Front End Swap: 98-00 to a 95-97

Arctic Taco · May 8, 2020

FYI, using the old plastic headlight buckets worked relatively well. You end up having a lot of trimming to get to fit. I used a set of aftermarket adjustment screws (eBay- came from Thailand) and inserts. I suspect I will replace them with an OEM set - kinda cheap, but for short term should do. Longer adjustment screws would be nice,
I used a set of used headlight brackets and rings and two springs on the bottom- outer spring pulling down, inner pulling up. You remove the round knob bolts that the plastic headlight snaps onto, and some m6 x1.2? bolts threaded in from the backside , a screw mount made out of about 2-1/2” piece of plumber’s tap folded in half, a serrated locknut to secure it. (If you have better quality PT a single piece might do, just doubled it in case)

I was thinking about trying to mimic the Uber sharp paint job you did on yours-looks awesome! But by some odd quirk of fate- my replacement grill, silver/black and the corner lights all matched, it doesn’t look to bad. I need to get some of the plastic inserts that the out mounting screws would use to hold the corner lights into the fender, but it looks good with just zip ties right now. Plus the secret is to hide it behind an ARB bull bumper!

Loctite77 · May 8, 2020

Arctic Taco said: ↑

FYI, using the old plastic headlight buckets worked relatively well. You end up having a lot of trimming to get to fit. I used a set of aftermarket adjustment screws (eBay- came from Thailand) and inserts. I suspect I will replace them with an OEM set - kinda cheap, but for short term should do. Longer adjustment screws would be nice,
I used a set of used headlight brackets and rings and two springs on the bottom- outer spring pulling down, inner pulling up. You remove the round knob bolts that the plastic headlight snaps onto, and some m6 x1.2? bolts threaded in from the backside , a screw mount made out of about 2-1/2” piece of plumber’s tap folded in half, a serrated locknut to secure it. (If you have better quality PT a single piece might do, just doubled it in case)

I was thinking about trying to mimic the Uber sharp paint job you did on yours-looks awesome! But by some odd quirk of fate- my replacement grill, silver/black and the corner lights all matched, it doesn’t look to bad. I need to get some of the plastic inserts that the out mounting screws would use to hold the corner lights into the fender, but it looks good with just zip ties right now. Plus the secret is to hide it behind an ARB bull bumper!

Click to expand...

That looks good man! I’m working on this same headlight swap now, taking a slightly different route. I’ll post photos soon.

Arctic Taco · May 8, 2020

Thanks, I still need to aim the lights some but I think it works. Might be a bit out of level, but since the front frame horn (pass side) are a bit tweaked, it adds to the character...

Loctite77 · May 8, 2020

Here is my solution for 97 headlamps and grill on a 2000. 1/2” tubing with some nuts and generic headlight bolts. Haven’t mounted springs yet but any mid 80s GM spring should work.

97tacoma · Sep 21, 2020

Did you need a 96 hood or are the hoods the same?

Loctite77 · Sep 22, 2020

97tacoma said: ↑

Did you need a 96 hood or are the hoods the same?
Click to expand...

Hoods are the same.

Dalandser · Sep 22, 2020

Got a 98 black hood for sale if anyone is interested

yodataco23 · Sep 22, 2020

Dalandser said: ↑

Got a 98 black hood for sale if anyone is interested
Click to expand...

how much? I have a red 98 Tacoma with sunfaded paint. might look dumb with a black hood but could be interested

Dalandser · Sep 22, 2020

yodataco23 said: ↑

how much? I have a red 98 Tacoma with sunfaded paint. might look dumb with a black hood but could be interested
Click to expand...

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/miscellaneous-parts-downey-ca-local-sale-only.673785/

Madjik_Man · Nov 27, 2021

Tacoboy1 said: ↑

I’m doing the same swap on my 2000 Tacoma 2wd, do you need to get a new radiator support?
Click to expand...

If I were to do again I would. But drilling out the 98-00 support and welding in the 95-97 support perfectly comes with its own challenges.

For my swap we just ended up using the 98-00 support and adjusting the headlight holes accordingly to accept the 95-97 headlight mounting brackets and adjuster screws.

