Limited Door Handle Covers?

One of the reasons I got the Limited (in 2016) was because it was the only trim to offer leather. I can't stand cloth seats anymore since I first got leather on my last car. Not sure if the PRO was even out yet at the time. But the only other trim was the PRO with leather... That and I wanted the premium audio system as I didn't want to deal with aftermarket stuff.

 

Adding leather is much more expensive than just replacing or plasti dipping some pieces. Also, why get the OR or Sport? Just to take off the factory suspension and tires? Or the fake skewp? Factory suspension takeoffs are like 70% of all the for sale threads.

 

I went Limited for the brown interior over the black leather offered in the sport. In 2017 in Canada we could get the Limited in the long bed which is what I needed. Ive switched everything over to black or colour matched same as jayrobot, just haven’t done the door handles yet. In Canada the sport you can’t even get JBL either.

 

That is how I did it. I bought a roll of 3M 1080 M12 MATTE BLACK 5ft x 1ft (5 Sq/ft) Car Wrap Vinyl Film. It matches the pillar vinyl. Then exactly like you said: cut a bigger piece, heat it, trim away the edges, and heat it again for good measure. The key hole took two attempts, the second attempt by just removing that piece of trim. I poked a hole in the center of the slot and then applied heat till it wrapped. I surprisingly didn't have any issues with that piece over the winter (nor any of the other pieces for that matter).

I did enough prying to find that the chrome piece is actually just held on by foam tape (similar to what holds on the badges). I assume one could heat that enough to remove the chrome portion in order to apply the vinyl and then simply stick that piece back on using additional adhesive tape.

Free handing cuts around paint was nerve racking and why I ended up with a couple of small imperfections that ultimately led to its removal. If I try again, I will remove the chrome pieces before applying the vinyl.

 

Being lazy. I bought the covers way back but they are still sitting in the box right now...

 

What covers did you go with? Get them installed so we can check them out!

 

https://www.carid.com/ses-trims/door-handle-covers.html?year_id=116415#product-options
I went with those. WHen they arrived, I took them out and looked at them- they are a perfect fit and look good. I tested the keyless stuff and it worked as well. I will try to do it soon lol

 

So they just stick on from the outside? Do you have plans to vinyl wrap them, plastidip them first, or just going to slap them on? My only point of contention is that the 3M adhesive will crumble over time, and this also adds a layers of thickness to our already bulky handles...nonetheless, for someone who doesn't want to mess with the OEM handles or remove them to work on them, this would be a great solution. I'm looking for longevity which is why I am still leaning on coughing up the $$$ to replace them all with body colored and do the passenger side door touch-touch-to-enter smart handle mod discussed on this forum as of last week. Thanks for the info.

 

I’m going to a local wrap place to see if they can colour match. Those only come in chrome or black which would either need to be painted or wrapped so not really getting ahead

 

1st derp attempt...not a great job...removed the next day.

As @OKC was saying, there is two sided adhesive under the chrome, but there also appears to be a heat stake. I put a slight amount of bend in mine figuring that part out. If I try it again, I may just cut that off and use some

$6 3M VHB 100x200mm~ (4" X8") Double Sided Foam Adhesive Sheet Tape 5952 Automotive Mounting Industrial Grade Very High Bond 5952 (1 Sheets 100x200mm)

3M VHB.

Of course, it'll be on the Silver Sky one I pick up in two days...
Totaled the white one a month ago...

 

eeeh. that's not good.... glad you are OK.

thanks for the pic. looks pretty good. white would be better IMO. might try derping that with gloss - afraid it may look like it doesn't match.

or just try the black vinyl route on this.... i have some left over from an old project... can't hurt.

 

@tomgru
Thanks Brother.
Physically not hurt, but I had spent the previous 5 weeks doing all my mods at once, and had just got it to the point where I was happy...at least until @mesojdm releases more bomb add-ons.
That hurt the most. But it's all good, 95% of the stuff I did will now be going on the Silver one...

 

@tomgru
As far as it matching, do you mean the vinyl between the doors ?
I'm picky as shit and it looked good to me. Straight black derp...no glossifier.

 

Only meant matching if i try to do white instead of black. I'm as picky as you

 

I ended up giving this a try, not bad for my first ever attempt at vinyl and so far it’s been standing up to the constant salt this winter and me constantly washing salt off.

 

Today I learned that chrome is the kryptonite of Tacoma enthusiasts.

 

For me it’s just the exterior, interior chrome doesn’t bother me at all.

 

Where can you buy those parts for that price?

 

These look great man, can you share what derp you used and how you prepared them I am looking into doing this.

Swapped Limited fog light bezels with all blacks
Swapped mirror covers with OEM quicksands
Limited wheels gone now have fuel beast in dark tint
Only chrome left are the door handles

 

I derped mine... about 8 coats of white, then 2 of glossifier. was pretty cold here when I did it.... and I think i'd do a better tape job next time, as it was tricky peeling off. I'd give it a B+ . Looks good enough... I may try it again in the summer.