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Old 10-03-2020, 09:52 PM #1
toolguy toolguy is offline
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skid plate hardware figured out-specs and lots of pics

hey guys, this is a detailed look into the skid plate bolts AND WASHERS for the 5th Gen 4runner.

the process and results detailed below:
  • i can now fully hand tighten my new SS bolts and washes, to a fully seated skid plate to the fastening cross members, completely seated, via handtightening
  • i only use the socket wrench for a final minor torque setting

including caliper measurements, specs on replacement stainless steel bolts and washers and how to sequentially fasten skid plate hardware to fully seat your skid plate, when the skid plate bolts do not fully align with the fastening holes on the cross members.

whereas i have read a lot of posts about the skid plates and folks whom have replaced bolts.. what about actual specs.. pictures AND why no focus on the WASHERS..?

its all below with caliper measurements, spec and plenty of pics.
  • also a solution, to fully seat your skid plate, if your holes do not align (sequential fastening of the skid plate bolts so you can FULLY SEAT your skid plate and fastening hardware), also specs on replacement Bolts AND WASHERs, i bought which fit perfectly.
Below is a picture of the OEM skid plate bolts and washers, the bane of most 4runner owners.

skid plate hardware figured out-specs and lots of pics-20201003_200320-jpg
  • the OEM skid plates bolts, the ones pictured above have already been tapped to rethread bolts, which were stripped during prior oil change services

after tapping the bolts, i second guessed reinstalling these bolts and washers.

so.... naturally the calipers are taking out to obtain actual correct dimensions so i can order replacement 316 aka A4 stainless steel bolts AND WASHERS.

actual dimension specs of OEM Skid Plate Bolts:
  • these are M8 x 1.25 x ??
  • thread length is approximately 21.61mm
skid plate hardware figured out-specs and lots of pics-20201003_200507-jpg

but the actual viable thread length is close to just shy of 20mm. the starting thread pattern of the OEM bolt is slimmer and of "self tapping" thinner profile than the rest of the thread.

skid plate hardware figured out-specs and lots of pics-20201003_200729-jpg

so that the hex head bolt.. so we can buy M8 x 1.25 x 20mm replacement bolts.

what i have not read many posts include are the WASHER specs and replacing the washers.

the OEM Washer for the skid plate bolts are oversized and for a good reason. the fastening holes on the skid plate are fairly large relative to the hex head bolt size and bolt head..

standard washers are not going to fill this job.

lets check on what the specs are of the OEM Washers and try to find a suitable placement in stainless steel.

we know the washer will be M8 size, but what about the width?
  • sorry for the top section of caliper pics being hard to read, the OD width is : 21.77mm
skid plate hardware figured out-specs and lots of pics-20201003_201108-jpg

and the WASHER thickness?
  • washer thickness is approximately 1.7mm (sorry no pics for this dimension).

i find washers to be extremely important when considering fastening hardware, and given the OEM Washers are oversized @ close to 22mm OD width, i figured that flange head hex bolts are too narrow.

m8 standard washers are too narrow (these tend to be 15-16mm OD width).

so i purchased/ installed:
  • M8 x 1.25 x 20mm A4 Stainless Steel Hex Head Bolts (Coarse, Full Thread)
  • M8 oversized A4 Stainless Steel Washers (OD Width of 24mm)

here are 2 of the replacement SS Bolts and Washers installed.
  • they fit perfectly and the washers provide a nice stable support platform for the skid plates when installing the bolts.

skid plate hardware figured out-specs and lots of pics-20201003_152328-jpg
skid plate hardware figured out-specs and lots of pics-20201003_152335-jpg


but before installing the new SS hardware, we are going to need to run a die through the fastening holes on the install cross members, to clean up the gummed up threads.

used a M8 x 1.25mm Irwin Die and Oatey Cutting Oil and there was a fair amount of mess that came out of EACH hole.

skid plate hardware figured out-specs and lots of pics-20201003_152349-jpg

after running the die through each thread, the new SS bolts threaded in by hand, smooth as silk.

absolutely, NO jamming or tight threads.

moving onto sequential order of how to install Skid Plate hardware when your skid plate fastening holes do not correctly align with the installation threads on the cross members.
  • this is for skid plates, where you need to push the skid plate FORWARD towards the front bumper to get the fastening holes to correctly align.
[LIST][LIST][*]for each of the holes/ fastening bolts below, you will need to "encourage" the skid plate as required to align the holes.. if they do not align enough when you start fastening the hardware, you may end up stripped more bolts.. though the new SS hardware has a fairly high rating for strength, you are still dealing with the surface area of threads.

