White SR5

I looked at th grill on my '01 today and it had a few knicks in it. I wanted to remove it but when I popped the hood I got nervous. It looked like there were these metal brackets tat had to be bent to get the grill to come off. Can anyone reassure me and tell me what to do? Pics are always good!

Zach

98Tacoma

Zach,

Look at me man it will be ok i promise there is nothing abnormal with what you are doing. If you break anything under your hood the stealer will be more than happy to rip you off and sell you new clips, my tacomas plastic clips were 2 something a peice, but fear not your local friendly toyota stealer will be more than happy to help you fix anything that goes wrong.


John


P.S. yes they did charge me over 2 bucks PER clip.

Cebby

I busted about 4 the first time I took mine off. Maybe we could get a group buy...

midiwall

Hi Zach;

Okay... go slow and do NOT pull off those metal clips, you're working too hard if you do.

I'm thinking that the 2001 grills are pretty much held on the same way as my '96, and that's the experience I have to share.

Reference the picture below:



This is a shot of my frontend when I had it apart to install my airhorns. Note the spots circled in red... On my truck, those are 3 of 7 (I think it's seven) attachment points for the grill. Once you take a good look at the grill, you'll see all of the attachment spots.

At each of those points (and the others), there are two plastic tabs that make up a sort of "socket" on the grill side. On the frame side (attached to those clips you're looking to take off) is a single tab that fits into the "socket".

What you're looking to do is to get a small screwdriver or awl, and push up on the tab while LIGHTLY pulling out on the grill. You'll do this from the grill side, not the frame side, and getting a good sight-angle is key to seeing what's going on.

Do one tab at a time, and as you continue to make progress down the line, you'll have to be gentle so as to not pop back the the tabs that you've already freed.

It really makes a lot more sense once you get down and look at it. You'll be able to see the tab sitting in the socket, and understand better what needs to be done.

There's one stubborn one on my rig, and that's at the bottom middle.

Go slow, get a good look at what's going on, and you'll get it.


Hope that helps!

Mark

White SR5

OK, so are they similar to the pop-rivets that you unfasten to take off the door panels? As in is it the same principle? And then do they just pop off still having the metal tooth "biting" on the surrounding plastic part? If that's how it's done, I think I get it. Just pop 'em back to secure once more, right? Thanks guys the info. is really helpful.

Zach

ssbogger

yeh its a pretty easy thing to do. Just take a look at the clips and let common sense do the rest. From what i can remember each connection point has two tabs you have to push in, one at the top and one at the bottom. Ive taken my grille off twice and broke one clip the first time i did it. After you do it the first time it becomes like riding a bike, you dont even have to think about it.

midiwall

Ummm, it's not really like the door panels. The door fasteners are designed to give when you pull on them hard enough from the right angle (and hopefully with a real panel puller tool!) but if you try that with the grill, you'll break the tabs like Cebby was talking about.

You really need to get in there with a screwdriver or awl or something small to lift up the tab on the frame side and release it's grip from the socket on the grill side.


But, reassembly is like the a door panel, but easier... It doesn't take a THWACK! with your hand to get them to reseat, just a gentle push.

You'll have to spend a few seconds getting the sockets lined up with the tabs, but it's not hard. The tabs are designed to slide around on the frame side and they'll kinda' seek the socket on their own. One thing to keep in mind is that you shouldn't have to force anything when it goes back together. It'll all fit nicely with a light push once you get things lined up.

Jason B

Rather than try to unclip the grille from looking over on top, look at it face forward. If you look at it at this angle and look underneath the grille, you will see a series of lever like clips. You can use a screwdriver and push down with it, and the grille will come off very easily. You will be able to see the little tabs.

You have to put a constant light outward tension as you reach in and depress the tabs or they will snap back in place. The trick is just getting the right tension--too much and the tabs are hard to depress--too little and they snap right back in the locked position. Inserting a toothpick after they are depressed is a good trick.