@2012 - 2015 Tacoma Faux Pro Grille.(CLOSED). Available On Website

So is this to color match paint existing surround or new color match surround

 

She didn't give me a pass to spend 200 on the grille!

 

Dealers sell color matched surround for around $200 to replace the chrome. Cleaner look like the trd pro and sport has.

 

Damn. This is wife's rig so maybe she will let me get it.

 

Yeah just tell her you did it for the children. LOL

 

Just got mine. Everything looks good but the outside screws are definitely too short.

 

We need to start a new thread for this.

 

Hi

 

Here's the unboxing and subsequent install... (for reference, the before and after photos are spaced exactly 30 minutes apart according to the EXIF data from the photos so the install was probably ~20 min, taking time to snap pictures)

Yup, it's a box.


First look inside


"TOYOTA" badge section comes bagged separately, neat.


Looks like there are some small imperfections on the paint of the letters on mine, not a huge deal -- but this might seem pretty indicative that the paint might not do well after some abuse from road debris. Whatevs it's a small area of paint and a Chinese knock-off, all things considered, expectations are met.

(bottom of the 'O')


(top right of 'A')


(some scratches on the bottom of the 'T')


You also get some screws for the TOYOTA section...


You'll probably find like me and several others that 4 of these should be longer and as a result do not really thread in...


Moving on...

I wonder if there's a light bar that might fit into that mid section in lieu of the TOYOTA letters...


Backside...


"Assembled"...


Screws on the back... the outer ones are the ones that should be longer. For me at least, the bottom ones wouldn't even thread at all and just popped out if I put even just a teensy amount of pressure to pull the letter logo assembly off there.




Installation

You'll need at least a 10mm socket driver, a flat head screwdriver, T20 torx driver, and you'll also find some needle nose pliers handy for the weather stripping.

Remove the top 10mm bolts and outer plastic fasters.


Nothing fancy for those fasteners, just stick a flat head in there and pop the middle up.


Here's what it should look like, then you can just pull the whole thing out.


Do yourself a favor and move the top part of the grille up and off of the area where the 10mm bolts fasten it for the rest of the removal.


It's really tough to see here, but if you look just underneath the headlight assembly where the headlight and grille meet, there's a clip you need to release. You can just push these out from behind the grille towards the front of the truck. There's one on each outer bottom corner of the grille, and a few in the middle.


Here it is off... take note of those bottom clips so you know where to push to get it off. Also note the T20 torx screws, take those out, there were like 12 of them?


There are two types of clips/tabs you're going to deal with. These are the easier ones.


These clips/tabs will probably be the biggest pain in your butt, but be patient and you shouldn't end up breaking any... Unless you're doing this in the cold, then you might break some brittle plastic. It was probably like 65F when I was out doing it and nothing broke, be careful.


I started with the bottom middle and worked my way around the edge.


Here's the trick I used on the stubborn tabs, just shove your flat head in there and gently pry the inner tab and outer tab apart. Note that only ONE side of the inner tab is actually doing anything so only bother with that side.


Don't forget to transfer the weather stripping over too. Here's where the pliers come into play. Again, be gentle and take your time. There's also some foam tape on the stock grille, but I'm just going to put some new foam tape on the new grille later instead of trying to reuse that old stuff. It's also worth noting here that two of the holes for the weather stripping in the new grille insert were just a tad bit too small for the stripping fasteners and as a result required a LOT of pressure to shove them in. These two holes are the ones where you need to access the fasteners from the FRONT of the grille, the giant gaping plastic area where the 10mm's go.


Here you can see the difference in the thickness of the plastic in the new faux grille... notice the gap in the "tooth" for tab and that it's not even touching the new inner plastic of the faux grille. This was not the case with the stock grille, but hey Chinese knock-off, thems the haps.


Before


After (yes, the new grille also caused my truck to teleport)

 

AMAZING.

 

Looks good!

 

Here's a quick before and after picture. May give you guys an idea of how much a color match surround makes a difference.

 

Looks great, did you do the hood wrap yourself or buy a precut?

 

Turned out great!

 

Thanks! Got it done at a local body shop. It's a "custom" wrap. AKA Expensive sticker.

 

You should paint your valence black.

 

Imo that makes it look cheap. Also grille gets lost in all the black .

You want to paint match or leave chrome.

 

Definitely a subjective thing, I can't stand the chrome, anything would be better to me.

 

I plan to color match the surround, but that's a later thing.

 

Got mine in AZ, looks great, no scratches on the letters. Thanks Caliraised, you guys are great to deal with!