2018 TRD PRO Grille w/ TSS-P Radar Info/DIY

Hey man, not sure unfortunately. I also purchased the Garnish, but haven't had a chance to pull it back apart and swap the two. Did you figure this out?

 

They are not lock washers (the picture is mis-labeled) . They are called Starlock Fasteners. Not trying to be a Richard because I hate when people squabble over semantics, but in this case there is a difference if you try to source them and end up with the wrong parts. You can try to remove them with a screw driver by bending back the tabs, but it isn't easy and you can break a small screw driver doing so.

If you have the OEM grille there is nothing to worry about because they don't have the filler. Only the Chinese knockoffs have the filler because they are 16-18 compatible. If you do have the filler on the Chinese version, it is easier to just break the studs because you are not going to use that filler. Unless of course you sell it to a guy with a 16-17 that wants to but the 18 OEM grille.

Toyota sells the starlock fasteners. Not sure if they stock them, but my local dealer wanted $1.99 a piece for them and that ended my conversation. I found them at Ace for .28 each. Keep in mind that starlock fasteners are not the same as star washers that have teeth on inside.

 

These are the star washers:

$8 90183-06044 Lexus Genuine Factory 2 EMBLEM NUTS 90183-06044

90183-06044

Cover Nut

$0.90

 

Did you have to use the additional wire harness or will the stock one suffice?

 

The picture calls them lock washers. I bought some spares from Camelback who called them clips so I got the correct item regardless of what you call them. With having spares on hand I will just bend up the tabs to remove the old ones. The man that I spoke to at Camelback said that I don't need a longer wiring harness. Yesterday FedEx delivered the garnish and "clips" from Camelback but I'll probably wait until the snowstorm or the weekend to install my Pro grille. To tell the truth the 2018 grille isn't all that bad so I'm not very motivated on this project.

 

This is a great write up, Thank you! I installed my TRD Pro grill last night on my 2018 TRD Sport 4X4. I used a Toyota OEM Grill and center garnish piece. The center garnish piece is not clear, it is just smooth to not interact with the radar and mainly offers protection for the radar equipment. I followed the above instructions and it was an easy switch. The main additional consideration...
1) If using the 2018 grill and center garnish piece, make sure to get the lock washers from the dealer, these are difficult to remove from existing grill, I ended up getting some similar ones from ACE hardware.
Runs with no errors and everything seems to be in good working order on my test drive!

 

So do the 2018 Taco Pros come from the factory with that garnish piece on the grill?
My dealership installed a 2018 Pro grill on my 2108 OR without a garnish, and said they
calibrated sensor. In the first few hundred miles, I got a warning between the gauges saying
"PCS not operational, clean sensor" but (knock on wood) haven't seen that since.

 

What did they put in place of the garnish? The 2018 oem grille has a hole where the sensor sits, that needs to be covered by the garnish

 

The "garnish" is nothing more than a piece of plastic that covers the sensor and fills in the grille. I assume there must be more to it but with the stock 18 grille the halo logo serves as the garnish and the sensor is mounted behind it. One the Pro grille there is an opening in the grille that you have to separately buy the garnish to fill in the hole. If you have an opening with no garnish and you can see the mounted sensor, it probably looks silly. It should look like the picture above. The garnish is she shiny piece below the "TOYOTA" in the grille and above the license plate.

 

I have the avid bumper guard
What is everyone’s thoughts on the pro grill having any conflicts with the look down angle of the cross bar in this bumper guard.

 

I'm not sure if anyone posted photos of the garnish itself so here's a couple in case they didn't.
I saw a 2018 TRD at my dealer's with the Pro grille and didn't even notice the garnish. Even though it's shiny and smooth it does a good job of blending in with the Pro grille.
That's just a reflection on the bottom front of the garnish.

 

I have 2017 OR and was gonna order a 2018 TRD Pro Grille since it is significantly cheaper than 2017. Do I have to order the garnish piece ( to fill the hole) or does the grille come with a removable insert for the garnish piece? Thanks in advance.

 

I just read Sungod's previous post. Got it. I guess I'll have a 2017 OR with a shiny garnish piece that I don't need. It doesn't seem to be that obvious or different than the old grilles. Any thoughts?

 

The grille has an open hole. You have 4 options.
1) drive around with large hole in grille
2) find someone that will give/sell you the insert.
3) buy a garnish

 

Um, that’s 3 options!

 

Option 4) don’t buy the grille

 

If you buy an 18 Pro Grille it will have an open hole and you will need to buy a Garnish piece separate, a 17 Pro Grille comes with a solid plastic Garnish already in the hole.

 

The 18 Pro grill will not come with a garnish. You could buy a 18 garnish but you can't buy a 17 Pro garnish. The 17 garnish only comes with the entire grill. You could find one from someone who has a 18 Tacoma and has put on the Chinese Pro grill. They will have the garnish left over when the put the 18 garnish on.

 

Thanks for the info. It looks like my decision is to either buy a 2017 Pro grille for around $380 or buy the 2018 Pro grille with shiny garnish for roughly $225. Hmm. Or take a chance on a $150 Chinese grille. Hmmm..or as DR holy taco stated...don't buy at all.

 

Did you need a longer wire harness or did the stock harness work fine?