Blacked out tail lights!

[esb_t4r]

I just thought I'd put up a pic of 05 Sport edition with the blacked out tail light covers!

-20% Tint. Personally, i think they look awesome! It took a few hours to get them on, and you seriously have to stretch the crap out of them, but it was worth it!!!!

Let me know what you think. I have a few other pictures, but i've gotta figure out how to do the multi-post.

Thanks!
-ESB

 

[josh220]

Looks awesome, where did you get the film from?

 

[esb_t4r]

I bought the film from stickercity.com. It cost about $75 after shipping (which pissed me off because they were only shipping it from 15 miles from where i live) and it took a week longer than it should have because they were out of stock.

I didn't find this out until after a week of waiting and until I called them.

I think if i had to do it again, i wouldnt bother with the precut layouts. I'd just order the material, lay it down and then cut it with an exacto knife. The right side main tail light did not stretch as much, and in the heat has retracted a little bit, but i'm probly the only one who will notice it.

-esb

Here's another pic from further away.

 

[dheeter]

That looks sick. I got the same thing for my 06. I havent put it on yet because it had been so cold. I will probably do it in the next couple weeks. Any suggestions for the install?

 

[esb_t4r]

My best suggestions to you would be to make sure to start in the middle. Roll the sticker into a somewhat "U" shape, and align it on the taillight. Then heat the crap out of it with a hair dryer (or with heat gun, although you'll probly need to be somewhat careful with the heat gun).

As you heat it, pull it from near the middle and stretch it out towards the edges of the light. If you can, stretch the wrap around the edge of light as well. This will prevent it from shrinking back in the sun. (This happened a little bit on my main rightside tail light. It bums me out that it happened, but i'm probably the only one who'll notice it...)

Don't worry if you have pull the sticker partially from the light. I had to a couple of times. Just make sure to keep the underside wet with the alcohol/water mixture.

Use a angled needle for best results when popping any water bubbles. It didnt leave any marks in the sticker. Aside from that good luck and be patient!

Also, my friend helped me do it. I think it is a necessity to have two people. One to hold the heat gun/hair dryer, and the other to be stretching and applying the sticker.

Best of luck. I wanna see some pics when you're done!

 

[Red]

I saw another member on these forums painted that silver piece that is on the rear bumper to match his paint. Im not sure if you would be interested in doing that mod but it might look good.
Sorry I cant remember who it was but maybe someone else does.

The Tail lights look awesome though

 

[esb_t4r]

Thanks, i'm glad you liked them!

I'm not sure about painting the bumper yet, but it's definitely an interesting thought. I might try and photoshop it to black to give an impression before doing anything.

I kinda like the silver/black contrast, and was actually thinking about getting one of those HiLux 'surf' step covers for the bumper, as I am an avid surfer.

 

[curtis]

I thought from 2005-on the bumpers were already colored the match the body color....but I see you have the 2005 with the silver.

I'm in Manhattan Beach....I will have to keep an eye for your 4Runner.

 

[rollingthunder]

those look great man nice job :artist:

 

[RonMAIDEN]

That's nice if you want something not so permanent but I'd spend $10 and paint them with a few light coats of tint and then a couple coats of glossy clear coat.

Hopefully a mod I'll be doing soon on my tails.

 

[blindside]

Looks awesome! I have a set as well and had tried putting it on but no luck i keep messing up till i just gave up... i might try to do it again

 

[4x4v8]

Were these done with a vinyl or a window tint? I was thinking of doing something similar.

 

[esb_t4r]

They were done with a vinyl sticker from stickercity.com. If I had to do it over again, i'd just order bulk material instead of getting the pre-cut.

 

[4x4v8]

They were done with a vinyl sticker from stickercity.com. If I had to do it over again, i'd just order bulk material instead of getting the pre-cut.

Does vinyl come in a smoke and not black? I like the blacked out look but I dont want it to be pure black.

 

[SCRunner]

That's nice if you want something not so permanent but I'd spend $10 and paint them with a few light coats of tint and then a couple coats of glossy clear coat.

Hopefully a mod I'll be doing soon on my tails.

what would one need to buy if they wanted to go this route? i really like the way that looks!!

 

[esb_t4r]

Does vinyl come in a smoke and not black? I like the blacked out look but I dont want it to be pure black.

Yes, they are actually smoke colored and not truly black. I believe they have various percentage tints. Mine was in the middle of the range at 20%. I think you can get either 10, 20, or 30.

 

[4x4v8]

Yes, they are actually smoke colored and not truly black. I believe they have various percentage tints. Mine was in the middle of the range at 20%. I think you can get either 10, 20, or 30.

How hard is it to work with? Does it just have to be stretched and blow dried? I was thinking of doing the same.

 

[esb_t4r]

How hard is it to work with? Does it just have to be stretched and blow dried? I was thinking of doing the same.

Well, I won't lie, it wasn't that easy. You have to heat it up a lot to get it to stretch, and you definitely need two people. One to stretch it, and one to apply heat. You heat it from the middle out and pull it towards the edge. Once we had it out, we used the hair drier to sort of pull it tight. We didnt really blow dry it much more after that.

The day after we did it, i noticed some ripples near the edges, (Apparently the adhesive came off a bit) and used some glue to pull it back onto the lights.