  • 1st bolt, start with the drivers side FRONT (towards front bumper) fastening holes 1st and only hand thread in a few turns.. you will need flexibility to "encourage" the skid plate for the other 3 holes.
  • 2nd bolt, passenger side FRONT fastening hole, same as 1st bolt, only hand thread a few turns.
  • 3rd bolt, driver side rear bolt, only hand thread several turns.
  • 4th bolt, passenger side rear bolt, only hand thread several turns.
now that we have gotten some exercise, back to the front bolts.. driver and passenger.
  • driver side front bolt, push skid plate to fully seated position and hand tighten the bolt to a close to a hand tightened fit
  • front passenger bolt, push skid plate to fully seated position and hand tighten the bolt to a close to hand tightened fit
  • driver side rear bolt, push skid plate to fully seated position and hand tighten the bolt to a close to hand tightened fit
  • passenger side read bolt, push skid plate to fully seated position and hand tighten the bolt to a close to hand tightened fit
  • next, use 13mm (my SS replacement bolt is a 13mm socket compatible size), with a 1/4" socket wrench (this will avoid overtightening by only using a 1/4" socket wrench, rather than a 3/8" wrench).

using the correct sockets size with 1/4" socket wrench fasten all bolts to a tight fit (basically, once the bolt stops, i only tightened by about 1/16" of a turn), in the same order as the preceding sequency.. ensuring that you are pushing the skid plate bolt so the fastening holes are aligned and the skid plate is fully seated to the cross members.

so with all that done, moving onto the plastic cover.

when i tested the bolts and 5 fastening holes for the plastic front cover, the threading of the OEM bolts was tight.

time to take out the irwin tap and die set again....

placed the OEM bolts in the thread checker and these 5 bolts are M6 x 1.0mm
  • okay.. so used the same size (M6 x 1.0mm) tap and cleaned all the bolts
  • then used the same size die and cleaned all the install threads (these were a bit gummed up as well).
  • after the tap and die, the OEM M6 bolts threaded into each of the 5 holes by hand, smooth as silk.
  • handtightened all 5 bolts, inserted the push tab insert pin for the middle hole and then used a 1/4" socket wrench with a 10mm socket to lightly tighten the plastic cover to the fastening holes (the cover is plastic and the installation holes are only a few centimeters thick.. lets NOT overtighten these 10mm bolts....
thanks for reading....
Attached Images
skid plate hardware figured out-specs and lots of pics-20201003_200331-jpg 

Last edited by toolguy; 10-03-2020 at 11:39 PM.
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Old 11-03-2020, 04:20 AM #2
sumoxo sumoxo is offline
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sumoxo sumoxo is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by toolguy View Post
hey guys, this is a detailed look into the skid plate bolts AND WASHERS for the 5th Gen 4runner.

the process and results detailed below:
  • i can now fully hand tighten my new SS bolts and washes, to a fully seated skid plate to the fastening cross members, completely seated, via handtightening
  • i only use the socket wrench for a final minor torque setting

including caliper measurements, specs on replacement stainless steel bolts and washers and how to sequentially fasten skid plate hardware to fully seat your skid plate, when https aka ms remoteconnect the skid plate bolts do not fully align with the fastening holes on the cross members.

whereas i have read a lot of posts about the skid plates and folks whom have replaced bolts.. what about actual specs.. pictures AND why no focus on the WASHERS..?

its all below with caliper measurements, spec and plenty of pics.
  • also a solution, to fully seat your skid plate, if your holes do not align (sequential fastening of the skid plate bolts so you can FULLY SEAT your skid plate and fastening hardware), also specs on replacement Bolts AND WASHERs, i bought which fit perfectly.
Below is a picture of the OEM skid plate bolts and washers, the bane of most 4runner owners.

Attachment 370011
  • the OEM skid plates bolts, the ones pictured above have already been tapped to rethread bolts, which were stripped during prior oil change services

after tapping the bolts, i second guessed reinstalling these bolts and washers.

so.... naturally the calipers are taking out to obtain actual correct dimensions so i can order replacement 316 aka A4 stainless steel bolts AND WASHERS.

actual dimension specs of OEM Skid Plate Bolts:
  • these are M8 x 1.25 x ??
  • thread length is approximately 21.61mm
Attachment 370013

but the actual viable thread length is close to just shy of 20mm. the starting thread pattern of the OEM bolt is slimmer and of "self tapping" thinner profile than the rest of the thread.

