the grille if pressed upon. It also allowed for some "rattling" and possible squeaking plastic once it wears and settles in with environmental grit without any pressure applied by the tab to secure it. Since this is an exterior item, it likely won't be a concern for me as there are other parts of my truck that already squeak when I lean on it (it's a truck, not a Lexus), but not enough to bother me personally. These are legitimate concern items brought up (by customers) in a real production car design environment over the long term, and can make the vehicle seem cheap if these little panel movement squeaks/ vibrations in dry plastic are heard when a person leans on it or has some sort of impact shock from closing doors or hood. (There were some threads that were related to this squeak or rattle produced by some owners who open and close their doors only to hear the rattling from the rear under fenderwell splash guards). I can see this happening when one drops the hood to close it. No additional abnormal wind noises were audible on the drive in this morning.

Both of these tabs are located on the outer extremities of the grille and only affected by two outer tabs below the horizontal bar. As silly/minute as it may seem, these things are accounted for from the back end of designing car parts. We have vendors make so many refinements to parts, that we end up with a stash of 20-30 at times where we only adjust small things to account for warpage/ distortion, finish durability, aerodynamics and how it affects radiator cooling, clipping points, sounds due to excess movement, etc...

I ended up gluing the two suspect tabs with some E6000 adhesive (basically a less aggressive "shoo goo" alternative) to reduce any movement and vibrations. Adhesive not show in pics.



The next two show the gaps between the inner grille surround and how the FauxPro grille interfaces with it. Toyota has seemingly resolved this appearance and probably even a noise issue with their additional surface and ribbing detail seen in the 3rd (underside) and 5th (outside) pics. I've caught a lot of bugs in the ribbing detail with my OEM Pro grille and will probably end up covering up this gap on the main surround side with something later if the debris ends up being difficult to clean out due to the depth.



Other than these "minor" things I've noticed due to my profession, I'm sure most will be more than happy with it at the price point. Seems like the person(s) who made the 3D data for this grille did well with replicating it and factored in all the important cosmetic details visible from the outside. The overall appearance quality and lack of major defects appearing from the molding process says it's a good buy! We'll see how it holds up in long term exposure to the elements.

I apologize for the dark grille detail in the last pic. @daohaus has posted pics of better detail installed found in the first post.

 

Would there be someone friendly to measure the opening of the logo.

I want to know how the Land Cruiser emblem will fit ?

Thanks!!

 

I believe it was 3" x 17.5".

 

Thanks for the awesome pics GP!

We really appreciate your feedback no matter if its good or bad. We wouldnt want anything less than an honest review and that's the only way we would be able to know where we're good at and where we're bad so we can work on them moving forward.