- First Name
- John
- Joined
- Aug 21, 2026
- Threads
- 9
- Messages
- 36
- Reaction score
- 13
- Location
- Polk County, IA
- Vehicle(s)
- 2026 Tacoma Double Cab SR 4x4
- Thread starter
- #1
I improvised with pieces of wooden popsicle stick and green masking tape. I will have to replace that black trim molding above the silver bezel because it got mysteriously scratched somehow. While I'm at it, I will use sheet metal strips cut to size as shim material to wedge between the top of the climate control box and the clip bosses of the trim molding which is that very same piece that says TACOMA in black letters above the glove compartment door. That stupid thing is about $140 from the dealer including shipping. My goal was to get the gap between the top black trim molding below the radio even across the top from left to right.
My new Toyota product came from a North American plant with the right-hand top corner of the silver bezel lower than the corresponding corner on the left-hand side. This left a gap across the top of uneven thickness. This is an eyesore since the center silver bezel is like the crown on a king's head for prominence.
Sadly, our Toyota products are no longer made with the cosmetic precision that the hands of Japanese factory workers lovingly crafted Toyota automobiles decades ago. Those artisans had old-fashioned Old World pride that seems long extinct in a plastic, phony digitally-connected world of today.
I am a motor vehicle mechanic and tech by former trade. I was a fleet truck mechanic in the American army. I understand field expedients. The plastic interiors of our new Tacoma's snap together like a full-size Monogram plastic car. Toyota really went to the dogs with interior cosmetics, materials quality and neatness.
Those plastic pieces on the dash will scratch real easy if you not careful. I don't know how that trim piece just below the radio got scratched. I did try to protect the instrument panel with a hand towel tucked in the radio cavity while I was disconnecting a dozen leads from the back of the head unit. The Kelly green lead behind the radio is the backup camera, so you know.
UPDATE: September 1, 2026: the popsicle sticks wrapped in green tape are no more as shown in the pictures below. What you see below was replaced with custom metal shims.
1 1/2" strips of 22-guage sheet metal steel 3/8" wide were bent so they had angled 1/2" handles canted upward to grasp with needle nose pliers. The remaining flat 1" section on the bottom was the platform for the shim work. 1" strips were layered on top with crazy glue until I got the a/c panel trim leveled out as I liked. After the replacement silver bezel trim was replaced only one custom shim was needed with three layers of sheet metal strips. This shim was placed under the nylon clip boss just left of bezel center to press down the top of the a/c control box assembly ever so slightly to more or less even the gap across the top of the silver bezel trim. Steel is hard and won't compress over time like soft wood and tape. I bought the source steel sheet metal stock fort his little project at amazon.com. I had to check the gap adjustment with the radio head unit in its mounting points because it puts downward pressure on the plastic trim pieces. With the radio removed, the gap was more or less even across the top. With the radio in its mounts (not screwed down yet) the gap on the right hand side of the trim was slightly wider so I had to put a shim toward the left to compensate. Please don't connect the radio leads and bolt the head unit down until the gap is checked and adjusted as necessary first. It's a fussy trial and error thing like trying to adjust the front end alignment on an older GM automobile. I adjusted my new Tacoma's instrument panel trim alignment in the center. Modern PP plastic is just so imprecise in fit and finish. It doesn't have swiss watch tolerances. Even a new 1980 Porsche once had imprecisely-hung doors! Shims can be an automotive handyman.
My new Toyota product came from a North American plant with the right-hand top corner of the silver bezel lower than the corresponding corner on the left-hand side. This left a gap across the top of uneven thickness. This is an eyesore since the center silver bezel is like the crown on a king's head for prominence.
Sadly, our Toyota products are no longer made with the cosmetic precision that the hands of Japanese factory workers lovingly crafted Toyota automobiles decades ago. Those artisans had old-fashioned Old World pride that seems long extinct in a plastic, phony digitally-connected world of today.
I am a motor vehicle mechanic and tech by former trade. I was a fleet truck mechanic in the American army. I understand field expedients. The plastic interiors of our new Tacoma's snap together like a full-size Monogram plastic car. Toyota really went to the dogs with interior cosmetics, materials quality and neatness.
Those plastic pieces on the dash will scratch real easy if you not careful. I don't know how that trim piece just below the radio got scratched. I did try to protect the instrument panel with a hand towel tucked in the radio cavity while I was disconnecting a dozen leads from the back of the head unit. The Kelly green lead behind the radio is the backup camera, so you know.
UPDATE: September 1, 2026: the popsicle sticks wrapped in green tape are no more as shown in the pictures below. What you see below was replaced with custom metal shims.
1 1/2" strips of 22-guage sheet metal steel 3/8" wide were bent so they had angled 1/2" handles canted upward to grasp with needle nose pliers. The remaining flat 1" section on the bottom was the platform for the shim work. 1" strips were layered on top with crazy glue until I got the a/c panel trim leveled out as I liked. After the replacement silver bezel trim was replaced only one custom shim was needed with three layers of sheet metal strips. This shim was placed under the nylon clip boss just left of bezel center to press down the top of the a/c control box assembly ever so slightly to more or less even the gap across the top of the silver bezel trim. Steel is hard and won't compress over time like soft wood and tape. I bought the source steel sheet metal stock fort his little project at amazon.com. I had to check the gap adjustment with the radio head unit in its mounting points because it puts downward pressure on the plastic trim pieces. With the radio removed, the gap was more or less even across the top. With the radio in its mounts (not screwed down yet) the gap on the right hand side of the trim was slightly wider so I had to put a shim toward the left to compensate. Please don't connect the radio leads and bolt the head unit down until the gap is checked and adjusted as necessary first. It's a fussy trial and error thing like trying to adjust the front end alignment on an older GM automobile. I adjusted my new Tacoma's instrument panel trim alignment in the center. Modern PP plastic is just so imprecise in fit and finish. It doesn't have swiss watch tolerances. Even a new 1980 Porsche once had imprecisely-hung doors! Shims can be an automotive handyman.
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