Bugflector or Bugflector 2

Looking forward to pics and your impressions. I want one but don't want to wreck the seal or the hood.

 

there are 2 little adjustable bumps on the front radiator mount (by each headlight) that adjust the height the hood sits at. You can thread those up or down if you’d like to adjust the hood gap. I’d think it probably has enough adjustment for the deflectors thickness but I am not sure.

 

Yes, there adjustable bumpers but you wouldn’t want to misalign the hood with the front quarter panels. They are even and smooth all the way down with each other now. And wouldn’t want to have too much pressure on the hood latch if you raise the bumpers too much. If you have to pull harder on the hood latch to release the hood then something is wrong. But I’ll find out this weekend. If it doesn’t seem right to me then I’ll toss it in the trash and move on.

 

Not sure if this is gonna show the gap or not but it’s a tight fit .

 

Thanks for the pic, it does look like it fits well and won’t damage or disfigure the rubber seal.

 

No pressure but I'm anxiously waiting for your install. "Thumbs up" and I order one. "Thumbs down" and I don't.

 

Well, I put it on and was not satisfied with the fit. It rides on and presses down on the headlights. I did raise the bumpers a bit but the hood pops open hard when released. It’s not for me, others may have better success. There’s only one way to install it so adjustments to the deflector don’t exist. I took it off, a $75 piece of plastic vs a $44,000 truck. It’s a no brainer for me. I’ll cut it in half so it will fit in the trash bin and not give it another thought. But I have added 2 accessories that I like. Weathertech floors mats that fit like they were poured in the truck and an OEM Toyota dealer bedstep. The bedstep was pricey but worth every penny. You do what you want, not trying to tell you what to do just relating my experience.

 

Thanks for taking one for the team. On occasion I work near their factory store so enjoy supporting an American business (while saving on shipping). I was really hoping to install this to cut down on bugs on the windshield but I can live with them.

I installed their updated floor lines and they are great, much better than the original floor liners.

Thanks again for the update. I'm going to pass on this.

 

There maybe other brands of deflectors that might fit better. I’m not gonna worry about it. Living in this broken woke-ass country right now is trying enough. I haven’t trashed the one I bought yet. If someone wants to drive to Quitman Ar to come get it they are welcome to have it, lol. I’ll give it a week then trash it, lol.

 

The AVS one I bought did the same, it sat on the headlights even after adjusting the hood bumpers. So I marked the rub spots and took it off then shaved the plastic off the rub areas with a fresh razor knife.

That worked! And the areas I shaved off are on the bottom so you can't tell I did it.


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On the fence, mind posting a pic of how much gets ground down?

 

I thought of doing that but declined. I’m glad it worked for ya. The fit of the factory hood is very tight and, I guess you could say, precise. I notice Toyota doesn’t offer an OEM bug shield cause I did look. I put a GMC dealer OEM shield on my Yukon and it fit like a glove, like it was made for it, which it was. The only other thing I’m gonna do soon is put that plastic film over the instrument panel cover, which is s scratched all to hell only after one year. If you breath on that plastic panel it will scratch, it’s cheap plastic, ugh !!!

 

I will post some tonight.


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Cloudy today so these really didn't turn out very good. In between the red lines I added the bug deflector makes a sharp turn where it curves around the hood. The radius is pretty big and the plastic is thick so you can shave off quite a bit to make clearance. Mine was just hitting the headlights on the very corners of the piece so that is where I carved it off.
If you use sandpaper or a file you will probably discolor the plastic which will look like crap on the dark tint, but with a razor blade you can't even see where I cut it.

 

Weathertech offered to have me return the deflector after they asked for a review from me. Didn’t want to hassle with that. I’ll hang on to it and not trash it for awhile and maybe I’ll see someone in a Tacoma at the gas station or around somewhere and I’ll offer it to them for free.

 

I have two of them here. First one didn't fit, so they sent me another telling me to just keep the first one. Second one didn't fit either.

 

hmm . . . gonna have to take another look at my AVS. if it was hitting the headlights, it was just barely . . . but i'll have to double-check. i've got the "hoodflector". also, wasn't sure how to adjust the damn hood bumpers, or where they were actually.

 

Well, at least Weathertech tried to make it right and sent you another one and they did make an offer to me to return mine. That tells me they are good folks to deal with. So I’ll do business with them in the future. It is my belief that that the fitment and design of theTacoma hood, there is not much room for a bug deflector. It is what it is.

 

Just be careful as leaves get caught in there and can rough up the clear coat underneath a bit. Not to mention, you may get paint fade around the area.

Not knocking them, but in 6 years of driving my Taco without one, I've had no rock damage or scratches on the hood.

 

I used to work really close to their headquarters so I've been using their floor liners on all my vehicles since they came out. I've chatted with SO many people there I got to know a couple pretty well. From a support standpoint they really are top notch. If you buy a set of window guards and one blows off, they'll send you another set for free. If it happens again a couple years later, they'll probably send you another set free. Hell, when you visit the customer store, they have a bar there with 2 or 3 baristas - the food and the drinks are free. You don't even have to purchase anything to take advantage. I usually get a lemonade while I wait for them to grab my stuff. I used to avoid it but they kept pushing me to get free food and drinks.

But seriously, great company. I'm glad to hear they offered to make it right for you.