Headliner replacement help

I need a little help/advice replacing my headliner on my 1996 extender cab Tacoma. I recently replaced the rear light above the bed and the light inside the cab accidentally ripping the plastic headliner. After doing research there isn’t many videos or forums or information in general on replacing the headliners on 1st gen Tacomas.

There is an incredible blog that I will attach below about the disassembly and removal of the panels and headliner and then placement of the sound deadening/foam on 1st gen Tacoma’s which is great and super helpful on the tear down/clean/placement of butyl rubber mats and insulation sound deadening foam.

https://adventuretaco.com/guide/sound-deadening-a-1st-gen-tacoma-mat-foam-installation/

What I’m looking for is replacing the plastic/vinyl headliner with one that isn’t ripped that doesn’t cost an arm and leg. I have replaced the fabric on a different vehicle's headliners in the past but that vehicle had a rigid molded board which was relatively easy to replace the fabric on. My Tacoma comes with a bow style headliner and doesn’t have the rigid molded board behind it.

It looks like my options are replacement of the headliner with a new one which is $300-500 which is the least appealing option due to cost but easiest?

I could get one used on eBay for $150-200 and gamble quality/rips/tears plus I would need most likely need to paint it to match the rest of the interior.

The option which I would prefer but looking for anyone with experience or expertise, is replacing the headliner with foam backed vinyl/fabric. For the fabric and glue it looks to be around $100. I would have to cut it myself to the shape then spray glue/roll it straight to the foam insulation that I installed. My concerns are the foam backed fabric/vinyl sticking to the insulation that I have installed and falling down over time without the help of a rigid board.

Does anyone have any experience replacing the headliner or advice for this project?

 

My suggestion might not be what you want to hear but it needs to be replaced with the correct liner. You might check with some salvage yards so you can see what you are buying.

An auto upholstery shop might have some ideas.

 

I appreciate the hard truth. Before I bite the bullet what is your reasoning behind it needing to be replaced with the correct liner? I live in a relatively small town and don’t have very many options for 1st gen tacomas in salvage yards that I haven’t picked apart over the past 2-3 years. Of the ones that I have found most if not all of them are in worse or similar condition to mine currently. I have spent many many many hours customizing this Tacoma to me and never plan on selling it but also don’t want slap a bandaid on it that I will regret later.

 

My reasoning is that anything worth fixing is worth fixing correctly. When you start trying to lean away from what was originally designed it usually doesn’t turn out very well. JMHO

I think you will be much happier with the end result if you replace it with OEM.

 

You might try TearMender glue. Its supposed to work on vinyl and available at Walmart

 

Lets see a pix of the dmg

I 2nd Topdog’s suggestion…apholstery shop

in fact, AS can customize the headliner to your needs/budget
Fairly inexpensive way…. They could overlay a fabric (your choice) over the existing cheap/thin vinyl HL
Hide the dmg AND you have a custom headliner

 

So I think after exploring my options I think I’m going to first try to “patch/repair” it with the kit from Permatex from autozone which looks like it uses some sort of material and burner tool to melt the vinyl back together. The tear on the light looks not as bad when I have the entire piece off. My plan is to paint it black with vinyl spray after to match the rest of the interior of my truck so I’m not to worried about perfection.

That being said I am completely missing the back piece of the vinyl from rear of the headliner that connects to the cab but might just find some way to cut and add a strip of fabric from the last bow to the back of the truck.

If that doesn’t work my plan B is that I am going to give it a go making my own replacement headliner. I found a great YouTube video that shows how to measure, cut and then sew together the fabric for a bow style headliner. The metal bows are in great shape and clips that hold in to the truck look like great condition. That being said hopefully the vinyl repair is good enough and I don’t need to do plan B