White Taco hood glare?

DaveM

Explorer
For guys with white tacos, how's the glare from the hood? I know some overlanders will paint their hoods black for dessert conditions to cut back on the glare. I was wondering if you guys with white tacos in dessert areas found that to be a problem.

thanks,
dave
 

slooowr6

Explorer
I don't know about desert. Went to Death Valley in 110 degree heat and the sun was bright did not notice issue with glare.
 

Willman

Active member
There's a thread around here some where...let me do some digging....


:Astrologist:
 
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Spikepretorius

Explorer
I wanted a black hood but unfortunately they have become the latest fashion down here with all the bling 20inch wheel crowd. Now I can't be seen dead with a black hood.
 

Wanderlusty

Explorer
Spikepretorius said:
I wanted a black hood but unfortunately they have become the latest fashion down here with all the bling 20inch wheel crowd. Now I can't be seen dead with a black hood.

Haha! Yeah...hate it when that happens....

Around here, most black hoods on the bling cars are carbon fiber. So if you went flat black...it would be ok...
 

Cackalak Han

Explorer
Spikepretorius said:
I wanted a black hood but unfortunately they have become the latest fashion down here with all the bling 20inch wheel crowd. Now I can't be seen dead with a black hood.

Paint it red? :jumping:
 

Photog

Explorer
Spikepretorius said:
I wanted a black hood but unfortunately they have become the latest fashion down here with all the bling 20inch wheel crowd. Now I can't be seen dead with a black hood.

Start a new trend. Paint it matte dark green (military paint).
 

FlatlandTRD

Observer
I think the main reason for some black hoods, in addition to the overhead lights, was due to the flater style hoods. Whereas the tacoma hoods are more convex. I haven't noticed any problems on hot 100+ days with glare, or on cold snow covered days. My only concern on the hot days would be the heat soak.
 

4AFK

Observer
Fat_Man said:
Haha! Yeah...hate it when that happens....

Around here, most black hoods on the bling cars are carbon fiber. So if you went flat black...it would be ok...

Better yet, paint it with bed liner. That would look cool, make it possible to walk on with out scratching and prevent glare.
 

Photog

Explorer
Bed liner won't make a Tacoma hood strong enough to walk on. But the paint under the bedliner would be scratch free, over the new dent in the hood.:ylsmoke:

Edit: Sorry, I couldn't resist a little poke.
 

snipecatcher

Adventurer
yeah

Also, don't try to do a Dukes of Hazzard style hoodslide, it will put a small crease in the driver's side hood curve of the Tacoma.
-Dan
 

Martinjmpr

Wiffleball Batter
Never seemed to be a problem on the Taco. There is enough of a curve that any "bright spot" is likely to be very small.

Now, on a vehicle with a completely flat hood, it's a big problem as it is like having another sun sitting right there on top of your hood and burning straight into your eyes.

This was such a problem with my Montero that I eventually rattle-canned it black:

RALLY15.jpg


RALLY05.jpg


RALLY11.jpg


It worked great, and although I liked the way it looked, the one time I tried to trade it in to buy a new truck the salesman was horrified and insisted he'd have to pay $500 to have the hood repainted. So I told him to shove his $800 trade in allowance and sold it myself for about $3300. :D
 

DaveM

Explorer
Thanks for the input guys. I read that other thread as well, good info.

I was just curious about the glare problem since I noticed that so many of you have white Tacos in desert areas and I'm mostly drawn to the white myself. I'm looking to pick up a previous gen Taco next year sometime and would prefer white. I guess if it's a problem I can deal with it later. I like the idea of not painting but putting on a black vinyl application.
 

Christophe Noel

Expedition Leader
My Discovery has a pretty flat hood. While the glare isn't bad, it sure did help to add the blackout. I admit 90% of my reason for doing it was aesthetic but in hindsight, it has helped. In a Disco you sit with your chin right up to the dash and the flat hood.

Being part lazy and part non-committal, I opted for a cheap, easy and temporary option first. I used Spray On Bra from Griot's Garage. I wanted to try the effect without hassling with the big decal or perminantly painting my hood. This stuff went on in 10 minutes and can be peeled off in a flash if I don't need it anymore. It has held up great since June and has to be the most non-reflective material on earth. My hood looked better with two coats which was two cans at $19 each.

View attachment 14622

http://www.griotsgarage.com/product...eyword=spray+on+bra&sortby=newArrivals&page=1

It does look a bit like bed liner so some people wonder what in the world I was thinking, but to me it just looks rugged.

I JUST NOTICED - SPRAY ON BRA IS NOW ON SALE!!! BUY 2 CANS AND TRY IT!!
 
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