TRD grille replica not fitting

I Recently installed a replica TRD grille from Taco Vinyl and the top bezel on both sides seems to be pushed out and not lay flush with the rest of the bumper. I have installed it twice and cant figure out why it would be like this. If anyone has had this problem or knows how I could fix this it would be greatly appreciated.

 

I had that problem with mine. Mind you I got mine from eBay, but it's probably the same thing. I had to trim the black piece as it was preventing it from laying flush like yours.

The area I circled is the area I had to trim. I had to do the same on the other side. If you look carefully at the photo the green part is resting right on top of the black trim piece and I don't believe it's supposed to. Not sure if the OEM version does that. Anyway I hope that helps. If you do trim, be careful and cut less than you think because there's no undo button.

 

Sidenote, those GTR headlights looks awesome. Great looking rig too.

 

That would make sense, I'll try that out and see if it gets any better. Thank you!

 

Thanks man you should get some too, I love your build!

 

there are lots of different versions of the TRD pro style grill out there but i appreciate how the letters are held on by screws and am interested in the Taco Vinyl version. Did you end up painting the black bar piece?

 

Yea theres a lot of different options but i felt more comfortable buying one from a reputable company just incase something went wrong. I actually didn't know people were painting them until after i already installed it, so I guess I'll see how it ends up looking down the road after the Florida sun this summer.

 

on the plus side since the letters are technically removable, you can recoat the bar if it starts to weather in a bad way.

 

Thats true! I'm hoping I wont have to, but it is nice to know that I can later if i need to.

 

Had a coworker had the same issue with his '22 from Taco Vinyl. Kinda weird, mine fit perfectly on my 2016 so no TSS. I chose the TV cuz of the smooth look. I chose not to add any lettering. I also sprayed mine with satin black and smoothed with steel wool prior to install.

 

I will have to take a look at mine and see if it is hitting here too, I assumed is was their grille piece that is the problem, not the overlay that has the 'toyota' on it.

 

I'm having a similar problem, the edges of the wrap around body color part of the grille aren't quite sitting right...or I'm being too picky, but I feel like it was flush before. Mine doesn't have the same vertical gap, but it is sitting slightly forward...but then the body line lines up near the light...like perfectly, so I don't know what's happening. From straight on or above like how you'd normally be standing, it isn't nearly as noticeable. But I know it's there...and it's bugging me. Decided to leave it alone tonight and not risk getting frustrated and damaging something.

Did you fix yours?

My plan is to remove the upper piece, then detach their grille insert and re-install the upper piece with no grille in it and see if the ends are better than this or not, trying to isolate the problem. Then trim if that's what will fix it..or just order a TRD Pro grille and replace the one in the Taco kit. I'm pretty sure the part number is PZ327-35056 (found on these forums)

 

Well, took another picture more straight on, maybe mine is sitting slightly on the 'toyota' part. Tha'ts going to be fun to trim while installed. I'm not sure I want to try and pull it off and deal with the 3m tape...though, I've never tried to remove this stuff, I'm just assuming it's a massive pain.

 

I'll get pics for you all tomorrow, but I just looked at mine and the oem panel has a small gap on each side of the bar. I had wondered why they wouldn't have made it fit tighter and after seeing this thread, I'm wondering if that was the reason for it.

*edit for clarity

I was going to buy the pieces you are all talking about but found the oem ones used for a steal. When installing I noticed the black oem bar had gaps on either side of it that were kind of annoying me at first. Now I'm thinking this is why oem is like that.

 

Here's what gap I was referring to on the oem pieces look like. It's the same on both sides and you can't mess it up as it aligns with notches on the bumper. Sorry for the not super bright image, I quickly snapped it in the garage. I can get a better one if desired

 

Yeah, that gap now makes a lot more sense. seems like Taco Vinyl went the way of trying to make it as tight as possible as that's what people wanted, or thought they wanted. There's a reason they made a second install video trying to go over the common issues, the problem being that video is shot terribly...way to dark and way too often out of focus, it's almost useless.

