Debadge or blackout on black truck?

So my truck has a lot of badging on it, especially on the tailgate. I'm about to pull off most of it but I still want to leave the Tacomas on the sides and the one in the back. They're currently chrome but I'm thinking of blacking them out with a satin paint or plastidip. How would that look on a black truck? I can't seem to find any pictures of what I'm looking for. Debadging looks cool too but I don't want it completely debadged as I think it looks kind of plain that way.

 

The blackout looks good on the few black trucks I’ve seen it on. I’m planning to plastidip mine soon.

 

I've seen it done on a black truck two ways that I think looks good, either color the badges in a deep gun metal almost black gray that give a little contrast, or black chrome like the 3rd gen 4Runners had, or put vinyl wrap on only the face of the letters so the sides are still exposing their chrome which I think looks pretty neat.

Just my personal opinion.

But I also 100% debadged my truck short of removing the TRD Off-Road stickers from the bed sides.

 

I wonder how well paint will stick to the badges though. All of those creases and crevasses would make it tough to prep it properly I would think.

 

Yeah you want to use a adhesion promotor to do it properly and even still paint may flake off eventually, that's why most folks just derp them.

 

Do you need to prep them at all before dipping, other than making sure they are clean?

 

Not sure I tried dipping something once and it was an absolute disaster that took days of picking and peeling and sore fingers to clean off and I followed the instructions on the can to the T.

Swore never again, paint or vinyl for me.



Probably best practice to clean really good then remove any wax or cleaner reside with a wipe down with Isopropyl alcohol.

 

I plasti-dipped mine, just on the sides though.
My tailgate emblems were all jacked up so I just removed those completely.

Here's a wide shot, I couldn't find a close up so I'll go take one when the sun comes up, maybe an hour.



Better wide shot

 

I like that because it doesn't jump out like the chrome ones, but there is still something there to break it up a little bit.

 

Not a big fan of debadging, but to each their own. Personally, I'd also avoid plasti dip and just buy the emblem covers. They'll last much longer and adhere better.

 

Prep is pretty normal, a good wax and grease remover.
For plasti-dip you want to go for multiple light coats, not heavy ones.

Check this out, from Dip Your Car.

https://youtu.be/YfrgLsEMX2g

 

The covers are pretty nice. I already had a can of plasti-dip handy at the time though.

 

Rather than debadge or blackout, I just toned mine down. I painted badges gunmetal to match my wheels and replaced my decal with a stripped down dark grey decal:

 

I've done both, plasti dip on my 05 4runner and the blackout emblem covers on the taco, honestly, plasti dip lasted like 4 years +, I put on 4 coats, and you really don't need to tape off too crazy (just box out around the badge, peel the excess when dry the PD will perfectly tear at the break between the badge and the body). covers, super easy, no mess, and 55 bucks.

 

No issues at all for me after a year and a half. Although I recommend a high quality all-in-one primer+paint, which typically has better bonding capacity.

 

Well, you need a tank large enough to dip the whole truck in...

 

Here's a close up of mine, it's dirty, I know.



I've plasti-dipped many parts on a lot of vehicles and it has held up for years.
The only time I'd see chips or peeling was usually in the front, like the grille, from bugs or rocks.
You won't get a lot of that on the sides or tailgate so it'll last a long time, and touch ups are super easy if you need to.


EDIT: The bubble on the "m" is from moisture, I forgot about that. Make sure they're completely dry before you dip em' eh?

 

Vote for debadged

 

Found these. Designed for 2nd gen. Pricey but might be better than paint or derp.
https://www.amazon.com/PUOU-Overlay...962&quoq=black+tacoma+overlay+emblems&sr=8-15

 

Here is an example of Black Vinyl over the Chrome badging when I wasn't sure what I wanted to do with mine.


Ultimately I opted to just remove the badges on the door, but did however leave the "Toyota Tacoma" only on the tailgate in chrome. Ended up not being a fan of the vinyl overlay.


EDIT: I have been toying with the idea of toning down the bedside decals, probably go with a dark grey or matte black.