'94 Pickup has an ouch and want some advice

[burch2217]

My '94 2WD pickup with 150K was recently involved in a fender bender.
Bottom line is that the valance, bumper, and grille are all needing to be replaced. I was contemplating making the truck look a little bit different when I was rebuilding it this time - and was wondering if anyone has any advice as to sources to look to make a minor mod.
The truck originally came with the 1 piece grille, black bumper, and black valance... I was contemplating going to the black/chrome grille or to the OEM 4WD look.... I know its ultimately my decision, but
Has anybody got any practical experience here and some suggestions?

[peid]

Originally Posted by burch2217

My '94 2WD pickup with 150K was recently involved in a fender bender.
Bottom line is that the valance, bumper, and grille are all needing to be replaced. I was contemplating making the truck look a little bit different when I was rebuilding it this time - and was wondering if anyone has any advice as to sources to look to make a minor mod.
The truck originally came with the 1 piece grille, black bumper, and black valance... I was contemplating going to the black/chrome grille or to the OEM 4WD look.... I know its ultimately my decision, but
Has anybody got any practical experience here and some suggestions?

No sources so to speak but waiting to see pictures after completed!

[dsrtrcr01]

OK you have many options.
1) You could go back to stock
2) Go with a chrome grille for a 2wd and chrome bumper
3) Go with the chrome and black 4wd grille(I Like It) but the parking lights will be a little different. Also you would need to buy chrome parking lights. The thickness of the top and bottom bar are a little wider on the 4wd grille but you can not see the difference unless you look for it. You still would put the 2wd bumper and valance on it. Do not use 4wd parking lights with a 2wd fender. won't fit
4) you could put 4wd fenders and full 4wd front parts. These fenders flare more then the 2wd. You would need the 4wd bumper to do this.
5) You could by conversion fiberglass and change the front end to a Tundra or Tacoma. But this is made of fiberglass and flares a lot because it is for off road trucks.

All these options are straight bolt on. There are many other options with body work and paint. I would like to see one of our trucks with a celica front clip. I have a spare cab and 2 spare celica bumpers and would love to try it but have no time.

Any questions let me know.

PS- You can buy aftermarket parts really cheap but the chrome sucks and they do not line up correcctly so be ready to bend drill and slot to get it right. I run the cheap stuff because it just gets bent up and replaced in the desert.

[burch2217]

3) Go with the chrome and black 4wd grille(I Like It) but the parking lights will be a little different. Also you would need to buy chrome parking lights. The thickness of the top and bottom bar are a little wider on the 4wd grille but you can not see the difference unless you look for it. You still would put the 2wd bumper and valance on it. Do not use 4wd parking lights with a 2wd fender. won't fit

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dsrtrcr01,

Tell me more about this option (#3).

I understand the situation with the parking lights... and my fenders are all straightened up (so there's no sense in currently swapping these), so I'd ultimately need the chrome parking lights and that's no big deal since I need to replace one any way.

But I'm a little confused on the grille. From your post, I'm left with the opinion that you can actually get the 4WD Chrome/Black grille to fit into the 2WD width-wise. I also think you're saying it is a straight bolt in but that the top and bottom bars of the Chrome/Black Grille are wider and that if you look for it you'll see it? To me that means the height of the Chrome/Black Grille is "slightly taller" but no big deal!

If this is correct, then all I need is the new 2WD bumper/valance (in black) and the 4WD Chrome/Black grille and its a piece of cake? Did I interpret correct? If so I'm a very happy camper!!!! And then I'll have to debate whether to change the rear bumper to chrome from black.

PS: I've also looked at some of JBM's Billet Grille Assemblies to include Grille, Bumper, and valence.... thinking about obtaining it in black and painting. Do you have any experience with their stuff?

Dan

[dsrtrcr01]

You can just put the 4wd grille on with no mods. It is not any bigger in height or width. The only difference is if you look at the trim that goes around the parking light, Black or chrome where that meets and would flow into the grille it is a little smaller/Thinner then on 4 wd lights. I would put a chrome front bumper with a black valance if it were my truck. I do not like the chrome valances and think it would look a little off with a chrome grille and black bumper. But to each his own. I have never dealt with JBM.

[cheg]

I had a similar problem with my '94 xtra cab and I switched to a black Smittybilt pipe bumper from Performance Products. It is possible to attach a stock valance to the underside to make it look a bit cleaner. I also went to a black grill and black corner lights and it looked good. Sorry I don't have any pictures.

[burch2217]

Well, as we say .... the best laid plans of mice and men sometimes go left!

During a recent call to a used parts place (otherwise, known as a yard), I found out they had just received a 4X2 that had an intact stock black grill and painted bumper for $125. So this set me to rethinking about going that route... but I still wanted to do something to the truck to make the front end look a bit different. So after going and looking, I came to the conclusion that the deal was just too good to pass up... so I purchased what turned out to be the used black grill, bumper brackets, turn signals, and painted bumper. Grille was perfect and bumper need to be repainted due to some slight surface rust, scraping, and an almost unnoticeable ding.

Therefore, I'm back to rethinking this project. I've come to the conclusion that since I've got to repaint the bumper anyway, I can still do some stuff to "color up the front end" of the truck. This sent me into my Toyota Pickup parts list and I realized that the 94 2WD was available in a SR5/DLX version and the color of that vehicle's front end was like an Argent/Gray.

Now I don't remember ever seeing one of these. So I went over to an aftermarket place and took a glance at the color of the trim around the aftermarket corner lights and it was a metallic gray. This trip has now got me thinking about graying up the front end of the green truck that already has a gray interior. Thinking about painting the grille the metallic argent/gray.... (I like the gray color of the bumpers on the prior Tacomas) and now trying to decide what to do with bumper colors and the valance.

Considering doing the bumpers in a lighter black or maybe a dark gray like on the Tacos and the valance in the metallic argent/gray. Thoughts?
Also, is it possible to use the 4X4 valance on the 2WD bumper??? The 2WD valance is pretty boring and I like the look of the 4X4 valance.

Bottom line: still doing some thinking... but getting closer!!

[dsrtrcr01]

A 4x valance will not go on the 2wd bumper.

The grey which I have had is different but believe it or not after a week it will just look black. I have seen a couple vehicles that have painted the bumper the same color as the vehicle and it looked good. I have also seen them paint the grille and bumper the same color as the vehicle. Personally I liked the look of a truck that had a black grille a body color bumper and a black valance. Think about it, you may like it. This truck was red so I do not know how green would look.