quote:

Originally posted by Kskelton:
I agree the chrome looks tacky except on a few select models/colors schemes. I bet the black makes it look 100% better.

The worst are when a fancy car has chrome wheels. Many Corvette owners complained about that one, made the car look so tacky.

quote:

Originally posted by David Lee:
I am starting to look at the general maintainance of my Sienna van for Autumn and Winter. The 3 rear spark plugs require a lot of work just to expose them. Those wont get done untill next Spring as they are fine and, I simply dont log much milage. Only 8,000 miles last year.

I had a '94 Camry and then a '03 Grand Prix with the V6 where they were set up like that. It was a nightmare to change those plugs. Removing the items to get to the plugs was more time than it was to change the plugs themselves. Now I have an I4 where they're all right there in front of you.

I'd like to punch the Toyota engineer directly in the mouth that designed the 4.7l V8 on the first Gen. The starter is underneath the intake and requires removal of said intake to replace. There are also a few tricky bolts jammed right into the firewall that must have been designed for a 90lb Japanese mechanic to access.

quote:

Originally posted by monoblok:

quote:

His new assignment was to make it necessary to remove the front bumper cover to service the headlights on Cadillac CTS models.)

Probably GM decided that his previous work at Volvo and Mazda on the same part of their cars would make him a natural for the CTS job. Almost all modern cars are a wonder of cutting edge packaging, because they will leave you wondering over WTF they were thinking when they designed the damn things.

Engineers apparently don't spend any effort or time designing vehicles for ease of maintenance. There was a thread here a while ago discussing how the new Ford Rangers require an entire wheel and wheel lining to be removed just to change the oil filter.

Sometimes, I wonder if this is done on purpose, to drive more people to the dealerships for routine maintenance. . . More likely, I think it's just to save money and to be able to cram every little piece into the smallest space possible.

My personal favorite was when a $.05 turn signal light burned out in the right passenger door mirror of my VW Jetta. The dealership solution was to replace the ENTIRE mirror housing, for a mere $132. I googled it, and people said it was better to remove the mirror from the bracket (this was glued on), access the $.05 bulb from the inside, and re-glue the mirror back into place. I figured I could not do this without breaking the mirror, at a minimum, so I just left it alone. I hated that VW, and vowed to never buy another VW (the mirror issue was not the only problem I had with that car).

what are you guys Mennonites?!
I dont get the black trim look, but what do I know?

OP glad your door handle change went well, I am hopeful that other brands follow as well with design for service approach.

I completely understand getting rid of the chrome. Whenever I see a chromed out truck I think of an old man with a luxury vehicle that’s never hauled a load or seen mud on the tires.

quote:

Originally posted by egregore:
Have you changed the engine oil & filter yet? Do you still have to take the giant skid plate off to change the filter?

No, and yes with the factory skid plate.

I have aftermarket skid plates waiting to go on. They have removable access panels so the whole skid does not need to be removed.
Will also be adding a fumoto drain valve and have a tool for the Toyota oil filters so I just drain straight to a jug. No splash no mess.

quote:

Originally posted by egregore:
Have you changed the engine oil & filter yet? Do you still have to take the giant skid plate off to change the filter?

Beat me to it. The first time I changed the oil in my Sienna I’d already drained the oil before finding out you need a special tool to remove the oil filter from its special housing. I admit to sharing some of the blame but I’d been changing my own oil for decades and it never occurred to me that someone would design the oil filtration such that a special tool would be needed to change the filter. Pissed me off bigly.

quote:

Originally posted by monoblok:

quote:

His new assignment was to make it necessary to remove the front bumper cover to service the headlights on Cadillac CTS models.)

Probably GM decided that his previous work at Volvo and Mazda on the same part of their cars would make him a natural for the CTS job. Almost all modern cars are a wonder of cutting edge packaging, because they will leave you wondering over WTF they were thinking when they designed the damn things.

GM’s been doing that kind of stuff for a while. My mom had a Pontiac Grand Safari station wagon, I think it was a 1972. 455 cubic inch engine, not a small motor, but when you opened the hood that motor looked small in the cavity. Still, those silly buggers managed to place the AC compressor such that you had to pull a wheel (right if memory serves, but that is always an open question) and go in through the wheel well to get at least the front plug and maybe the front two, I don’t remember for sure. Fun times...

Next thing you know you'll be posting about putting rims on a minivan.



(I love blacked out trim. I've dechromed a few cars and motorcycles.)

Gotta give a big thumbs up to the guys and gals at Daimler - Chrysler at the time.

Everything I've had to do with my trucks has been simple and easy. The timing chain set is straightforward and the corporate parts bin allows for many modifications I couldn't do otherwise. Adding the radio buttons to the steering wheel was easy and the multiplexer clock speed is compatible with my test equipment.

Now if I find the Toyota guy that designed the Previa, I'd have a few questions about what inspired the sadist to do such a thing. Easily the biggest horror story hustled upon an unsuspecting public.

Own 2 Toyota’s currently and have had two previously. It’s been my experience that often the things that should be easy are difficult and vice versa. Try replacing the primary 30A fuse in an FJ. It’s bolted to the fuse box, and the access is on the back side of the bottom of the fuse box. You have to detach the fuse box to gain access, but first you have to remove a several other things around it to get to it. I’m told it’s about a 3 hour job that even the Toyota techs hate.

