Edmunds.com | Inside Line | Auto Observer Your Account | Help | Directory
You are here:
![[F]](http://a332.g.akamai.net/f/332/936/12h/www.edmunds.com/media/townhall/webxicons/site.gif){kind=small}
Forums
SUVs Toyota Highlander Toyota Highlander Accessories and Modifications
1400 messages, Last post on Oct 12, 2009 at 8:45 AM
You are in the Toyota Highlander Forum. Your Hosts are steve_ & tidester
|
|
|---|---|
I bought a '04 Highlander in June - it's now December and I live in Buffalo and am looking for a Remote Starter - I do not need an alarm with it. I'm told I need to have one of my keys "wired in", because of the key chip. Does anyone have experience or advice on this subject? Any comments welcome
|
|
|
Replying to: bobchandler (Dec 23, 2004 12:43 pm) |
|
|
Have any of you installed the 3M ClearMask tape on the front of their HL's? I'm looking at doing (myself) the bumper and grill areas and your thoughts/experiences would be appreciated. TIA!
|
|
|
|
|
Replying to: bobgordon (Dec 27, 2004 4:24 pm) Overall I have mixed feelings about the stuff. It looks really cool at first and works as advertised in preventing pitting from road debris. But after a few years its surface looses its luster and begins to look dull (at least that's the case on my roommate's Audi). My preference is to avoid it except specifically in areas subject to excessive road debris exposure. But it does look really cool.
|
|
|
Replying to: landdriver (Dec 27, 2004 5:09 pm) I've installed in over all the headlight assemblies on our late model cars/suv's and think it's great. I'm not sure if the material used on the headlights (thick 3M acrylic) is the same as the material ClearMask uses. The difference is of course the headlight lens is clear so I'm just wondering how it will look on a painted surface. All the crap kicked up on the road plays hell with the front bumper.  If it is the same thickness as the headlight covers, it will be a pain to install. Even for the headlights, one needs to use a hair dryer to make the contours form, plus a spray bottle of alcohol/distilled water solution. Thanks! |
|
|
After two months of searches I completed my OEM fog lights for 2004 HL. This is a copy and paste of directions from someone on the other forum. "Just for the sake of being safe, you should disconnect the positive lead from the battery. The hardest part of installing the fog lights is taking off the cover of the steering wheel column. You have to replace the headlight switch with a new one, that's why the cover has to come off. The steering wheel itself doesn't come off, just the cover around the column. Follow this link and look at page 5. The instructions in the link are for installing the RS3200 system, but page 5 shows you how to get the steering wheel column cover off. Don't worry about taking the kickplate off like the first picture shows. You don't have to do that. Once you get the cover off, you'll see where the wiring harness is plugged into the headlight switch. Take the harness out, then take the switch out by pressing the black claw tab in the middle of the square part. The new switch goes in place in reverse, and then you can put the column back together. Make sure you push the switch all the way back in. I didn't at first and the turn signals wouldn't turn off after I went around a turn. I pushed the stalk on the headlight switch really hard and I felt it pop in place and it's worked fine since. To get the filler plates in the bumper out, just take a screwdriver and start prying the from the sides. Be careful not to scratch the paint on the truck. Once you get the plate moved just a little bit you can pull it out. It's plastic and bends very easily. Just FYI, I sold these on ebay and got $15 for them. So take them out carefully and make a little cash if you can! The wiring harnesses for the fog lights are taped to the headlight harness assemblies above. Cut the tape and feed the fog harnesses down to the holes in the bumper. The fog lights use a type 9006 bulb. You can get them from Toyota or just go to Autozone and save some $$. You can use the blue and purple colors if you want, but if you go with no tint, don't get anything higher than 55 watt. I'm not sure the wiring harness is built to withstand any more heat than a 55 watt would create. So now plug the bulbs into the fog light assemblies and lock by turning whichever way is printed on the fogs. Plug the harness into the bulb and push the fog light assembly into the hole. It