To the left is the front of a stock 2005 Tacoma.  It is a handsome front end and virtually the same design as it is through 2008.  This particular Tacoma does not have a hood scoop.

      One way to dress up the front end a bit is to install new grills.  Tacoma owners can choose to change out the look of the grill in a number of ways, but I decided that the horizontal bar look was the one I liked most.

      Having succeeded with the Hood Scoop, I purchased a bottom and top Billet Grill from yet a different eBay Seller ($104 including shipping).  The lower piece was tricky to install only because I already had the Westin Bull Bar installed.  I had to remove a couple of bolts of the Bull Bar to pull it away just a little so that the lower Billet Grill would fit in behind it.  Once in, it was easy to secure using the brackets that came with the Billet Grill.

The upper Billet Grill was not so accommodating.  I am not sure how easy it would have been to install without the Westin Bull Bar, but it was certainly tricky having the Bull Bar attached.  The problem spot was where the Bull Bar brackets come out from the grill area as shown at right.

      I had to do three things to get the upper front Billet Grill to fit.  First, I had to cut off the top two bars all together.  The shiny metal that was exposed by the cuts were later painted over with black automotive paint.

      Secondly, I had to cut the vertical rods on the right and left side underneath the second bar so that the Billet Grill could be fit over the brackets.

      Third, I had to hold the Billet Grill in place and pencil the proper length of each bar because I found almost all of them were too long.  I then cut each bar starting at the top down with a Ryobi 18-volt angle grinder.  The good news is that each mark must have been pretty accurate because the Billet Grill then fit in nicely and I was able to anchor it in place using the four brackets that came with it.

      I have mixed feelings about the Toyota logo in the center of the upper Billet Grill.  I think it looks nice, but I have stripped all the other logos off of the truck.  I am not a fan of adopting company logos as a way to decorate products such as clothing or vehicles.  I could have installed a full Billet Grill that covered the logo, but I do think the logo helps break up the pattern.  I will leave this way it for now.

      Custom Billet Grill pieces are also available for the triangular wings to the right and left of the upper Grill.  Since the Westin Bull Bar pretty much hides those areas, I see no reason to spend money to dress up those pieces.  At some point I may attempt to remove the plastic and simply paint them with a chrome metallic paint and adding a Clear Coat finish.