So, after reading a write up about how to do it and how difficult it was going to be, I decided on a different tack. As a temporary solution, I removed the top cover on the original fuse and jammed the replacement in right on top piggy-back style. That was 2 years ago...

quote:

Originally posted by Black92LX:
Last we I wanted to punch the GM engineer that decided it should take well over 30 minutes, 4 different sockets, and a screwdriver to swap a battery.

This week I would like to buy the Toyota engineer a beer that designed door handles of the Tundra!

I bought black door handles to replace the chrome ones. Took under 15 minutes for all 4 and a single T40 driver!

Thank you!!!

A couple years back I replaced the black door handles on my silver 2014 with body colored ones. I too was impressed with how easy it was to swap them out.

I also added body colored mirror caps.

Check out Sparks Toyota if you haven't already.
Sparks Toyota - Mirror Caps



...

I'd like to punch the Toyota engineer that came up with the plastic oil filter housing.

's 's G's Grand Prix with

quote:

GM’s been doing that kind of stuff for a while. My mom had a Pontiac Grand Safari station wagon, I think it was a 1972. 455 cubic inch engine, not a small motor, but when you opened the hood that motor looked small in the cavity. Still, those silly buggers managed to place the AC compressor such that you had to pull a wheel (right if memory serves, but that is always an open question) and go in through the wheel well to get at least the front plug and maybe the front two, I don’t remember for sure. Fun times...

GM's been doing "the stupid" for years. That Grand Safari wagon, the HVAC blower motor was behind the right front wheel skirt. To remove it, one way was to cut a hole in that skirt, GM actually made a cover to use over that hole, it was that or pull the right front wheel and the skirt off.

On the spark plug access, the Chevrolet Monza of the 70's, the one based on a stretched Vega platform that used a V-8 engine, the procedure was to raise the engine to change some of the spark plugs.Early 90's Grand Prix and Oldsmobile Cutlass had a 3.4L DOHC engine, you had to remove engine stabilizer struts and roll the engine forward to change the spark plugs next to the firewall. Someone mentioned the starter motor under the intake manifold aka Toyota, say "hello" to the Northstar engine. Northstar, or as some have called them "Deathstar", to reseal the oil pan on the Cadillac's so equipped, you have to remove the engine to reseal the oil pan. That works fine as long as the threads don't pull out of the block, hello "Timeserts", the GM approved way to repair the block. Resealing a Northstar due to oil leaks gets into the four digit range.

Drive belts, hold my beer and watch this! Pontiac Grand Am's of the 90's with a V6. to change the serpentine belt you had to remove the front engine mount.

There's been a lot more, I've just forgotten how many!

My first experience with the practicality of Toyota engineering was working in an automotive machine shop in the late 1970's. I was tasked to assemble a Toyota 4 cylinder from a box of parts I didn't disassemble. It was impressively intuitive and brilliant in it's functional simplicity. I was an immediate fan.

I bought a 1982 Toyota Celica new and mistakenly thought the oil pan gasket was leaking. It really was the front crank seal and the oil was being blown around the pan/crankcase junction. The service manual said to pull the left motor mount bolt and lift the engine an inch or so, the pan dropped right out.

To do a valve adjustment on that 22R engine required something like 5 tools, 10MM wrench, 12MM wrench, standard and phillips screwdrivers and feeler gauges. That included being able to remove the air cleaner and valve cover.

quote:

Engineers apparently don't spend any effort or time designing vehicles for ease of maintenance. There was a thread here a while ago discussing how the new Ford Rangers require an entire wheel and wheel lining to be removed just to change the oil filter.

Sometimes, I wonder if this is done on purpose, to drive more people to the dealerships for routine maintenance. . . More likely, I think it's just to save money and to be able to cram every little piece into the smallest space possible.

Realistically I think much of this is to make it easier and faster to assemble vehicles on the assembly line and secondary is servicing it once it gets to the consumer. All about time and money expended to build it.

quote:

I bought black door handles to replace the chrome ones. Took under 15 minutes for all 4 and a single T40 driver!

Where are the pictures?

I bought the handles used for cheap compared to new. I think it subtles Down the bling quite a bit.
The mirror caps are next. I am going to pop them off, clean them up, scuff them up, then paint them. Going to see how that goes for under $10. If they look like crap or begin to peel I’ll just buy the factory black caps.

Running Boards will be replaced with sliders so they will be all black.

Headlights are being replaced with OEM LED black housing lights from the TRD Pro.

Some day may get around to swapping to the honeycomb grille. That should cut down enough on the chrome and leave a happy mix.

quote:

I bought the handles used for cheap compared to new. I think it subtles Down the bling quite a bit.

Looks good.
Where'd you get the handles?
I could use some for the 4Runner. The existing handles are getting rough.

quote:

Originally posted by chellim1:

quote:

I bought the handles used for cheap compared to new. I think it subtles Down the bling quite a bit.

Looks good.
Where'd you get the handles?
I could use some for the 4Runner. The existing handles are getting rough.

A Tundras classifieds page.
These are a little faded from new. I am going to try those Cerakote trim wipes to freshen them up a bit.