Looking for some opinions on front end

[laureena23]

I've posted before about how I was in a pretty bad accident with my Runner a few winters ago. I've finally been able to afford to fix all of the majorly damaged parts but the front end still needs just a little bit of help.

If you look at the pic, its the drivers side. It may be hard to see but the piece underneath the headlight is bent out and rusting, making the headlight stick out as well. I think the bracket that holds the headlight and the piece under it is bent/broken. I'm guessing the best thing to do is take it to a body shop and just have it replaced?

Any thoughts/opinions would be great. Just looking for the best fix because I'm tired of looking at it and its rusting out pretty quickly!

 

[96743runner]

Taking it to a body shop would probably be the best option, though probably not the cheapest though. I would have them change the bracket and find/fix anything else that is out of order with the front end of your truck.

 

[01t4rnr]

i agree. truck looks badass btw

 

[laureena23]

Yea I could probably get the bracket and fix it myself but I'm also concerned about the rusting out of the piece under the head light. I think I need a new part there or something..the corner is also rusting out near the corner of the light.

 

[2000runr]

the fender bender i had was the same piece but under the passenger side. had a body shop bank it back into shape. looks 99% factory now. rust=bad, pay to have it done right.

 

[JeremyH]

I recently got into a wreck in mine as well, although it was the passenger side, and I found qutie a few parts for an Extremely good price (dealer wanted ~$750 for all of the parts, I got them for $115) from Certifit:
www.certifit.com
I'm not sure where you are located in Ohio, but they have a location in Cleveland. The parts are ALL of excellent quality. Since that piece is white, you should easily be able to paint it and apply a clear coat (with rattle cans). Also, that piece bolts to the fender via a small bracket that is easily bent outward to ensure proper alignment. If you have some basic handtools and a bit of freetime, you can fix this yourself and save a LOT of money.

Here is a link to their catalog. If you scroll down to page 243, you'll find all of their parts for the '99 4Runner.You can see the sales price on the right hand side (first column).

www.certifit.com/catalogs/6.pdf

BTW, this is where a LOT of body shops get their parts from....not the dealer.

 

[004Gunner]

I've posted before about how I was in a pretty bad accident with my Runner a few winters ago. I've finally been able to afford to fix all of the majorly damaged parts but the front end still needs just a little bit of help.

If you look at the pic, its the drivers side. It may be hard to see but the piece underneath the headlight is bent out and rusting, making the headlight stick out as well. I think the bracket that holds the headlight and the piece under it is bent/broken. I'm guessing the best thing to do is take it to a body shop and just have it replaced?

Any thoughts/opinions would be great. Just looking for the best fix because I'm tired of looking at it and its rusting out pretty quickly!

The headlight mounts to the radiator support which is welded onto the wheel aprons. The best thing to do for a proper repair would be to disassemble the front end and have an experienced body man hammer and dolly the rad support to it's correct shape. Someone probably attempted this with the initial repair but wasn't quite at the necessary skill level. That should take care of the alignment issues you have on that side. If the headlight can still be aimed properly then you may just want to repaint the trim piece under the headlight and call it a day. You're looking at a lot of labor time for the repair, but at least it would be next to nothing for parts.

 

[bulger22]

Another dead thread brought back to life!

I'm asking for opinions on my 4runner. If you can photoshop for me before tuesday that kick major anal and be much appreciated since no computer here.

Anyways, my '97 has chrome front/rear bumpers. My idea is to buy a new front paintable bumper and match it with the sunfire red my runner already is and the back bumper im going to bump out the massive dent from wheeling and paint black.

Thoughts on this? I also might be painting everything chrome on the grille as well except the Toyota symbol. The reason for painting front same as car is to give it sort of the limited look but when i put the black waag brush guard on it will match the rear bumper a bit and the valance in front will still be black!

Sounds good but i wanna see it done before i pull the trigger lol anybody done this yet or have other ideas? Im not a fan of chrome with sunfire red and tinted windows, black center, caps etc.

Thanks for any input!