hi everyone.. long time runner lover, first time visitor, and i love it here already!
i bit about myself... i have a 1995 4runner v6 sr5 "limited package" bought new in oct/94. love the truck so much, its still my daily driver. it currently has 114 km (i'm from canada) and its in remarkable condition considering its age. its amazing (believe it or not, i actually have people approach me in parking lots to talk about my truck).. its so dependable, so capable, there is no need to switch it -yet (i have to be honest, i almost did a couple of months ago for an 03 v6 limited, but backed off after the dealer offered a ridiculous trade value for my exiting truck.. one day, but not now)
anyway, my headlights are too dim, and i want to try switching the bulbs. i have a new set of piaa platinum super whites lying around, and want to give them a go. (not sure how much difference it'll make but its gotta be better than the yellowy "dimlights" i have now.. if not, I will try the silverStars)... the owner's manual instucts to first remove the corner markers, then remove the front grill. the front grill appears to be held in place with 6 clips on the top, then 5 clips below. the bottom clips seems easy to unclip.. just press down. the top clips however i cant seem to figure out. the manual says press down, but where/how? for fear of breaking the clips, i gave up, and humbly ask you...

questions:
(1) whats the easiest way to unclip the upper clips?
(2) whats the ideal order to remove the grill... in other words, is it better to unclip the top clips first, or better to work from one side to the other (both top and bottom)?
(3) any hints/pointers to make this bulb swap as painfree as possible will be greatly appreciated.

i want to thank everyone for taking your time to read this post, and help me out.. thanks everyone

 

It's not that hard. 2 screws on each side(marker lights), then the tabs. The markers are kinda hard to remove from the grill, so I suggest removing the whole thing as one. The top is just like the bottom. There are little tabs. You push them in, then pull out. I suggest working your way from one side to another, they tend to pop back into place otherwise. So start on the drivers side, do both top and bottom, working your way to the passenger side. Once off, the markers are held in by to posts. You just have to work the posts out of the retainers. I slowly pulled one side than the other. Back and forth till it came out. Not hard at all. Putting it back in though, I broke one of the tabs. So be carefull lining it up. You repainting your grill?

 

thanks OneTrickToyThis is the part that I wasn't sure on.. I pressed down in the middle of the tab on the groove, but not sure how much to press down because the grill was literally locked in, and it has no play whatsoever even when the tab is pressed down... Am I doing this right?
Thanks for the suggestion on the working from one side to the other, this makes sense.
Interesting, but in all honesty, no. Just trying to get at the headlamp assemble to switch the bulbs...

Thanks

 

On my 95 all you have to do is take out the harnesses from the lens assembly. You can see this from under the hood. Ive changed to the superwhites also and didnt have to take out my sidemarkers or grill. Anyone else have to take out the grill?

 

Really? I took a quick peak first, but saw very little room to work with... although I have to admit I didn't try to look from underneath the truck... I'll try to take another look tonight.. thanks

 

It is a little cramped under there for space. If I remember correctly I might have had to remove something under the hood to get to them. Whatever it is it is slipping my mind now. If ym truck was here at work I would go out and take a look for you but unfortunately it is at home.

 

Try a sawzall. just kidding.

 

change them from under the hood. all you have to do is unbold the wiper fluid container and the coolent container (i think thats what they are ). just unbolt those, set aside and change out the lights from behind. thats what i did anyways, and all worked fine. on the right side, there a thing that goes to the airbox (not sure what its called), but, you might need to unbold that just so you can get your hand in there. i hope this made sense.

 

thanks doink, instntset, OneTrickToy and others.. will give this a try (sounds like going from behind/under is a good option... will try it and/or the grill removal) and let you know... take care.. jc

 

holy eff i hate working with clips. i didn't remove the grill or the headlight, so i still have stock horns.