C4 Fab 5th Gen 4Runner Fuel Tank Skid Group Buy

[Hamburgerpimp]

Got fuel tank skid installed yesterday, looks good, should be plenty strong. Install was pretty straight forward, but found a interference issue with the RCI lower link skids. Not a huge issue just had to notch the fuel tank skid to fit.
So anyone running lower link skids, be prepared to do this.

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[kSteven813]

Got fuel tank skid installed yesterday, looks good, should be plenty strong. Install was pretty straight forward, but found a interference issue with the RCI lower link skids. Not a huge issue just had to notch the fuel tank skid to fit.
So anyone running lower link skids, be prepared to do this.

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Just curious, Is the side of your skid touching the tank anywhere? Mine is on the driver rear side of the gas tank and the skid.


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[Hamburgerpimp]

Yeah mine is hitting there too, put a piece a plastic shim stock between tank and skid, if it starts to wear that I'll start to worry.


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[kSteven813]

Yeah mine is hitting there too, put a piece a plastic shim stock between tank and skid, if it starts to wear that I'll start to worry.


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Sorry but what's a plastic shim? I was going to try to put a few washers on the side to try to space it out a bit.


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[kSteven813]

Yeah mine is hitting there too, put a piece a plastic shim stock between tank and skid, if it starts to wear that I'll start to worry.


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And could you snap a pic of how you have it?


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[Hamburgerpimp]

It's just plastic shim material that we have at work, not sure where we get it from, it's just placed in between sharp edge of skid and fuel tank. Not really ideal fix though as the only think holding it in place Is the friction between tank and skid. Maybe someone from C4 can respond to why this is happening. That sharp edge seems like it will wear through the plastic tank pretty easily. Anyhow here's some pics.

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[C4 Fabrication]

It's just plastic shim material that we have at work, not sure where we get it from, it's just placed in between sharp edge of skid and fuel tank. Not really ideal fix though as the only think holding it in place Is the friction between tank and skid. Maybe someone from C4 can respond to why this is happening. That sharp edge seems like it will wear through the plastic tank pretty easily. Anyhow here's some pics.
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We are trying to figure out what needs to be adjusted to stop this interference from happening. Do you have some pics from a little farther back so we can see the area around where the skid is touching?

 

[Hamburgerpimp]

Here's a few more, can really get any good shots of area with truck on the ground, but it's the driver side rear, just in front of the rear bolt on brace.
You can also see the brace is adjusted all the way to the left, (driver side) and it is still hitting

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[C4 Fabrication]

Here's a few more, can really get any good shots of area with truck on the ground, but it's the driver side rear, just in front of the rear bolt on brace.
You can also see the brace is adjusted all the way to the left, (driver side) and it is still hitting
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thanks for the extra pictures, that really helps. The only thing we could suggest to get it to move over more is to open up the hole a bit more on the bracket to allow it to slide over farther. But we also understand that not everyone has the tools to do that. Also, judging by the pictures there isnt much room for that bracket to move over before it hits the edge of the bolt head anyways.
One thing you could try is to un-bolt that bracket and put a washer or two in between the bracket and the skid plate where they bolt together. This should help push the skid farther over to the driver side so it does not contact the tank.

 

[jimster716]

I'm not having the same issue. I can run my 4Runner key with wiggle room through the area others are having issues with. I will say that it may have to do with the order in which you tighten the bolts. The attachment arm at the rear closest to the tire was my last bolt. The arm actually was not in alignment with the bolt hole, I had to use a big flathead screwdriver to torque the skid and attachment arm so I could get the bolt in.

Looking at the driver side near the rear.

At the point in question for some other owners that required a shim.

Looking down at the skid and fuel tank from the rear tire.

And a glamour shot of the other side.

 

[C4 Fabrication]

I'm not having the same issue. I can run my 4Runner key with wiggle room through the area others are having issues with. I will say that it may have to do with the order in which you tighten the bolts. The attachment arm at the rear closest to the tire was my last bolt. The arm actually was not in alignment with the bolt hole, I had to use a big flathead screwdriver to torque the skid and attachment arm so I could get the bolt in.

QUOTE]
Thanks for the pictures! glad you are not having any fitment issues. I think it does have to do with how the tank is adjusted and which bolts get tightened first. But either way, we may just make that one portion of the sidewall of the skid a bit lower so we do not continue to have this issue.

 

[jimster716]

Thanks for the pictures! glad you are not having any fitment issues. I think it does have to do with how the tank is adjusted and which bolts get tightened first. But either way, we may just make that one portion of the sidewall of the skid a bit lower so we do not continue to have this issue.

I relied on the install thread as much as the paper instructions, it was very helpful with clearer photos.

http://www.toyota-4runner.org/c4-fabrication/214228-install-instructions-c4-fab-fuel-tank-skid.html

 

[Snow-Jet-MK5]

I think one thing to note for SR5 owners is that you'll need to purchase 2 additional fuel tank skid plate screws from Toyota. I found out after I removed mine that I only had 6 screws instead of the 8 found on the Trails and TRD Pros

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[ADK Explorer]

Just curious, Is the side of your skid touching the tank anywhere? Mine is on the driver rear side of the gas tank and the skid.

