3rd Gen 4Runner Raptor Grille Complete!

[Unner]

Hey everyone, I've been waiting to post this thread since back in November of last year when I started doing my custom grille, but parts were on back-order so I had to wait. Anyway, here is my 3rd Gen Raptor grille finally finished. This is similar to the Raptor grille that the 2nd Gen Tacoma guys do on their trucks. It's basically a Satoshi grille, but instead of the old FJ emblem, I used the letters cut by Jerry at BAMF and a kinda square mesh for the grille. They were on backorder for a while, but were well worth the wait.

Anyway here's a few pictures of the finished grille, and a few of it on the truck, but it's wet and dark out right now so they aren't very good. I'll get some better ones tomorrow and post them up as well. I've never seen this type of grille done on a 3rd Gen 4Runner so I thought I would start a thread and show mine off! I've seen a lot of Tacomas like this and a few 5th Gen 4Runners with a similar grille, so I used them for inspiration on mine. I'm super happy with how it came out and think I've got one of the cleanest looking grilles on a 3rd Gen now. I've seen some of the Tacoma guys at 3 orange LEDS to the top of the grille, and I'm thinking about doing the same possibly. Other than that it's all finished finally. Any comments or questions are welcome.

Letters in their bare state as soon as I got them.











Please excuse the awful pictures of it installed on the truck. I'll get some better ones tomorrow. I was just too excited to wait haha!

 

[BrianSD_42]

looks great

 

[Road Bull]

I love that grille material. How are the letters affixed to the grille? Well done!

 

[Sculsz]

Looks great!!!

 

[jaredking733]

Put me down for one for when you start making these for your T4R.org friends!

:boink:

Looks fantastic!

 

[NWFLBowhunter]

Where did you find the mesh at? Is it plastic or metal? I've been looking for some for a different project on the runner.

 

[calimobber]

very nice! cool idea. Looking forward to daytime pics, we appreciate the rushed night shots. low light pics always better then " ill get some pics tomorrow":rofl:

 

[jstim]

How is the mesh mounted to the grille?

 

[HammerHead]

X2 on the above questions

 

[papabeach]

Well done!

 

[Unner]

Thanks for all the compliments everyone! I found myself staring at it all day. It looks so good!

I love that grille material. How are the letters affixed to the grille? Well done!

The letters are attached using that 3M automotive double sided tape. This is how all the Tacoma guys do it and it should hold just fine.

Put me down for one for when you start making these for your T4R.org friends!

:boink:

Looks fantastic!

Haha, I've thought about it, but I'd have to be somewhere around $250-$300 most likely to make it worth my while. I've got probably about $130 in just materials in this grille, plus all the time as well. I doubt people would be willing to pay that much, but you never know I guess.

Where did you find the mesh at? Is it plastic or metal? I've been looking for some for a different project on the runner.

I got the mesh from customcargrills.com. It's the SS Perforated Mesh, and it is aluminum so it won't rust or anything like that. Pretty easy to work with as well.

very nice! cool idea. Looking forward to daytime pics, we appreciate the rushed night shots. low light pics always better then " ill get some pics tomorrow":rofl:

Thanks, I was so excited to finally see my grille done I had to get some pictures and put them up. I've been waiting since October for these letters to finish up my grille!

How is the mesh mounted to the grille?

I attached my grille mesh using some of those square cable ties that you can mount to things. I attached them using the same double sided tape as the letters to the inside of the grille. Most of them held well, only a few that weren't on flat surfaces pulled up from the tension of the zip ties that were attached to them and the mesh. I got this idea from BigFishAllDay, just want to give credit where it is due.

I also used zip ties and attached the mesh to some of the supports for the grill as well. It's solid and isn't going anywhere. I even bent the edges of the mesh around the corners on the back, and there are some 'tabs' that come off the back side that I was able to make fit into the mesh since it has longer square holes sorta to help hold it all together as well.

This is before I bent the corners of the mesh and mounted it to the supports. I didn't do that until I put the letters on yesterday.

Here are some pics in the daylight. It's super hard to take pictures of because there's so much black and the shadows created when the sun is high, but once the sun got low I was able to get some better ones. The letters are clearly visible all day, but not to my camera apparently... A few of them the truck is still dirty in, but all the ones where the truck is parked in the street it's clean in!

 

[168981]

What year did that grille come from?

 

[BigFishAllDay]

Nice work, Unner! That grille turned out really nice.

I have never really been a fan of the Raptor style lettering on the Tacoma grilles, but it looks pretty good on yours for some reason. I think it's the all black thing you've got going, as it helps to tone down the look of the lettering. I'm glad the mounting technique worked out for you as well.

 

[Unner]

What year did that grille come from?

To do a grille like mine you will need a grille of a 96-98 4Runner. I ordered mine through RockAuto I believe.

Nice work, Unner! That grille turned out really nice.

I have never really been a fan of the Raptor style lettering on the Tacoma grilles, but it looks pretty good on yours for some reason. I think it's the all black thing you've got going, as it helps to tone down the look of the lettering. I'm glad the mounting technique worked out for you as well.

Thanks! The Tacoma's letters are even bigger than mine and take up more of the grille so it has a more in your face look. I painted the letters black to give it a kinda stealthy look instead of painting them a contrasting color. I'm glad you noticed the all black thing. That's what I'm going for, but not the "murdered out look" either. I really like that way of mounting, it didn't involve any fiber glassing or anything like that and was simple. I also stole the idea of matching mesh in my hood scoop from you, but I haven't gotten to that yet.

 

[Dephcon]

Very nice job on that grill. I especially like the mesh material you used, thanks for giving the info on where you got it from. I was so busy looking at the grill I almost didn't notice the hood scoop. Very nice combo, nice clean and stylish look.

 

[LIVEVIL]

Looks great

 

[chewybtc]

Looks awesome! This is the exact same thing I wanted to do to mine. I have a '97 so I was just going to use my stock grill and cut the middle out.

Did you order the "4runner" size Toyota letters?

I like what HomerTaco is doing with his pressed letters as well.

Trying to decide which way to go.

The wait time on these letters is crazy though!

 

[Unner]

Very nice job on that grill. I especially like the mesh material you used, thanks for giving the info on where you got it from. I was so busy looking at the grill I almost didn't notice the hood scoop. Very nice combo, nice clean and stylish look.

Thanks! I really like that material as well. It's thick enough that it does a good job of hiding everything behind the grille, but not so thick that air can't flow.

Looks great

Thanks!

Looks awesome! This is the exact same thing I wanted to do to mine. I have a '97 so I was just going to use my stock grill and cut the middle out.

Did you order the "4runner" size Toyota letters?

I like what HomerTaco is doing with his pressed letters as well.

Trying to decide which way to go.

The wait time on these letters is crazy though!

Thanks! Yeah, these are the 4Runner size letters. The HomerTaco grilles are very nice, but I didn't have a way to get clean bends on the mesh though, so I just left mine flat as it is.

 

[I'mStock]

This look amazing. I apologize if this has been covered, I didn't read the thread, but any plans for any amber "running lights" like the Raptors utilize?

 

[Unner]

This look amazing. I apologize if this has been covered, I didn't read the thread, but any plans for any amber "running lights" like the Raptors utilize?

Thanks! I'm debating adding lights like that. Some of the Tacoma guys do that on their grilles using some bolts that have LED's in them and drilling holes in the underside of the upper lip of the grille. I just haven't decided yet if I want to add them or not yet.