Johnhav430

As I had found online, the caps come whole and would require opening the door to install, so one must pop the colored plastic off, and glue to what's on the door.

I now see why these things get lost. Right from the factory, the only thing holding the color to the plug is the knub of plastic, and glue on this knub.

I was pretty sure I was gonna break both of them as it required quite a bit of force prying to separate them.

Rather than use only a dab, I used a lot of 3M with the hopes they will never fall off again. The one thing I would have done differently, is I would have applied blue painter's tape to the plastic, so that any excess adhesive would be on the tape. I had to "polish" the caps with cleaner/wax to clean up.

The over under is I think they will stay on the car, but anything's possible. I think the reason for this design, is Lexus wanted the handles to look a little nicer, where most is chrome/plastic, then the body color is thin. Most cars have the entire handle the body color, which is why they would never lose a tiny insert like the LS does...

I also replaced the "pad" in front of the RF wheel that was missing....

So now I'm out $54 for these tiny caps, but I think it was always in the back of my mind to put them back, the drip rail peeling was the catalyst to fix the car up....

2KHarrier

I'm sure you already have, but you may want to check the torque on those deflector bolts! You might be replacing it again in the near future....

Johnhav430

They're not overtightened, if that's what you mean....they're nothing more than screws....

I think the previous owner ran over something. One of the "eyelets" was still on the inside screw. On the other side, the rubber is really torn up, also from hitting things. imho if one gets really close to concrete blocks etc, these will get worn/damaged....

p.s. ah I get what you mean! I snapped the pic before tightening up....

gmoney94

Great job!

I just bought a cap as well, and I was bummed about the thought of taking the door apart to install it. I was thinking about the very repair you just did!

Any tips for separating the cap from the rest of the piece? And what 3M adhesive did you apply to stick it on.

Thanks so much!

2KHarrier

Joo got it mang!

jimbosr1

the factory caps (the small piece) is held on by 2 clips.If you order from the dealer you just get the small piece that is painted.
thats how i received mine 7 years ago and there was no tape involved.

Johnhav430

This is the adhesive I used was 3M 03601 Plastic Emblem and Trim Adhesive

Well, it seems to take much more force than I would have liked to apply, to separate the caps.....I stuck a regular (thought it was going to be miniature but no) flathead screwdriver in the slot/groove of the colored cap, and while holding the chrome piece, appliled upward force. Nothing broke, and it seemed to have broken the factory glue, which is only on the knub, nowhere else. I figured if I use a lot of adhesive, letting it ooze out a little, it would stay on the car....here's where I wish I had put some blue painter's tape on the door and the piece, so the cleanup would be easy.....I think if the cleanup is "not" easy, this implies the glue will hold lol

my tip would be try to make sure the force is going for the most part outward from the chrome piece. Meaning you have to keep the screwdriver in the groove, but you're not really prying it off say like a molding, you're forcing it to come apart parallel to the chrome....good luck!

Johnhav430

I saw such a part online, but it didn't have all the color combos....wonder if that is a cheaper route, than spending like $26 for the whole assy when we just need the thin caps.....good idea to ask locally....also I don't see two clips, only the one knub on the colored caps

jimbosr1

i think i paid $40 for just the small piece from the lexus dealer,but it went together perfectly.

Johnhav430

The first test will be Mon. when I hit the car wash.....we had huge thunderstorms overnight, of course the caps are still there.....I'm still running my finger over the caps to remove any excess glue that I can still find and the glue is very hard, its like dead skin peeling. imho I have second guessed Toyota where all it has holding the caps to the plugs is one tiny knub with glue (the other 2 are still on, almost 12 yrs. later). I think the glue likely gets brittle and then fails, and the caps fall off if knocked. There are cars on cars.com with missing caps in the pics....

Is my excess glue necessary, in the short term, likely not, but I really believe they will never come off again, they'll still be there, even one day if the car is in the scrapyard in the year 2100. Maybe some kid born 2082 will be restoring a classic, and saying these two won't come off, it's as if someone glued them on....

edit: Now that I notice these things, the new Impala does it the same way as our LS430--have not noticed any other car that does that. It gives the handles a two tone look I guess, with a body colored inlay.