Attachment 370014

so that the hex head bolt.. so we can buy M8 x 1.25 x 20mm replacement bolts.

what i have not read many posts include are the WASHER specs and replacing the washers.

the OEM Washer for the skid plate bolts are oversized and for a good reason. the fastening holes on the skid plate are fairly large relative to the hex head bolt size and bolt head..

standard washers are not going to fill this job.

lets check on what the specs are of the OEM Washers and try to find a suitable placement in stainless steel.

we know the washer will be M8 size, but what about the width?
  • sorry for the top section of caliper pics being hard to read, the OD width is : 21.77mm
Attachment 370015

and the WASHER thickness?
  • washer thickness is approximately 1.7mm (sorry no pics for this dimension).

i find washers to be extremely important when considering fastening hardware, and given the OEM Washers are oversized @ close to 22mm OD width, i figured that flange head hex bolts are too narrow.

m8 standard washers are too narrow (these tend to be 15-16mm OD width).

so i purchased/ installed:
  • M8 x 1.25 x 20mm A4 Stainless Steel Hex Head Bolts (Coarse, Full Thread)
  • M8 oversized A4 Stainless Steel Washers (OD Width of 24mm)

here are 2 of the replacement SS Bolts and Washers installed.
  • they fit perfectly and the washers provide a nice stable support platform for the skid plates when installing the bolts.

Attachment 370018
Attachment 370019


but before installing the new SS hardware, we are going to need to run a die through the fastening holes on the install cross members, to clean up the gummed up threads.

used a M8 x 1.25mm Irwin Die and Oatey Cutting Oil and there was a fair amount of mess that came out of EACH hole.

Attachment 370020

after running the die through each thread, the new SS bolts threaded in by hand, smooth as silk.

absolutely, NO jamming or tight threads.

moving onto sequential order of how to install Skid Plate hardware when your skid plate fastening holes do not correctly align with the installation threads on the cross members.
  • this is for skid plates, where you need to push the skid plate FORWARD towards the front bumper to get the fastening holes to correctly align.
[LIST][LIST][*]for each of the holes/ fastening bolts below, you will need to "encourage" the skid plate as required to align the holes.. if they do not align enough when you start fastening the hardware, you may end up stripped more bolts.. though the new SS hardware has a fairly high rating for strength, you are still dealing with the surface area of threads.

  • 1st bolt, start with the drivers side FRONT (towards front bumper) fastening holes 1st and only hand thread in a few turns.. you will need flexibility to "encourage" the skid plate for the other 3 holes.
  • 2nd bolt, passenger side FRONT fastening hole, same as 1st bolt, only hand thread a few turns.
  • 3rd bolt, driver side rear bolt, only hand thread several turns.
  • 4th bolt, passenger side rear bolt, only hand thread several turns.
now that we have gotten some exercise, back to the front bolts.. driver and passenger.
  • driver side front bolt, push skid plate to fully seated position and hand tighten the bolt to a close to a hand tightened fit
  • front passenger bolt, push skid plate to fully seated position and hand tighten the bolt to a close to hand tightened fit
  • driver side rear bolt, push skid plate to fully seated position and hand tighten the bolt to a close to hand tightened fit
  • passenger side read bolt, push skid plate to fully seated position and hand tighten the bolt to a close to hand tightened fit
  • next, use 13mm (my SS replacement bolt is a 13mm socket compatible size), with a 1/4" socket wrench (this will avoid overtightening by only using a 1/4" socket wrench, rather than a 3/8" wrench).

using the correct sockets size with 1/4" socket wrench fasten all bolts to a tight fit (basically, once the bolt stops, i only tightened by about 1/16" of a turn), in the same order as the preceding sequency.. ensuring that you are pushing the skid plate bolt so the fastening holes are aligned and the skid plate is fully seated to the cross members.

so with all that done, moving onto the plastic cover.

when i tested the bolts and 5 fastening holes for the plastic front cover, the threading of the OEM bolts was tight.

time to take out the irwin tap and die set again....

placed the OEM bolts in the thread checker and these 5 bolts are M6 x 1.0mm
  • okay.. so used the same size (M6 x 1.0mm) tap and cleaned all the bolts
  • then used the same size die and cleaned all the install threads (these were a bit gummed up as well).
  • after the tap and die, the OEM M6 bolts threaded into each of the 5 holes by hand, smooth as silk.
  • handtightened all 5 bolts, inserted the push tab insert pin for the middle hole and then used a 1/4" socket wrench with a 10mm socket to lightly tighten the plastic cover to the fastening holes (the cover is plastic and the installation holes are only a few centimeters thick.. lets NOT overtighten these 10mm bolts....
thanks for reading....
That's the full wholesome information that I ever read on the internet today. Thanks for the info mate. lovely

Last edited by sumoxo; 11-12-2020 at 11:35 PM.
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Old 11-03-2020, 12:41 PM #3
toolguy toolguy is offline
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toolguy toolguy is offline
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Posts: 61
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thanks man.. hopefully it helped.

to add a thought here, about the skid plate.

it makes sense that the skid plate would have slightly offset holes, so when the skid plate is fully seated, the lateral pressure of having offset fastening holes will "lock" the skid plate in place, reducing risk of rattling/noise.

this skid plate hardware was a headache, where i was pleased to be able figure it out and move onto the next mess to figure out.
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