will be obvious which way and which hole the fog assemblies go in. The little black tab snaps into the little hole on the bottom side of each fog light hole. Don't worry, that'll make sense when you see it. The fog lights don't take up the entire hole, so you put the protectors on around it. Those just snap in place. Now the last thing to do is put the relay in. This is what took me forever to find! I wound up calling a dealership and getting some help. OK, see that little change box on the drivers side kick panel? Let that down and then pull up on it to get it to come loose then take it out. You should be looking at the fuse panel now. The relay goes on the BACK of the fuse panel. Reach up from the bottom of the fuse panel and just feel around on the back of it (you won't get shocked). The relay goes on the bottom row, in the middle slot. It should be the only slot open on the bottom row. Plug it in, put the change box back in place and you're done! Here are the part numbers. The cheapest place I could find online was toyotapartworld.com. Check some other places or call some local dealerships and see where you can get them the cheapest. These lamps don't take up the entire hole for the fogs, so the protectors are required. There may be other lamps available too, but if there are I don't know what they are. 81211-52070 RH Fog Lamp 81221-52070 LH Fog Lamp 90981-13047 Fog Lamp Bulb (you can get these cheaper at AutoZone, Pep Boys, NAPA, etc.) 81483-48010 Protector (req 1 per side) 90987-02027 Relay 84140-20680 Switch I think this should cover about everything." I got all parts from local dealer  20% off. If anyone interested, www.partznet.com offers 25% off + shipping ( which comes out the same ). |
|
|
I don't remember seeing this mentioned, sorry if I missed it. Consumer Reports November 2004 did a piece on "SUV and Pickup Tires," focusing on All-Season tires (vs All-Terrain and others). Interesting reading, it included the oft-mentioned Michelin Cross Terrain (ranked 19 out of 22) and Yok Geolander (ranked 18 out of 22). One tidbit I found was that the tire in the test with the least rolling resistance would give 2 mpg better 65mph highway mileage than the tire with the most rolling resistance! That's 8 percent of 24mpg, a significant increase, and I can't think of any other mod which would give that improvement. Of course, the Bridgestone Dueler (orig equip on mine) has the 'excellent' rating for rolling resistance, so you can only go downhill. Too much data to try to convey, so if you're in the market, it might be worth a trip to the library. There are only two tires with 'good' or better in all 9 categories, the Dayton Timberline HT (#5 and a Quick Pick) and the Uniroyal Laredo Cross Country (#9), each $75 for the tested size, P235/70R16. The highest rated tire was the Goodyear Fortera HL Edition ($115), but it rated only fair in 'Rolling Resistance' and 'Ride.' |
|
Does anyone have any recommendations for a source for new HL Wiper Blade inserts?
|
|
|
Replying to: gary (Jan 12, 2005 9:46 am) Passenger side is 19" and uses thin blade Could it not be more complicated NAPA auto store has 19" standard wiper with blade for $4 Now you have both wipers with standard blades Walmart has standard inserts (2) for under $3 |
|
|
Hi- So I'm looking into buying a 05 highlander and trying to decipher the hitch situation. I gather that I can get a highlander with the hitch installed, but it's twice what it should cost. The aftermarket hitches sound great. But, I just called toyota service people and aside from the fact that they don't install other people's aftermarket hitches (not surprising - jerks) they say it takes 3 hrs at $79/hour! So, I'm trying to decipher the truth since one person said they got their mechanic to install for $18. It doesn't really take 3 hrs, does it? They talked about welding, and removing bumpers. When I told him that etrailer.com said it takes 40 minutes for a class III hitch with no drilling, he was stumped. Was I being fed lies from a parts guy who thought a woman knew nothing? Or is it not as easy to install as it sounds. Also, important to note that I will only be using it for a bike rack, so I don't think I need it to be welded on... Thanks for your advice and help! Rachel
|
|
You are here:
Forums
SUVs Toyota Highlander Toyota Highlander Accessories and Modifications
New? Join Now!
Forum Tools
Search Forums
Browse by Vehicle
2010 Toyota Highlander
Browse by Board
Browse by Topic
Today's Chats