Yeah mine is hitting there too, put a piece a plastic shim stock between tank and skid, if it starts to wear that I'll start to worry.

Here's a few more, can really get any good shots of area with truck on the ground, but it's the driver side rear, just in front of the rear bolt on brace.
You can also see the brace is adjusted all the way to the left, (driver side) and it is still hitting

Just installed mine and it is rubbing there too. I was very careful in tightening the bolts while watching for clearance. When I tightened the 3 bolts into frame rail it pulled this 1" section tight against the tank. No loosening and pulling corrected it. Maybe the skid needs to be a quarter inch wider back there?!

 

[kSteven813]

Just installed mine and it is rubbing there too. I was very careful in tightening the bolts while watching for clearance. When I tightened the 3 bolts into frame rail it pulled this 1" section tight against the tank. No loosening and pulling corrected it. Maybe the skid needs to be a quarter inch wider back there?!

I was just able to fix this over the weekend. What I did:
Moved the passenger rear hanging bracket to the out side of the tank.
Make sure all the hanging brackets are positioned so the tank is as low as possible, meaning tighten the bolt that attaches to the skid and the bracket as high as possible in the hole allowing the skid to be lower.
Tighten the passenger bolts as far to the driver side as possible first. Leaving the driver side rear bracket and frame rail bolts loose.
After that, pull the skid towards the driver side and tighten front driver frame bolt.
Then, easier with a partner, really pull the skid to the driver side hard and tighten the driver rear bracket. Then finish the last two frame bolts as the skid should not move at that point.

Hope this helps and please let me know if you need me to clarify anything. I'm known not to be the best at explaining things lol. Here's a pic of my gap I have now.

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[kSteven813]

Here's a few more, can really get any good shots of area with truck on the ground, but it's the driver side rear, just in front of the rear bolt on brace.
You can also see the brace is adjusted all the way to the left, (driver side) and it is still hitting

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The lower bolt that is circled. Loosen that up and pull the skid down towards the ground more to make the bolt as high in the hole as possible so the skid lowers. That helped me.


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[Hamburgerpimp]

Just installed mine and it is rubbing there too. I was very careful in tightening the bolts while watching for clearance. When I tightened the 3 bolts into frame rail it pulled this 1" section tight against the tank. No loosening and pulling corrected it. Maybe the skid needs to be a quarter inch wider back there?!

I ended up taking mine back off, placing a washer between in left rear mount and skid plate to push it over a little, I also ground out the area that was contacting to get rid of sharp edge and get a little more space. When reinstalling I had someone push toward the driver side while I tightened the bolts.
The combination of there adjustments gave be about a credit cards thickness of clearance between the tank and skid.

 

[ADK Explorer]

I was just able to fix this over the weekend. What I did:
Moved the passenger rear hanging bracket to the out side of the tank.
Make sure all the hanging brackets are positioned so the tank is as low as possible, meaning tighten the bolt that attaches to the skid and the bracket as high as possible in the hole allowing the skid to be lower.
Tighten the passenger bolts as far to the driver side as possible first. Leaving the driver side rear bracket and frame rail bolts loose.
After that, pull the skid towards the driver side and tighten front driver frame bolt.
Then, easier with a partner, really pull the skid to the driver side hard and tighten the driver rear bracket. Then finish the last two frame bolts as the skid should not move at that point.

Hope this helps and please let me know if you need me to clarify anything. I'm known not to be the best at explaining things lol. Here's a pic of my gap I have now.

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The lower bolt that is circled. Loosen that up and pull the skid down towards the ground more to make the bolt as high in the hole as possible so the skid lowers. That helped me.


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I ended up taking mine back off, placing a washer between in left rear mount and skid plate to push it over a little, I also ground out the area that was contacting to get rid of sharp edge and get a little more space. When reinstalling I had someone push toward the driver side while I tightened the bolts.
The combination of there adjustments gave be about a credit cards thickness of clearance between the tank and skid.

Thanks guys. My brother is coming over later to help. I figured pushing on the passenger side while re-tightening the rail bracket bolts will keep the clearance. I will try all of these. I don't want to have to drop the whole skid again but will if necessary. Appreciate the input. I will update with my results.

 

[C4 Fabrication]

I was just able to fix this over the weekend. What I did:
Moved the passenger rear hanging bracket to the out side of the tank.
Make sure all the hanging brackets are positioned so the tank is as low as possible, meaning tighten the bolt that attaches to the skid and the bracket as high as possible in the hole allowing the skid to be lower.
Tighten the passenger bolts as far to the driver side as possible first. Leaving the driver side rear bracket and frame rail bolts loose.
After that, pull the skid towards the driver side and tighten front driver frame bolt.
Then, easier with a partner, really pull the skid to the driver side hard and tighten the driver rear bracket. Then finish the last two frame bolts as the skid should not move at that point.

Hope this helps and please let me know if you need me to clarify anything. I'm known not to be the best at explaining things lol. Here's a pic of my gap I have now.

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Thanks for the info of how you adjusted yours! That will help the other customers who might be having this same issue.

As for future skid that we build, i think we have solved the problem. I changed the drawing for the part and made those areas a bit shorter so they will hopefully not create any more clearance issues in the future.

 

[C4 Fabrication]

Here is the link to the image of the drawing we changed