rocktown

Took me a couple days but it was well worth it. The emblem really grabs your attention. I did it slightly different than most. I fitted the aluminum mesh to the inside of the grille instead of wrapping it around the back. This allowed me to keep all the mounting points intact. Also, all the bolts that are holding on the mesh and all the grille mounting points are hidden behind the mesh. Painted the mesh metallic black, the grille gunmetal metallic, and the emblem white. It was much more time consuming than i had expected, especially masking off the emblem and cutting out the centers of the letters so the chrome would still show slightly on outside of the letters. Let me know what you think.

gilby4runner

:bigclap: looks good

keithguts

Looks great. The lights look like the same ones I want to get for my rig. How do they work, and how do you like them?

emptypockets

Man, I love the look of this mod! They should have come from the factory this way...good job!

rocktown

They are hella 500 driving lights. They work great, extremely bright and they get good distance. They're easy to hook up, and if you install them with a auxiliary fuse block you can operate the lights independent of the factory lighting system. Also, the price tag isn't too bad.

potsy

welcome to the club. looks good!

rocktown

Thanks for the comments, it feels good to have something that you dont see every day on other runners. Actually, here in CT, i never see any modded runners.

rocket

iTrader: (1)

Nice job

slosurfer

Looks great! If you had a white runner, you could have painted it just like the color of the paint in this pic.

paddlenbike

iTrader: (1)

Looks great, now I have to do this mod. Can you explain the text above in a little more detail?

Knuckles

i wish i had enough skill to do this mod

99SR5

iTrader: (1)

looks really good with the lights

rocktown

What i did was cut all the stock plastic slats out of the grille, laid the mesh over the top and marked the size and shape of the grille opening on the mesh. I then cut around the shape of the mesh leaving about 3/4" extra mesh all the way around. Then using a hammer, the edge of my work table and some wood blocks I bent and shaped the mesh so that it would slide right into the front of the grille. I recessed it about half the depth of the grille, and all the mounting points are behind the mesh. Just drilled a couple holes in the plastic part of the grille and matching holes on the mesh and bolted it in. Several of the other satoshi posts i've seen, the mesh will actually be wrapped around the back edge of the grille and installed from the back, leaving the mounting bolts for the mesh visible in front and often times the two lower mounts on either side remain visible or are cut off. THe method I used was much more time consuming because you have to continually shape and reshape the mesh so that it fits the inside of the grille perfectly, but, i think it comes out a little cleaner looking.

paddlenbike

iTrader: (1)

rocktown--it looks great. Now I'm sold, so my search for a 96-98 grille begins. Would you happen to have any "in progress" pics, particularly of the the mounting? If not, no worries, I will figure it out.

Thanks again!
Ken

rocktown

I'll have to look through the pics, i took some but they didnt come out too well. all you really have to do is outline the grille on the mesh and manipulate it to fit properly inside the grille. Your best friends here are a simple hammer and a block of wood. Just fit and re-fit and re-fit again. You are not goin to get it right the first time, its a simple fact known as marshalls law. Just take your time and it will come out allright. I should have been more involved in taking pictures of the whole process. My mistake. You have to be able to adjust on the fly, nothing ever works out like it's supposed to and we all know this from experience. This mod is not difficult, just time consuming....If you take your time and think it through it will come out just fine.

Godzilla

I mounted mine different but heres some in progress ones to help in needed;
https://www.yotatech.com/forums/show...1#post50435481

fireteacher

none needed! bob's wrtie up in the tech section shows you how. i think eveyone who has done it got started there but has put there own twist into it. just do it!