OEM Tailgate Lettering

If you’re considering the black “metal” Amazon letters for your tailgate beware this is what you’re in for after ~10,000kms and a couple years.
The black literally started washing off.
Clearly these are not powder coated, at least not well.
I didn’t exactly buy the cheapest ones either. They were the highest rated ones.


and here is ~6months later

 

I just got these delivered tonight. I’m planning on painting and clear coating with a matte 1k clear. Surprised they would fade like that, they look quality

 

If I could do it again I would just get the OEM ones and have them put them on so if it happened they can deal with it.

 

Stuck my chrome lettering on 10 months ago per instructions, no issues.

 

I bought the OEM ones at the time of purchase and installed them myself. Cleaned the tailgate with soap and water, used a little alcohol wipe to prep the surface and peeled back the adhesive on the letter and pressed it on firmly. It's so easy, anyone can do it. The OEM are of high quality and probably not much more than any other brand out there.

I considered the Tufskinz brand but they were about the same price as OEM so I figured why not just get OEM. Only reason really to get Tufskinz is if you have a color preference not offered by Toyota.

 

I found out from my local dealer that the OEM ones are plastic. That would explain why they don’t fade like the metal ones from Amazon. Obviously the Amazon ones are not powder coated.
OEM is the way to go here

 

anyone have the factory install instructions?

 

If I remember correctly its pretty much like TRDTaco4WD posted above then peal and stick.

 

I initially went with the black Amazon letters. After about a year they were faded out. So I spent a few hours removing them and went with OEM.

If you’re looking at tailgate letters, just get the OEM and save yourself the headache later on.

 

I washed the area with car wash soap and dried the area off with a microfiber towel . Then used alcohol and cleaned out the insert area , then it’s just peel and stick . Just make sure you have the letter lined up best as possible because it’s gonna stick really well and won’t be able to move them.

 

OEM

 

Clean truck. Stick letter into matching hole. If unclear, test fit letter to confirm it’s the right hole.