Intro - 2 4Runners and a grille question

[RunnerAK]

Hi all, I've been lurking on the site for a while and figured I should introduce myself now that I have a question that I haven't been able to find the answer to through searching.

My girlfriend and I both have 4th gen 4Runners, we picked up her '07 V6 SR5 last year after some idiot ran a red light and did this to her Subaru:



Originally she didn't want a "big SUV" to replace the Subaru, but she fell in love with the color of this one (shadow mica) after seeing it on a car lot, and after a test drive she was sold by how solid/quiet it was compared to the Subie. Here's hers on its inaugural camping/road trip last summer:



I picked up my '06 V8 Limited several weeks back when I finally decided I wanted something newer than my 25 year old Toyota Camry All-Trac (great car). I knew that I wanted another AWD Toyota, and I was pretty set on getting an 80 or 100 series Land Cruiser, but all of the 80s that came up for sale in my area were pretty beat, and the 100s were rare and overpriced. This 4Runner came up for sale and I thought about it for a bit, then decided to go for it since I really liked my girlfriend's, and the V8 4Runners share basically the same drivetrain as the 100 series in a smaller/lighter (more economical) package.

I've already installed an Ultragauge and converted the interior and running board lights to LEDs, this forum has been a treasure trove of good information and ways to spend $$. Here's mine on its first road trip with us over Memorial Day weekend (broke 20 mpg!):





Anyway, on to my silly question: how do you remove just the center portion of the upper grille that holds the Toyota emblem (as seen in the second photo in this post)?

I took out 7 screws that hold it to the rest of the grille, but it is still attached by 4 clips that I couldn't get to release (and didn't want to break). I'd like to get it off there so I can try my hand at plasti-dipping. Thanks in advance for any help!

 

[superman3043]

Hello, welcome to the forum, and congrats on owning not one but two of the greatest vehicles on the road!

All the information you need is right there in that picture. Four screws (phillips) on the back side that attach those four bosses you see protruding out from that center grille piece. Unscrew those from the back side and lift the center portion out. You can see close ups of the mounts and screw holes in some of the pictures further down in that post. I don't recall there being any additional tabs holding that piece in, but if there is, you should be able to release them from that back side. Just take your time and go easy. That plastic will break in a heartbeat. Especially when cold.

Hope that helps. Good luck.

 

[foxtrot]

best color ever, good choice. there are a lot of haters for driftwood pearl lol. the grill just should be the screws like mentioned above. I don't remember there being any clips.

 

[RunnerAK]

Hello, welcome to the forum, and congrats on owning not one but two of the greatest vehicles on the road!

All the information you need is right there in that picture. Four screws (phillips) on the back side that attach those four bosses you see protruding out from that center grille piece. Unscrew those from the back side and lift the center portion out. You can see close ups of the mounts and screw holes in some of the pictures further down in that post. I don't recall there being any additional tabs holding that piece in, but if there is, you should be able to release them from that back side. Just take your time and go easy. That plastic will break in a heartbeat. Especially when cold.

Hope that helps. Good luck.

Thanks for the reply, on mine there were 7 phillips screws behind the center grille section (3 on each side and one right behind the emblem), I removed those but there were still 2 tabs/clips on each side holding it on. I messed with them a bit, but couldn't get them to release and figured I'd better ask the experts here before I broke something. I'll try to post up some pictures after work.

best color ever, good choice. there are a lot of haters for driftwood pearl lol. the grill just should be the screws like mentioned above. I don't remember there being any clips.

Thanks, I wasn't sure of the color at first, but its grown on me and now I like it a lot. There aren't a whole lot of them that color on this forum, I searched for pictures of modified ones before I bought mine and only found a few (Dusty Driftwood's rig being a very nice example).

 

[RunnerAK]

Ok, here are some pictures of the clips on the back of the grille. In the first picture, the 5 visible screws are circled in green (2 more are out of the frame for 7 screws total). The red boxes are around the clips I'm having trouble with after removing all 7 of the screws. The second picture is a closeup of one of the clips.

 

[kevinpt]

Ok, here are some pictures of the clips on the back of the grille. In the first picture, the 5 visible screws are circled in green (2 more are out of the frame for 7 screws total). The red boxes are around the clips I'm having trouble with after removing all 7 of the screws. The second picture is a closeup of one of the clips.

i broke all but one when i took apart my grill. its not really going to change much, it still holds really well. i would not worry if the tabs brake