im going to mix it up a bit and make some eyebrows raise. i am ditching the universal aftermarket windshield rubber trim and going back to oem chrome trim. noticed a whistling in the cab for a while at speeds, and dismissed it to the vent windows. got caught in the rain and started getting water in my lap. dug in further and found that the adhesive holding the windshield to the cab has shrunk and dried, my windshield was literally falling off lol. anyways i was never truely satisfied with the rubber ttim. the little bends in the top corners always bugged me. i have the chrome trim on order and have already sanded, cleaned, and POR15 coated my windshield channel. i have 2 tubes of 3M windshield adhesive on hand and some primer. not seeing alot of info on how to properly set the clips for the molding yourself. im pretty handy and am not afraid of the "figure it out" method, but in this scenario i wont really have alot of chances to do it right. anyone have some tips of installing the clips/molding? i assume the clips get stuck into the adhesive after you place the glass? any help is appreciated.

ps dont care about anyones opinion pertaining to the rot inducing oem trim. truck is babied and kept under a garage.

 

I removed my trim before paint and had a couple broken clips so i bought a set off an ebay seller.
I still have my trim off and the majority of the clips are in place in their original locations. I could give you guidance on which ones go where if you need that. I have a new set and it appears to me they just set in the channel and the goo surrounds them.

 

I bought a good caulking gun because I had read the 3M adhesive was thick. I did a dry run, using painter’s tape to hold everything in place while I made sure the fit was ok.
The clips just get pushed into the adhesive in the channel. When I did the dry run I made chalk marks on the A pillars and roof where the clips would go in the channel so I know where the adhesive would be needed. I had plenty of tape ready to hold everything in place while it dried.

 

Thanks for the tips guys. I’ll grab pics and such during install. I couldn’t find a thread dedicated to the install of oem trim/windshield so I guess it’s a good idea to make one. I imagine in the very near future the chrome trim will be NLA and everyone will wish they still had it. Kinda like people motor swapping to small block chevys back in the day. Was a good idea then but really hurt resale in the end.

 

where did you get the OE chrome trim? was it still available from a dealer?

I ask because I want to remove my windshield and clean out the channel (noticed a tiny bit of rust in the top corner caused by a neglected rock chip) and I'm missing the piece of trim that runs up the side and the bottom corner of the driver side...they were ripped off during an off road excursion through some tree branches

 

Dealer can get. The corners are fairly cheap. The side ones aren’t too pricey,iirc.

 

Pictures will be great. I've had the entire trim off for so long now while getting it ready to be painted, I completely forget how the clips go.

 

from my local dealer . It’s pretty expensive. About 300 bucks.

 

So, the trim came in today. For anyone that doesn’t know, your have to order each piece separately there is no package for the entire kit. Four corners. Two sides, a top and a bottom run. The side pieces have a wedge clip, the corners are held on by the sides abs top/bottom, and the top and bottom pieces actually have a screw grommet on the clips. When I cleaned my windshield channel I saw small holes and assumed rust so I filled them and painted over haha. Looks like I’m going to mark back out the holes and drill them. I’ll measure them later but it looks like a 6mm square grommet. New screws were not included, I’ll see if I can source them otherwise I’ll just find some stainless screws to fit.

 

i don't believe the top pieces use a "screw grommet", only the bottom. all three of my 4runners indicate this, ie, the top uses the same clips as the sides. i suppose it's possible all three had been replaced at some point, but would they all have been identical?

 

I believe i saw the clip placement in the factory service manual for my 4r. Will check later
I “think” mine are still in the original positions and the windshield appears to be the original Toyota glass.

Here’s a photo of the new set laid out the way i see them installed on the truck. There is a curved clip in each upper corner. I don’t know where the white ones in the center go. It appears they could be substituted for the blue ones. Screws only on bottom as Wally said.

 

I checked the FSM and it shows the clip type and location under BODY, Moulding, windshield outside moulding.

 

ill dig into my manual this weekend thanks, i glanced through it but didnt see this page. i was aware that there was a "molding kit" you could buy separately but i saw inside the wrapping that the trim pieces come with the clips installed on them already if you buy them. i most likely will not get a chance to attempt the install until next week, im a mill worker and we are doing a maintenance shutdown. sucks to sucks haha.

 

hard to believe I lost 7 clips along with the 2 moldings...but my windshield had been replaced...twice..and the likelihood of the molding being installed improperly is high

 

Melrose, can you help?
The FSM is vague on some of the windshield clips.
1)Ok, the red box is the bottom molding clips. Pretty straight forward.

