OEM Front Grill

I have a 2008 Silver SR5 TRD Sport, the front grill has broken in the black insert, would anyone know if I can remove the front grill and only replace the black insert so I dont have to get the outer part painted? I found a OEM factory clone that sounds like its a two piece design to make painting easier but am not sure, but its not clear and I would rather not spend $80 on something that may not work.
I will take pictures tomorrow to post if this is unclear.

 

The ‘05-‘11 grills have tabs that go through slots and are melted over. Some people have ground off the melted part and then remelted or glued the pieces back together. I would be really skeptical about if the aftermarket piece would match up with OEM.

 

If you go aftermarket, look for the CAPA certification. This will have the best chances of a good fit if not going factory.

 

If there is enough surface area left after the break, you can try using a screw,large washer and nut to secure it.

 

I recently swapped the grill surround and insert - put my color matched surround onto a honeycomb style insert from a 2011. I used a heat gun to melt the tabs. It was very time consuming and while it worked OK I did get impatient near the end and heated one area a little too much so it warped. In hindsight, not at all worth the trouble (hint, getting the two pieces separated isn't that tough but putting them back together is).

 

Here's what it looks like, I'll look into grills tonight, the OEM grill will cost me $280 from my dealer, thats not painted though, I may wait a month or so hoping I find a take off thats the correct color so I can just change the whole assembly out.

 

I bought this in October and while not OEM, the quality is 99% the same as OEM. Comes as one piece. The only thing that's different that I can tell is the black part is slightly lighter black than the OEM, but it's black.

They have another version that is all black and comes in two pieces. Like the guy above says, try and remove your OEM insert and if so you can use the new insert and melt the tabs.

 

You can get a brand new, color matched, 2011 style for that same price: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Toyota-Tac...rille-Genuine-OEM/274604605202?epid=656029038

There are quite a few used ones on ebay too. A saw some that were silver and a ton that are chrome - which IMO doesn't look as nice but at least then you're not trying to color match.

 

Yep, and here's a slightly cheaper one on ebay also. The '11 grill really is nicer looking.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-OEM-TO...14?fits=Year:2011|Model:Tacoma&epid=656029038

 

You could cut the center broken part out and put a mesh insert in, like this: https://www.customcargrills.com/proddetail.asp?prod=Toy-Taco-05-Mesh

I put one in mine when new—it was a different brand/source though.

~T

 

I think I'd worry more about polishing my headlight lenses first, then replace the grille.

 

I don't like the mesh look, I'm just gonna stay stock design.

 

Well someone ran a yield sign and I went through their car at 40MPH, needless to say I no longer only need only a front grill.