What 60-series parts would you like to see 3D printed? (1 Viewer)

[Super77]

Shopping at Home Depot the other day, and noticed that they sell MakerBots. I think $2800 is still a bit rich the average HD shopper, but it got me thinking about car enthusiasts. Lots of quarter-century old plastic falling apart on our trucks. What are some common parts that fail or just don't exist? What are some common mods we wish Toyota made parts for?

Remember, we're still at fairly primitive resolution and mechanical properties with consumer grade printers, so the ideal use is non-cosmetic, non structural parts. As soon as you start sanding and painting the $$ goes way up.

I'll start with the trim plates that fit around the windshield wiper spindles. Mine seem to get dislodged and then mangled by the wipers' motion.

 

[cruiserpilot]

I was thinking the dash switch panel that surrounds the heater and lower switches, they seem to be always busted,
and you could build them with alternate switch holes.

 

[FJ60Seth]

I was thinking the dash switch panel that surrounds the heater and lower switches, they seem to be always busted,
and you could build them with alternate switch holes.

This! BTW I've heard it called the "dash surround"

 

[OGBeno]

Front fender louvers.

D Pillar louvers.

 

[stayalert]

ditto on the dash piece(s)

 

[Bear Lake Cruiser]

Electrical connectors?

 

[LAMBCRUSHER]

grille clips?

 

[dirtEJohnson]

Visor clips and seat belt buckle covers.

 

[ff347]

If the parts could be clear I would add lens covers for both dome lights.

 

[TLC Norway]

Oh, where to begin!?! there's so much that can be printed…
What's the maximum size, and how sturdy is the materia??

 

[Crick60]

Electrical connectors are still readily available from most component stores it's just the crimp and lug setup that's the expensive part.

I reckon the front guard side indicators are a must, virtually non existent anymore.

 

[OGBeno]

grille clips?

Still available from Toyota for cheap.

 

[GLTHFJ60]

How about the entire HVAC / switch bezel?

 

[LAMBCRUSHER]

Oh, where to begin!?! there's so much that can be printed…
What's the maximum size, and how sturdy is the materia??

makerbot is mostly using stackable abs, and one other light duty plastic based filiment they cal PLA. the build size isn't too large, and so far, no clear materials are being used. the resolution of the makerbot isn't that of a photo sensitive resin machines, but they are alot less expensive than the PSR printers...

 

[Super77]

makerbot is mostly using stackable abs, and one other light duty plastic based filiment they cal PLA. the build size isn't too large, and so far, no clear materials are being used. the resolution of the makerbot isn't that of a photo sensitive resin machines, but they are alot less expensive than the PSR printers...

^ this. IIRC, MakerBots have about a 4-5" cube print field. Certainly not the largest available, and not enough to do the dash bezel. I'm not sure I would recommend it for electrical connectors: between the resolution and the material properties, it would not function well.

 

[tonka az]

The dashboard. The entire dashboard.

 

[NMfjCruiser]

Side marker and tail light gaskets

 

[TLC Norway]

Door mirror spacer to adapt into using newer side mirrors, fj cruiser and so on.
Cup holders with cruiser design and logo.
Teq inspired theme.

 

[DoubleNickels]

I'm sensitive to this subject and it's hard to hold back snarky answers. I work at a Product Development company and we have a few 3D printers, from low-end ($1k makerbot-style FDM machines) to high-end ($200k UV-cure SLA machines). There's a ton of misconception about what is/may-be possible from such technology...

Bah! I'm assuming you'd like to keep this more in a "what-if" flavor. So... if the technology was there, and you could get the strength, resolution/tolerance you need, and thermal properties, I'd LOVE to see cheaper replacements for the pricey OEM components like the steering gearbox. It'd also be sweet to incorporate a lot of the funny bolt-on cast parts (think idler pulley mounts) into the engine block itself - and heck, you could easily design-in and "print" more efficient channels for the cooling system within the block - they're already doing such things with 3D-printed tooling for injection molding.

Sorry, my THREE cents.

 

[lovetoski]

Probably the original poster was referring to items that can be made from something similar to a $2800 makerbot.