Matte coating the 2018 TRD Pro Grill garnish

Has anybody tried spraying the garnish with a matte clear coat/finish so that it’s not such a shiny eyesore?

 

Be the guinea pig...

 

I’m afraid of the coating interrupting the radar signals from the sensor...

 

what about matte or "stealth" paint protection film like xpel?

 

I would do this before paint. My concern is that there maybe some metallic flake in paint that will disrupt the signal being sent/returned.

 

Totally agree, I want to do something as well, but I wasn’t sure what, the film doeS not leave residue behind

 

That is definitely a concern. The plastic cover on the non Pro grills is of a similar material. They would have calibrated the signal analyzer for that material and significantly altering its properties will effect that calibration but it is hard to say by how much.

I agree completely that it looks like ass.

 

I see posts with others just using a square piece of plastic behind the grill to cover up the holes to some success.

There’s got more variation in material with that process than just a piece of sticker over the garnish.

 

I just got both my trucks Xpel'd. It looks like any adhesive residue, if I do decide to remove it, can easily be removed with steam (and if stubborn, some adhesive remover).

 

Try Plastidip as a test. If it effects it, you can pull it off. Gives a flat look depending on how you apply it, let's you test it, and if you like it just leave it. I Plasti dipped my grill beginning of summer. 6k miles later, not a single issue with it at all. Still looks like day 1 when I did it.

 

I did the following to mine, however I don't have the sensor so I can't say if it would affect it or not. But this material is easy to take off and leaves no residue.

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/2018-trd-pro-grill-mod.536006/

I put the same material on the front of my stereo and instrument cluster.

 

I have the 2016-2017 grill and I purchased the garnish separately. Would you consider swapping your 2018 garnish piece with my 2016/2017 piece. I could use yours as the test piece and save my new one for backup of it doesn’t work out.

TIA

 

I’ve plasti-dipped mines and it has not affected the radar. I actually plastidipped my whole grill (minus the letters) to match. Makes it look so much better

 

Any pics of this?

 

I'll take some in a few

 

lurking

 

Diligently waiting

 

Sorry for the long wait, completely forgot until this morning. Excuse how dirty she is. I actually plastidipped the front valence as well to match the grill and insert.

 

Looks great

 

That looks way better! And it would hide my brush scratches