Adding Chrome Accents To Your Truck

Today I will be doing something a bit different from the norm.  I wanted to use this post as an opportunity not to explain how to install chrome elements, but to discuss their uses.

Please don't be offended by any of this. I don't think that I know it all or that my opinion is any better than the next guy. These are just my thoughts and opinions.

I was driving down the road last week and I saw a charcoal colored 2005 Chevy Silverado 1500 for sale. This was a clean looking truck and looked like the owner took good care of it. The only problem was that this truck had every cheap stick on chrome accessory on the market.

I am not saying that there is anything wrong with these accessories, I even have a few of them myself. What I saw wrong with this was the overcrowding and overuse of these accessories. This vehicle in particular just looked ugly to me with the big, flashy fake out chrome vents above the front wheel wells, the multiple packages of chrome rubbers tripping, etc. Just because they make a chrome piece to accent a certain area of the vehicle doesn't mean it will look good installed.

I  guess the moral of this story is to use the accents in moderation. Too little and you may feel you are lacking something, too much and your ride will start to look tacky. It is all about finding the right pieces to obtain a nice, clean, natural look. If you feel that you need every chrome accessory on the market, purchase them all, and love the way it looks, then all the more power to you because in the end it is all about what you like.

When it comes to the chrome rubber stripping a good rule of thumb is only use one package. I see tons of people out on the road that have, in my opinion, way overused this product. I have seen both cars and trucks where the owners have found every nook and cranny they can shove the stuff onto and it just looks gaudy. The best approach is to find somewhere subtle yet noticeable to place the stripping. It is very easy to get carried away with this chrome stripping.  This is a product I have purchased and used on my Silverado. I originally decided to place it along the edges of my rain guards, which I did. When it came to the leftovers I couldn't stop trying to find a place to fit them in. However, I didn't want to just put it anywhere.  I decided to do the front and back of my hood. I like the way that it instantly gave the front end a different look, but it was hard to notice what changed.

Here are some photos of my chrome accessories. They include the rubber stripping, the door handles, and the gas tank cover.

Well, I hope I didn't bore you too much with this one. Now it's back to the regular how to's for a while.

Since I bored you all a bit I think I may skip ahead to one of my more recent modifications that I think many of you will like. Let's light up the night with some fog lights behind the grille!

How to Make a Custom Third Brake Light Cover

After tinting the windows in my Silverado I had multiple scraps of tint laying around. I tried to put them to good use and come up with something different. I wound up making a custom third brake light cover...

Warning: There is a chance you will scratch your 3rd brake light while performing this modification. Remember to take your time and be cautious However if you do scratch it, they will be very small and most likely not noticeable to anyone. Please be careful.

Tools and Materials:
Phillips head screw driver
Small Square of window tint
Dish soap and water in spray bottle
Plastic card (license, credit card, gift card, etc will work)
Razor Blade
Scissors
Masking Tape
Scotch Tape
Piece of paper
Printer
Hair dryer (optional)

1. Remove the third brake light from the vehicle:This can be done by removing the two phillips head screws and gently prying the cover out from the body of the truck. I used a paint can opener for this. The light will come out fairly easily. Please be careful when removing this not to scratch your vehicle! Once you have it out a bit disconnect the wire harness that comes out of the cab.

2. Thoroughly clean the outside of the third brake light: I used Dirtex, but any cleaner should do for this.

3. Cut the tinting into a rectangle: The tinting should be slightly larger than the area on the light between the two white lights. I forgot to take a picture of this, so I photo shopped an image to help. I also left my tint large in the photos, but ended up trimming and re-aligning.

4. Peel tinting: Separate tinting from plastic sheet and soak everything. Using two pieces of scotch tape peel the plastic off of the adhesive side of the tinting. As you are peeling the tint be sure to spray it with plenty of soapy water. Also spray your third brake light where you will be applying the tint. I would suggest putting a towel under the light for this step to soak up the extra soap and water.

5. Apply, smooth, and trim tinting: Stick the tinting over the center of the light. Spray the outside of the tinting with your soap and water solution. Using a plastic card, smooth the tinting starting from the top of the light and working down and out towards the outer edges. Be patient and do your best to get any noticeable air bubbles and creases out from under the tint. If you are having trouble with air bubbles try using a hair dryer. Use caution not to melt tint when using a hairdryer, it would take a good amount. Once you have the tint smoothed out to where you are satisfied, carefully trim the edges down even with the top and bottom edges of the light or to the desired size.

6. Choose your design: Here is the fun part. You can be very creative in this step. Find an image or design that you would like to use. The simpler this design is the easier it will be to create. I chose a Chevy bow tie with Z71 in the middle. I found both of these pictures with a google image search and combined them with a photoshop program. Once you have found your image you then print it out. Once printed you will need to hold the paper over your tinted brake light to check for size. Adjust your chosen image size and reprint if necessary. It took me a couple of tries to get my image to the correct size. Once you have the size right, cut out the outside edges. This is my image, feel free to use it just make sure to fix the top left inside when you are cutting. Also I ignored the "off road" lettering while cutting this.

7. Tape the image over the tinted light: Using masking tape, align your design on the in the center of the tinting and a small amount towards the bottom and tape the border of the design. Ensure that the design is straight and in the correct location.

8. Cut out your design: Determine which areas you are cutting out. I didn't have to mark them, but you may want to if you are worried about cutting out the wrong parts. Using the razor blade, start with the part of the design in the center. You don't want to cut the part with the tape on it until last so your image stays in place the whole time. I had two methods while cutting. Method 1:Lightly cut through the paper and not all of the way through the tinting to mark it out. then remove paper and cut through tinting. This is slower but prevents scratching your light. Method 2: Cut through both paper and tint using more pressure. This is hard to do without scoring into your light. You need to find the right balance of pressure with the blade. If you do score into your light the scratches will be minor and not really noticeable.

9. Peel the tint: This step can be tricky. Now that you have made all of you cuts carefully remove the taped on stencil, taking care not to disturb or shift the tinting. Carefully peel of the areas of tint that you have cut out. I used various items to try to do this because the tint was holding on pretty tight. I used my fingernail, my plastic card, the back of the razor blade (scratched it a little, I don't recommend using that), and last but not least a plastic pen cap. The pen cap worked pretty good at peeling the tint off. There are probably plenty of other things you can use. I just grabbed what was on hand. Be careful not to slip and scratch or rip the tint. Also make sure to peel off the right parts.


10. Clean and install: Spray the light with your soap and water Carefully wipe it off with a dry towel. Plug the wires in and screw the light back in. Congratulations, you're done.

Finished Product:

Final Thoughts: I know that they sell covers for these and that is would be much easier to purchase one of these than to make one, but this was a rainy day thing that cost me $0 and I am happy with it. Also, it may be possible to get a rough size of the piece of tint and precut your design, but am not sure how easy it would be to apply. Just sharing my rainy day project. Thanks for reading.

As always, thanks for checking out my project and feel free to ask any questions or just tell me what you thought about this project.

So what next?  Next I will be doing something a bit different. I will be discussing the addition of chrome elements and subtle accents to your vehicle.