The better instructions would be to put the tape onto the inside of the cap piece, but do not remove the backing. Then fit it to the truck and use blue tape to hold it in place as much as possible. Then do not install the upper grille into the upper trim piece, and rather just install the upper trim piece with the cap held in place, get a sense of the fit and what may need trimmed. Trim and then check again. Maybe this problem really is rare like they say in the video, but I have my doubts, at least on the newer models or since they changed their part to be even tighter. Plenty of folks with 2016's or so don't seem to have a problem, but 2020+ do...again not many data points. I just wish they would have done a better job with the instructions.

I'm going to slip a stir stick (tongue depressor or similar) under the edge of the cap par that needs trimmed and thin go at it with a multi-tool or Dremel if I can. Or Score it slowly with a razor blade an break off the piece that is holding me up. Try and slip some tape in there first to mark the edge of the upper trim piece's footprint so I hopefully don't trim too much....that's the plan at least.

 

Good luck! I know with mine, since it was used I had to remove the old tape and put new on and if you used as much as me I don't think taking it off is an option haha. I definitely understand why you'd try doing it on the vehicle. Go slow and I'm sure it will turn out great!

 

I decided to go slow and cut with an xacto knife and a utility knife with a fresh blade. Laid out my lines with tape and tried to score them very slowly, cutting only a little each time. it was tedious but i didn't trust myself with a power tool in there. I definitely got the plastic part of the trim a little but it gets all covered up. I originally installed yesterday, and by today...there was no getting that piece off, the 3M tape had set up very well. I couldn't even pry much on the edge without fear of breaking something.

I trimmed the raised area where all 4 of the clips go in, this helped with taking it in and out easier, just shorten them, don't cut them back, the back edge is what the clips rest against I think. Then I trimmed the edges, again slowly, and actually did some shaving with a wood chisel as well, very sharp and just went slow.

Of the 3 aftermarket trim pieces I've replaced so far, this was the worst hands down. Anyone who's install went smoothly, that's awesome and I'm glad it worked out, but I will have a very long think about ever ordering something from Taco Vinyl again...The color matched letters though, came out amazing and look great, so I'm really torn. If ever there was a 2.5star (out of 5) product...this is it. Great finish on the letters and the overall look, but beyond terrible on the install. Some pictures attached.

I think I'm happy enough with it now to leave it as is.

 

Nice job! Looks great

 

I've been working at this crap for so long and after hours of cutting i think i finally figured it out. I watched Taco Vinyls new install video where they said that the 1% of 4runners that dont have a perfect fit need to trim the upper and outer edges of the grill fitting. Ive trimmed it a lot thinking that eventually it would sit down correctly but to no avail. As you can see i got mad and started hacking at it with a razorblade so it looks horrible but it's behind the grill so nobody can see it. I finally went and took off the plastic top piece from the aftermarket grill and started messing with it to see if it would go in normally without the taco vinyl grill. It still kept popping out on the edges and then i saw the culprit. These aftermarket GTR headlights have a little plastic notch to support the bumper that sticks out. I'm not sure if the OEM headlights have this same little piece but it could explain why only 1% of people seem to have an issue with the grill. I took a razorblade and cut the notch back so it wouldn't interfere with the cover. Now it clicks in properly like the other side. When you look closely you can see that the little headlight notch is in a slightly different spot on each side. This would explain why only the right side wasn't sitting right for me. I noticed that the entire bumper looks like its shifted a tiny bit to the left which would explain this. I'm not sure if it came from the factory like this or if i messed it up when i put it back on after doing the fang light install. Regardless, this was the problem with mine and i bet the other 1% either have a slight shift in their bumper or have aftermarket headlights. I hope this can help other people who are having problems with theirs!

 

Does yota Expeditions make a decent replica grill, liking the price of $170 with no letters or lights

 

I have theirs installed without any complaints. I know you’re not interested in the letters but they are screwed on, which was a selling point for me. They are also painted matte black which supposedly fights against sun fade. Some competitors are raw abs plastic and susceptible to fading. I also got my valances from them. No complaints on those either.