Dalandser · Dec 3, 2021

Tacoboy1 said: ↑

Do I absolutely 100 percent need those retaining rings in order to do it? I looked all over online and couldn’t find them, they were discontinued, even ordered them from Japan and said the order was cancelled because the part was hard to find, please let me know, I’ve already bought all the parts and half of them already arrived, can I still do the swap without that part?
Click to expand...

Just take them off of a junked vehicle

Madjik_Man · Dec 3, 2021

Tacoboy1 said: ↑

Do I absolutely 100 percent need those retaining rings in order to do it? I looked all over online and couldn’t find them, they were discontinued, even ordered them from Japan and said the order was cancelled because the part was hard to find, please let me know, I’ve already bought all the parts and half of them already arrived, can I still do the swap without that part?
Click to expand...

Honestly I do not know for sure. I know guys have done the swap far less involved than the one we did.

What it comes down to is if you can securely mount the headlight assemblies and adjust them.

But like Dalandser said above, there's always part outs. That's where I got my retainer rings and mounting brackets.

Madjik_Man · Dec 4, 2021

Tacoboy1 said: ↑

Dude I’m such an idiot, I think I already have it and the headlight mounting bracket and the sealed beam on the headlights I bought, the sucky thing is I bought 2 of the mounting brackets separately, should I return the ones I bought? The headlights already came with it I think

Is that the mounting bracket and the sealed beam already on it?

Click to expand...

yes those are the mounting brackets

Tacoboy1 · Dec 11, 2021

Madjik_Man[OP] initial post: ↑

Some of you may know about my abnormal boner for the 95-97 front end looks. After years in the making, Monte finally found his way to my garage and I decided to take advantage of him

So I gathered all the parts needed and we went to town. Here's the best I can do for a walkthrough.

Front End Swap

Putting a 95-97 4WD front end on a 98-00 4WD

Tools You May Want (besides the obvious):

Dremel with cut off wheels, grinding wheels, etc
Three square metal file
Ball peen hammer
Drill with bits

Parts Needed:

95-97 4WD grille (mine came with the mounting clips)
95-97 headlight assemblies
Bulbs of your choice
(R/L) 95-97 headlight mounting brackets (PN R: 81113-04010, L: 81153-89149)
(4) Adjustment screws for headlights (PN 81195-89101)
(2) 95-97 Retaining rings for headlights (PN 81111-04010)
(4) Tension springs for headlights (PN 81121-14670) (we used 4, you may use less or more?)
(8) screws to mount retaining rings to headlight mounting brackets (PN 81136-12571)
(R/L) 95-97 4WD Bumper fillers (PN R: 52512-35020, L: 52513-35020) - buy them from Rockauto, they're $3.50 ea.
(R/L) 95-97 4WD Corner lights (buy these aftermarket, they’re 1/3rd the price)
(4) 95-97 retaining clips for corner lights (PN 90189-04144)

First thing is first… master of the household has to let Monte know who’s boss

Step 1:

Remove 98-00 grille, bumper fillers and headlight assemblies. If your truck is anything like mine it requires snipping various zip ties and listening to the sound of brittle clips snapping. Removing the headlight assemblies is pretty straightforward, there is one hidden screw on the bottom. In order to remove the bumper fillers unfasten the one bolt holding it in. Then pull the bottom of the bumper filler down and towards you (as if you’re rotating it up along the horizontal axis). There is a pin that goes through a hold on the bottom of the filler and the top lip of filler is held in place by the clip behind it. By rotating it in the way described above you release the pin from the hole and the top lip will pop off the clip. Once the bumper filler is removed, remove the clips by rotating them out of the hole they’re nested in.

Once everything is removed your front end should look like this:

Step 2:

Loosen and lower the bumper/valence. This makes it a lot easier to keep mocking things up with the 95-97 grille.

Step 3:

Assemble the headlight assemblies. Put the lenses in the mounting brackets then secure down with the retaining rings and four screws.

Step 4:

After looking everything over (eg lining up the headlight assembly, mocking it up with the grille semi in place, etc) we decided to put the vertical adjustment screw in place as our guide to installing the headlight assemblies. On the 98-00 core support there is a square hole the exact size of the adjustment screws plastic retainer. However there is an inner skin that is in the way of the screw adjusting in. So you must drill out the inner skin then make it the same square dimension as the hole. First use the largest/appropriate drill bit. Then Monte used the three-square metal file to perfection and finished off the square hole.

