2018 Tacoma Grill Mods... Radar?

Just bought a new 2018 TRD Sport. The safety sense / radar detection is now standard on the 2018. Wondering if anyone has heard of a company offering grill mods that will still allow the new radar system to be encorporated and functional? I was told removing it will void warranty so trying to preserve it if I have to. Unfortunate thing is that the radar is built into the big ass Toyota logo...

 

Just install a pro grille and call it done

 

I have a 18 TRD OR and I want to install a wire mesh grill something like pictured and this is the email I just got this morning about the TSS......
"According to the manufacturer, since the sensor is installed on the back of the grille and the APG® GR20CFC58K - 1-Pc Black 2.5mm Wire Mesh Main Grille is a full replacement, you would need to remove everything that is behind the grilled while installing the grille. However, there is no place for the sensor to be attached to the grille, thus, they advised you to not buy this part, for it will most likely not work with the TSS sensor, unfortunately.
We appreciate your patience and understanding."
sucks because I dont want a pro grill or the one on the truck and cant seem to have what I want.

 

I don't know of any 3rd-party grills that will work with the TSS. Toyota is apparently now requiring a VIN number when you order Pro grills, so that might be out too. Have you looked at the OEM SR grill? No chrome, if that's what you're looking for.

 

Modifying your truck cannot void the whole vehicle warranty, read the Magnusson(spelling) Moss act. Basically states if u modify something and it causes a failure then they can not honor the warranty on that part, not whole vehicle. Example if u lift it and start having drive line issues caused by the lift then they are not required to honor warranty on the drive line. But if the motor blows up its still covered since the lift didn't cause the issue. But I'm pretty sure if you just remove that radar part there's gonna be lights and warnings on dash and since it will stop vehicle who knows what defaults they have for a failed radar sensor, I would assume nothing but could be applying brake constantly, I dont think removing it will be an option for a while, until some hacks it somehow.

 

That sucks, I'm glad I got a 2017, because I definitely plan on changing out the grill. How long until some 3rd party grills come out that support the new TSS though? How hard can it be to mount the sensors in the same place?

 

Just a matter of time, law of supply and demand, if there is enough demand someone will supply it.

 

It's not a matter of design, it's a matter of liability. Just placing the sensors back where they were might not be enough. Woe be to any company who guarantees TSS compatibility and is proven wrong.

 

Does it mount to the grill or another point attached to the core support or something? I haven't seen behind the grill on the 18's, I know from reading on here the pro has it below the Toyota letters but didn't know if it was actually attached to grill or if it had a bracket that held it up to the grill?

 

True, but it could come with no guarantees but actually work. People would still buy it.

 

well my plan was to put wire mesh grill on and bolt the toyota logo to it with sensors behind it right where they are now. pretty sure I could find a way to bolt in between the mesh. Im more concerned with the metal of the mesh interfering and nobody has come up with that answer yet. written to 3 sites and 3 manufacturers.

 

Yeah there's gotta be a way to make it work. I wonder how precise you have to be with the angle they are mounted at...

 

Oh, absolutely. I think it's just with how late the 2018s debuted that the aftermarket is still catching up. They just want to cover their bases first.

 

here is what the grill looks like now and the tss is behind that logo. if you put a pro grill on you actually drop it down and some are saying it has to be recalibrated so not sure. but if I put it back in the same place and use the same parts I would think it would work. just the metal may be a problem in my case.

 

Could you try putting a piece of metal mesh between your sensor and logo to see if TSS wigs out?

 

that was what I was going to try but there is no way to get anything in between without stripping it all apart and dont want to crash just to test. lol

 

Can the system be recalibrated by yourself without any special tools? If that's the case, aftermarket grills could just come with instructions on how to do that.

 

other threads are saying must be done at dealer. they have to set up all these things 20 feet away etc. no clue. some have said they didnt recalibrate but how would u know if the sensors are right? just cause bells and whistles arent going off doesnt mean it is set right for angle or distance.

 

You wouldn't know.

 

The radar cruise runs off of it so if it functioned correctly then you would know. Very risky and I wouldn't try it but could give you idea of whether or not it needs calibrated. Again very risky.