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!