Step 5:

Obviously the shape of the 95-97 headlight mounting brackets are different than the 98-00 headlight holes in the core support. This is where it requires a lot of fine tuning and measuring so that in the end the headlight assemblies will sit level and plumb. For the driver’s side headlight hole we first put the 95-97 headlight assembly in the hole and determined that the upper portion of the hole needed to be trimmed. See the markings below:

We ended up notching the edge of the hole then using a cutting wheel to remove the material

The sheet metal is so thin, that it was actually easier to eventually grab it with needle nose pliers and peel it back. When we did the passenger side second, all we did was notch the entire upper portion of the hole then peel it back with pliers and a little love from the ball peen hammer. Sorry for the shitty picture, you get the idea though

Step 6:

Making another square hole for the horizontal adjustment screw. Murphy’s Madjik’s Law naturally dictates that this hole needs to be placed in a part of the core support that has a curve to it. First thing to do is flatten the area where you will drill the hole. For this we put a piece of flat stock behind the core support where it needs to be flattened. Next we put the flat side of the ball peen hammer up against the outside of the core support and then lightly tapped it with another hammer until the metal was flat. Next step is to drill the hole then make it square (see step three). IMPORTANT: PUT SOMETHING BETWEEN THE CORE SUPPORT AND COOLANT OVERFLOW RESERVOIR BEFORE YOU START TO DRILL. This way you won’t put a hole in the overflow reservoir. Do the same for the passenger side so you don’t drill a hole in the washer fluid reservoir neck..... *AHEM* Monte

Step 7:

Mounting the tension springs. The purpose behind the springs is to hold your headlight assemblies in place yet still allow them to move (for adjustment’s sake). This step is going to be entirely custom to your swap due to the nature of how you trimmed the headlight holes in the core support and, if you chose to do so, the shape of that plastic piece off the 98-00 headlight housing. We found that we needed to mount three springs for the driver’s side: one in the upper right, lower right (not pictured) and lower left corners. We found the mounting spots by playing with the headlight assembly until it sat level and plumb.

Like I said, it’s custom all depending on how the hole was trimmed. For the passenger side we only needed one spring for it to sit perfectly.

I have no idea what the hell is in Monte’s ear canals but I’m scared

Step 8:

We needed to trim the upper corner of the grille to accommodate the uppermost spring.

Step 9:

Mount the grille and put the bumper/valence back into proper place (note the bumper/valence is still lowered in this pic)

Step 10:

Insert 95-97 bumper fillers.

Step 11:

Installing the 95-97 corner lights.

Insert the retaining clips into the holes in the core support.

Install the corner lights.

Step 12:

Insert bulbs (I coated the prongs with dielectric grease before nesting the wiring harness) and properly adjust your headlights.

Obviously do not touch the bulbs with bare fingers. I wore latex gloves the whole time even though the only part of the bulb I touched was the metal ring in the back.

Step 13:

Put the Toyota emblem back on using the two/three screws.

Things of note:

Throughout steps 4-8 we were constantly putting the grille up in place and holding the headlight assemblies in place as well while making adjustments. Never did we decide to mount, drill, etc anything until we were 100% sure it was the right spot.

The new headlight housings and bulbs make a huge difference in terms of light output compared to my original, and oxidized, 1998 lenses. However due to the size, shape and recessed nature of the 95-97 assemblies, there is a noticeable difference in beam pattern. All said and done though the difference in visibility is significantly better now. I’ll just have to get used to the slight difference in pattern.

Hope that helps.
Click to expand...

Is this the screw to take out the headlight assembles?

Madjik_Man · Dec 11, 2021

Tacoboy1 said: ↑

Is this the screw to take out the headlight assembles?

Click to expand...

Wow, maybe?

I can’t remember. I know on the 98-00 there was a large gray plastic mounting piece. I seem to remember just removing that whole thing and the headlights.

I didn’t watch this video but it seems like it would help you:

https://youtu.be/12UT7uGvIYM

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