tailgate emblems - to replace, go with retro decals, or leave debadged?

just got a truck with a tailgate that had been repainted and to save a few dollars the cheap bastards peeled off the chrome emblems and then reused them so the chrome is now flaking and peeling off of them.

not sure how they put them back on but praying its not super glued but whatever the case these trashed nasty looking emblems have got to come off so the question is:

should I pop on the $60-$75 for all new Toyota emblems or leave them off and maybe go with a retro looking giant Toyota decal instead?

the retro decal is like $25: http://www.ebay.com/itm/TOYOTA-TRUC...kup-/150604842446?hash=item2310bf85ce&vxp=mtr

im leaning to putting the originals back but looking for ideas and opinions since it needs some attention so I have a chance to customize it myself, and no im not putting one of these on it lol: http://www.ebay.com/itm/2T146-MODEL-TAILGATE-WRAP-Vinyl-Graphic-Decal-Sticker-Tint-Bed-Cover-/321710165464?fits=Make:Toyota&hash=item4ae76b8dd8&vxp=mtr

 

I like the debadged look, so I removed mine and added black vinyl decals. Smooth sheetmetal with a hint of Taco.

 

^^ Never seen that idea before, looks super clean

 

leave her nekkid

 

I'd go retro if it was me, screw paying $70 for chrome badges, you could find them on ebay for cheaper than that anyway.

 

I thought of going retro on my truck but I haven't seen many trucks with those big emblems on them... kinda scared to do it.

 

lol that was ebay prices, oem is like $150

your roughly looking at $25 each as individuals and $20 each if bought as a set so I have 4 of them, Toyota, Tacoma, Prerunner SR5 (this is done together as one badge), and that's $60 roughly depending who you buy it from and I was planning to leave off the V6 since it was $20 by itself.

I just finished peeling off the letters and it came off good so im glad they didn't add glue to them or anything like that, had I gone through the carwash they would be flying out all over the car behind me anyways as unstick as they were. I'd say each letter was about 60% still sticky and the rest wasn't even holding.

im kinda digging the naked look but it doesn't look stock anymore, something about a plain white truck just needs some chrome emblems or retro black decal letters to make it pop but for now im still unsure if I should replace them.

what others think about how it looks doesn't matter as long as you like it. what I like about the retro decals, besides the price, is they stand out more and are original and not like every other truck out there. http://www.ebay.com/itm/Toyota-Pick...oma-/361237331834?hash=item541b6c3f7a&vxp=mtr

 

you could contact the two people on the forums that make the decals and get a quote from them. The one I got mine from was extremely fair and fast shipping. Also worked with me on the design.

I got the Toyota, Tacoma, SR5, and V6 in matte vinyl

 

who are these two guys? im sure im not the only one who will give them business

 

Got mine from member ghost There are several on here who make custom stickers. Search custom bedsides or custom stickers.

https://www.tacomaworld.com/members/ghost.127364/

 

Got some sweet bedside vinyls from ruggedT. Even does custom fonts. Went with a 'blade' style font for some lettering on mine. Pretty sweet. Just an idea, but I think it'd be cool to do 'Toyota' in a different custom font. But most like the oem look. I like unique.

Check out dafont.com lots of fonts. Something to think about anyways

 

I went retro with a little twist and an tweaked TRD badge with the old TRD colors.

 

Got my vinyl decals from cboy808, really easy to apply.

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/custom-made-vinyl-stickers.281228/

 

I also got mine from Cboy808. I wanted to keep the 1st Gen look and he worked with me on the final design/dimensions to get them on par

 

thanks guys, I decided to just go with the basic single big retro decal sticker from the older trucks

 

you could always go to a junk yard and pull some off some older Tacomas

 

when you peel off used emblems the chrome shell separates and distorts causing a cracking look to the finish like wrinkled foil and in some cases the shell cracks and peels off the plastic completely.

I suppose with extreme care and patience you can remove one in about a half hour or so but to be worth reusing you need to do it without letting the plastic bend or change shape in any way but that's a lot to go through to save $20 a set and 4 sets of these emblems with many letters in each set.

not to mention you need to get them perfectly spaced and even then applied to a backing tape so you can reapply them correctly so they don't look messed up.

 

I also got some from cboy808!

 

Fishing line, all my badges are hard plastic, so are the older tacoma badges. Not sure what methods you have tried in the past but it takes me about 5 mins to debadge a truck/car with fishing line.

but I guess if your trying to go for a sticker a little different

 

I kinda like the decal across the back