Do 5th gen OEM bug deflectors work?
- Thread starter badburro
- Start date
jca21
New member
36bound
New member
We live in a semi-rural area where most of the roads have gravel shoulders. Stemming from people texting while they drive, rarely does a day go by that someone won't drift off onto a gravel shoulder sending rock bouncing everywhere. I have a "bug guard" on our Wrangler and had one on our former Rav4- and no chips whatsoever on either vehicle. For this reason, we also had one installed on our TE, which we just took delivery of. Based on the design of the OEM guard, it would be virtually impossible for chips to occur on the front of the hood of our TE, behind the guard. As far as bugs go, too early to say.
Just a heads up: The OEM bug guard attaches to the hood using eight small clips. The only thing that separates these clips from the paint is a micro-thin piece of transparent film. In someone's mind, these micro-thin pieces of film, no thicker than a piece of scotch tape, were (evidently) intended to prevent the eight clips from rubbing against the paint. As a practical matter, it would seems as though the inherent, repetitive buffeting of the bug deflector (caused by the wind) would result in these clips rubbing through the film and paint in no time. Rather than take that chance, I had our dealer put a small bend in each of the eight clips to create about a 1/8" gap between the clips and the hood. You may want to consider doing the same.
The OEM bug guard looks great (as bug guards go, lol) and follows the contours of the hood nicely.
Just a heads up: The OEM bug guard attaches to the hood using eight small clips. The only thing that separates these clips from the paint is a micro-thin piece of transparent film. In someone's mind, these micro-thin pieces of film, no thicker than a piece of scotch tape, were (evidently) intended to prevent the eight clips from rubbing against the paint. As a practical matter, it would seems as though the inherent, repetitive buffeting of the bug deflector (caused by the wind) would result in these clips rubbing through the film and paint in no time. Rather than take that chance, I had our dealer put a small bend in each of the eight clips to create about a 1/8" gap between the clips and the hood. You may want to consider doing the same.
The OEM bug guard looks great (as bug guards go, lol) and follows the contours of the hood nicely.
GoHerd
New member
Thanks for the great detail and explanation of the mounting system. I've read a number of posts here that folks have been concerned about the way the Toyota deflector mounts. Are the AVS deflectors mounted differently and, if so, how does the quality compare to the Toyota. I've typically been an OEM guy, but am leaning toward AVS and some Husky or Weathertechs over the OEM mats.
eddiebx
New member
All you need is a phillips head screw driver, unscrew all the screws from under the hood and you can pull the brackets and deflector right off. After that there are a handful of plastic anchors left under the hood where the screws screwed to, you can pull those out easily. And if it was installed correctly, there would be a few tiny pieces of clear film taped to the hood's edge where the bracket touches the hood, just peels those off and you are done.
Go JayBee
New member
Same here...would not own a 4Runner without one.
LandCruiser
New member
Bug deflectors are like wind deflectors, they are an excuse for your dealer to stick/drill some 5 dollar piece of shitty Chinese plastic to various surfaces of your truck and charge you 500-600 dollars for his trouble.
NoDak
Senior Member
had the toyota oem bug guard on the wardens 12 tacoma. the thin strip was beginning to slide out from one of the clips that attach to the hood so i removed it. front looks cleaner but will eventually put a bug guard on front that mounts under the hood instead of clipping to the actual hood.
avs and weather tech i know mount from under the hood and the bug guard doesnt actually touch the nice painted side.
i will be going to a underhood mount system when i can get my 14.
now on my 4th gen the canadian bug shield i had would vibrate at certain speeds. the bump stops that attach to the leading edge of the hood that stopped the bug guard from rubbing the hood were not placed correctly which lead to a big enough gap that it would vibrate before hitting the bump stops.
more speed would push the bug guard onto the bump stops to make it stop, but that wouldnt happen until i hit about 70-75 mph.
avs and weather tech i know mount from under the hood and the bug guard doesnt actually touch the nice painted side.
i will be going to a underhood mount system when i can get my 14.
now on my 4th gen the canadian bug shield i had would vibrate at certain speeds. the bump stops that attach to the leading edge of the hood that stopped the bug guard from rubbing the hood were not placed correctly which lead to a big enough gap that it would vibrate before hitting the bump stops.
more speed would push the bug guard onto the bump stops to make it stop, but that wouldnt happen until i hit about 70-75 mph.
MAXISTYLES
New member
Hellamatic
New member
I'd say they're pretty effective in emptying a wallet and in making a truck look corny. Each to their own though....
eddiebx
New member
For those of you guys thinking about getting the OEM one, this is very true, and happened to me only after having the deflector on for a few months. I should take pictures of how I fixed this issue, but basically I installed small pieces of this between the hood edge and the OEM deflector brackets:
You can find it any auto parts store, I think it's called door edge molding/guard. As you can see from the picture, it splits open and clamps right around the edge of the hood so it should be pretty easy to figure out how to put it on. I did have to slightly adjust the brackets to make it fit over the bump, but that was about it.
2013Trail
New member
For those of you guys thinking about getting the OEM one, this is very true, and happened to me only after having the deflector on for a few months. I should take pictures of how I fixed this issue, but basically I installed small pieces of this between the hood edge and the OEM deflector brackets:
You can find it any auto parts store, I think it's called door edge molding/guard. As you can see from the picture, it splits open and clamps right around the edge of the hood so it should be pretty easy to figure out how to put it on. I did have to slightly adjust the brackets to make it fit over the bump, but that was about it.
So the deflector mounting brackets wore through the mylar strips that were supplied with the deflector kit after only a few months?
eddiebx
New member
Yes, it's kind of hard to explain but the brackets have the slightest amount of play in it, so it can rotate left and right a tiny bit, and eventually one of the edges will wear a hole right through the mylar strip. I actually should clarify that it only wore through the mylar strip in the course of the few months. The paint under it was okay, but pretty much unprotected at that point, so it was just a matter of time before it started to scratch against the paint.
JayceeP
New member
My Canadian OEM hood protector/brackets has no play (that Incan tell) as the bumpers are mounted so that the protector has contact with them... I.e there is a bit of resistance as the protector would rest marginally lower if the bumper wasn't there. Less play in the protector should mean the same for the brackets. I have taken the protector off a couple of times since mounting it early July. There does appear to be some indenting on the mylar strips, but that's expected given the contact from the brackets. Doesn't appear there is wear and there is no contact with the paint. A few big bugs or rocks are likely to contact that point of the hood.... I'll take my chances with the protector that was designed by Toyota rather than wait for a chip from road debris and bugs.
Last edited:
eddiebx
New member
I thought the same exact thing too until I peeled it off and saw there was actually a tiny tiny mark on the clear coat of the paint. Just to be safe I would suggest you keep an eye on it from time to time. Though your install might be completely different because I don't recall any bumpers at all for the US version. Damn canadians and they're superior deflector :canada:
JayceeP
New member
Trust me, I feel your reluctance and skepticism. I will certainly be watching it
. I thought the US version also had the bumpers/bump-ons buti guess not! I'm going to contact a local shop to see if they have any if those Mylar strips so i can double them up. The dealer advised they only come with the hood protector. Somehow I doubt that... But anyway lol.
LandCruiser
New member
Does the Canadian bug shield only work on Canadian bugs?
What if an American bug crosses the border into Canada, will it still get deflected?
Or will it have to wait a few years?