2)The green boxes are the side molding clips. The three black clips attach to the molding and hook under the windshield lip. The two blue fasteners are taped in the channel to catch the inner lip of the molding to latch into place.

3)But on the top molding, did the blue fastener clips work like the side molding? I don't see the same design on the molding like the two side ones. No lip to catch it seems.

4) did you ever figure out where the longer white taped clips(in the black box) go?

The black clips I'm good with, it's just all the taped clips that get confusing. I can see the blue at the top/bottom of each of the side moldings, but after that it becomes vague

 

I did not have to replace more than a few of mine and the chrome is still off(slacker, i should have reinstalled it by now!) so i could take a few close up photos of the top installed clips. The orientation is as i had them laid out in the photo, i think…

the white ones may have been for a different year. They don't seem to be needed on my ‘86.

 

Ok, here's what I learned.
1) install bottom molding. Gotta pull the cowl, but after that it just screws in. Quick victory.
2) Install the blue OR clear white retainers for the top molding. I found the clear white to be a little easier to work with when installing the molding, but either works. I did install 3 on the top molding, putting one in the middle. Install the 6 black retainers on the top molding, then remove any urethane sealant from the channel where these retainers will go. I used a utility knife to run down the edge of the glass, then scrapped out the sealant.
3) i did a dry run to make sure the black clips were going to catch the underside lip of the glass and then lock down on the clear white retainer. The clear white seem to flex a little easier than the blue, making them easier to snap the molding into place. During a dry run test, If you only try one white/blue retainer at a time then you can easily slide out to the side after it snaps.
4) Put fresh sealant in the 6 spots where the black clips are going to catch the glass. Then put top molding in to place. Have to push a bit to get the molding to catch the clear white retainer, but once it does it's a pretty bomber feel. I taped it down the windshield for 24 hours just in case.
5)now you can install the four corner moldings.
6)prep the side channels in the same manner as the top molding, but 3 black clips per molding.
7)put adhesive in the channel where the black clips will catch the glass.
8)install the side molding into the lower corner molding and slide it down. Put the molding in the channel so you then can slide it up to go into the top corner. Once the side molding is in both corners you can then angle it in so the black clips catch the glass, then rock it down to catch the retainer and lock into place.

hope this helps. Doing a dry run of all the moldings before using sealant will help avoid any surprises.

 

Got mine back on tonight. Definitely a learning curve here. Sorry, no photos, it was getting dark out and family interrupted me to go get take out Caribbean food.

Here's what i did:
*Pull wipers and cowl panel.
*install clips into bottom trim piece as shown in the red box above(almost…loop ones are upside down in this photo) Alternate screw hole one, then loop one. Black ones on the ends. Loop ones only keep the trim against the cowl panel.
*Screw that piece in and reinstall cowl and wipers.
*Work to align lower corner pieces and side trim at the same time. Slide side trim up or down as needed.
*Align top piece with corners onto side pieces. Snap the top piece into place by pushing up and forcing the top edge down over the clips.
*The Assembly manual shows some drawings and also a special tool and suggests bending a small screwdriver in a certain way to help. I did not do any of that.
**Most importantly, if you replace some clips, notice the depth of goo around existing clips and do not exceed it. You may need to cut away some of the goo after it cures in order for the clips to grip correctly.

 

Hey guys,
Resurrecting this thread in the hopes of getting some help on my '88 4Runner DLX. I've got the chrome OEM kit for the entire windshield. Bottom piece is in and the cowl and wipers are reinstalled. Bottom corner pieces are also installed and I was able to slide the driver's side side trim onto the existing clips, which were still in place. The top clips are also still in place (pic #1) but I'm not able to slide the trim piece over them in the same way. The kit I got had the black clips as highlighted in @Jimkola 's pic in green and purple but I have no blue clips or white clips.

My questions are:
1. Do I need to buy additional clips (either blue or white) other than what came with the new pieces? If so, does someone have a part # for those?
2. Should I cut out the old clips at the top of the windshield (a close-up is in pic #2)?
3. If I do cut the existing clips out, am I to reinstall the new clips first and then clip the trim to it or am I to install the clips while the trim piece is attached?
4. If I'm installing new clips at the top, what type of adhesive is best?
5. Or do I just try to get the top trim piece to snap into place using the old clips, like @Melrose 4r did?

Thanks in advance for you help.

 

Give me a bit to get the info together. No later than tomorrow morning.