Some Jackass...

Fine?!

No.

I mean,it doesn't appear to be damaged from whatever hit it, but it's in desperate need to be replaced. @notrouble can you even see at night? lol

For replacements, get yourself some CAPA certified ones from Rock auto. 1/3 the price and indistinguishable from OEM.

EDIT, just read your last post, you already did that, lol.

 

I had a short discussion on the lighting thread about that. Good lighting for urban vehicle is very different than lighting for a vehicle that sees rural miles. I got street lights, I need something that fills in the foreground and reaches to the right curb a little (to avoid dumb ninja pedestrians.) I have had my first look at my CAPA replacement headlights. Nice sharp cutoff and pretty good overall. I'll know more tomorrow morning on my way to work when it is dark, over a garage door aim and comparison. I may now be lacking the flare that encourages people not to hang out in front of me when I want to fly down the left side of the freeway.

The old left headlight was ruined. The lower part of the outside mount was ripped off the reflector housing so that headlight shook when driving. I had to nudge the vertical support for the headlights on the body about 1/4 inch before installing the new left headlight. Since it was a fresh hit it wanted to go, a few taps with a dead blow rubber mallet and it moved over to match the other side.

OMG, a new factory silver grill looks SO cool. It comes with new clips IN the grill. Am I supposed to remove the old ones from the body and push the new grill in with the new clips in place as installed?

 

Even modern lights lack truly good lighting, IMO. My '17 4Runner is basically blind coming into sharp/slow corners. I feel like I need ditch lights just for coming into my driveway sometimes.

I have the CAPA certified lights I got from Rockauto on my '04 Tacoma, and they've been all around great. Cutoff is at least as good as stock OEM. I have a few posts in that headlight thread that show my before/after cutoff pattern (comparing to those refurbish kits). I think I put something on my build page about it, too.

 

Short answer - Yes. Long answer - If the clips are like the ones on my '98 (which I think they are), they have a center tab that has to be pushed up/down (or side to side, can't remember) to release. These things get brittle over time so they're easy to break off and especially when trying to remove the grille. You should be able to simply take out any old clip remnants from the front body panel and just gently pop the new grille/clips into place.

 

The 3M kits do a very nice job restoring lens clarity. I did that on my wife's 2007 Highlander and they looked new. Every few months I clean the lens and use Turtle Wax lens restorer to keep them clear.

 

This is an interesting read concerning 1st gen. headlights and a lot of experienced guys working on this stuff: https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/the-ultimate-headlight-upgrade-h4-not-led-or-hid.398066/

I installed the wiring harness upgrade to improve voltage drop to my stock lights and it made a big difference. I also replaced my old faded lights (23 years old) with OEMs and figured the 1st OEM set had worked long enough. The other advantage of installing the new harness is you can upgrade to higher output bulbs without worry about damaging any wiring or circuits...but just new headlights and the harness was enough improvement for me.

 

The old clips removed easily once the grill was popped out. All you have to do is turn them 90 degrees and they are in your hand. I'm going to give a hint on the 2 clips under the headlights. A screwdriver is nearly useless for them. Stick your finger back in there until you feel the 2 ends of each clip and then wiggle your finger in there to spread them. I didn't find that hint in any tutorial on grill removal.

Something interesting I noticed is the the original grill and the new replacement grill have slightly different clips. Both grills are genuine Toyota. The old clips look more secure to me. I was wondering if anyone else has noticed them or has an opinion on the change.

 

Please post some pics after it is installed. That looks pretty good. I'm not a huge fan of chrome.

 

Yes, I noticed that once I installed the new grill with the new clips it can move just a little, but it mostly wants to go to the inside and stay so I don't think it will be a problem. I mean, it's REAL Toyota parts all the way.

 

Some jackass undone!

 

Did you rattlecan it or did a shop do it? If the former? What did you use? Looks real good.

 

The grill parts are brand new from Toyota. The silver body color grill set are part numbers:
5310004250B0 Grill
8161004090B0 Right Marker
8162004090B0 Left Marker

The total cost for all 3 parts from Marysville Toyota was $348.71.

The headlights are CAPA approved aftermarket and cost $110. They perform a LOT better than the hazy OEM units I had!

 

Great job, looks good!

 

Now list it for $61,000 on eBay

 

How about I just list my base model 2004 with 66k miles for $16,000?

Even at that price I would be paid $100 per year of ownership!

NO! Not for sale even at that price right now -- it's too hard to get a good replacement vehicle.

 

That came out looking great!



Does anyone have a pic and/or part number of the clips that hold the headlight filler panel onto the lower fender tab?

 

I'm not exactly sure what you are talking about. The 4 main plastic clips that hold the filler panel in place are part of the grill.

Are you talking about the 5th clip and hooks over the edge of the fender and attaches with double back tape to the tab on the fender behind that filler panel? It doesn't hold the filler panel in place but sets its left/right position keeping it a nice tight distance from hitting the edge of the fender. I can't find that clip is separately listed, most likely part of a factory fender. I say that because while they come in blue and white (left and right) they are on the fender when the vehicle is painted. I had to double back tape one of mine back into place.

 

Ah that stinks. Yeah I bought my 01 last year and it didn't have either filler panel, also didn't have those little tabs. I asked the parts guy to look it up when I was at the dealer one day and he couldn't find them in the system. That makes sense now.