Hey all, you know what time it is
I was curious what's the word on bug deflectors, and what the options are these days. I have a hunch I'll get nothing but "check amazon" but thought I'd ask anyways. To explain;
When I bought my vehicle, it had an AVS bug shield on it but I couldn't stand the look of it - it was so wide and flat it looked like an untrimmed unibrow for my car. Eventually I found a listing of one claiming to be "built to OE spec" (no brand mentioned, ofc) and when it arrived I was pleasantly surprised to see it was properly formed to the shape and contour of my hood's edge and looked much better - the only downside is one side of it was heavily bent inwards, noticeably more than the other, and would touch/rub against my fender. Long story short, tried to return the package 2 times but kept receiving bent deflectors; most worst than the first one. It looks very much like someone had them standing upright for years on end and the plastic slowly bent under it's weight.
Initially I figured it wasn't mean to be and gave up on the purchase, but today I spotted an 02 Sport in a McDonalds parking lot and had what I assumed to be an OEM deflector - it had "TOYOTA" embossed on the plastic, was perfectly shaped to the front of the car (not just the edge of the hood) and felt like a much more durable plastic, not to mention the rubber stoppers behind the shield were much bigger as well and seemed to do a proper job of protecting your paint from being rubbed off. To boot it looked way better than any other I've seen before, much more aggressive.
My question is, is this actually an OEM part, and what are the chances of finding one around? Are there any aftermarket ones that truly follow the look/design? I'd really like a deflector both to protect my hood some and also to cover up a fair amount of rock chips I already have, but if my options are limited to cheap knock offs I'm not sure if it's worth the trouble. I don't have the highest hopes, seeing as how Toyota has already discontinued far more major parts (headlights, skid plates, etc), but you learn something every day on this forum so might as well ask

There was indeed a Toyota oem one for the 4Runner. They are about the best looking in my opinion. They are not uncommon. See one now and again but lots have cracks and broken pieces too. I’ve looked in junkyards for 9 years and never found one intact. Seems 90% of junkyard runners are roll overs or front end collisions. I’ve been to a lot of junkyards from Baja to Alaska.

Avs makes 2 versions. I think they are both ok and lots on here have them if you do a bit of searching.

I’ve got some funny Toyota oem from some other vehicle on mine. It came with it. Doesn’t fit just right but close enough that I’ve lived with it.

I have an OEM Toyota one. I do think they look very nice, but they have the known habit of making your hood vibrate at highway speed. Nothing that a 1st Gen Taco cowl bumper can't fix though .

You can buy them new from Toyota, the part number is PT427-89011.

I like the look of the OEM one, it gives the front end a fuller and more complete look in my opinion.

I have the OEM deflector as well and didn’t know that’s why my hood vibrates at highways speeds. It doesn’t vibrate enough for concern, but always though it was normal because it was on my 4runner when I bought it.

I definitely like the looks of it, but always wonder how effective it is deflecting bugs. It even looks good on google maps.

Mine was a Lund and taking it off was the first thing I did when I got the car because the wife hates the look and I'm not a huge fan myself. 2 months later we got nailed by a rock on the highway which cracked the windshield. Coincidence?

Sent from my moto x4 using Tapatalk

Like I said, learn something everyday here!

In regards to the vibration, my hood already starts to shake a little around 60-70, I suspect because of the hood scoop, so I'm not horribly worried about it

Theres no part number for those correct? I believe I know what you're talking about and recall people saying you gotta snag one from a pick n pull or similar

Correct - they were integral to the '01-04 Tacoma cowls, so I think you'll have to go scavenging the yards for one. But they are very effective, and completely eliminate the hood flutter:

I say this knowing that I very well could be wrong, but isn't that just the spacer?

Toyota Part No.:56116-24010

Can someone confirm this? I also notice my hood vibrates at high speeds and I don't see that spacer.

Was also curious if maybe @Plasticsguy that makes the durabumps can make these so we can buy em? Idk how to tag people

I don't think that's the same part, given that it's called "Windshield spacer" and there are two of them -




But it may very well work just fine. You basically need a rubber bumper of about 1/2" height, which you can then glue to the cowl. So anything that has the right size shape should work.