fightman80
New member
Long story short, my tow package became loose when on my recent quadding trip. As a result, the tow package seems to have dropped down a little.
See the gap between the bumper and the tow package??? It used to be closer together.
When I initially installed that piece of crap, I had modified it to fit as it had come off an 87 Pathfinder. When we came to install it, the bolts we had were too short, so we ended up having to bolt them to the inside of the frame rails. It's kinda hard to explain, but basically, the bracket for the tow package is just a plate, which sits against the inner side of the frame rail. Two holes (on each side of the tow package) were drilled through the plate, and through the frame rail, and then the bolt was pushed in. We then MIRACULOUSLY threaded a bolt onto the bolt, which took for EVER to do. Unfortunately, the bolts that were located deeper into the frame rails, did not have lock washers on, and therefore, the nuts backed off there. The other 2 bolts held tight because the lock washers were on.
Now, I decided to take the entire tow package / Tire Carrier off, and de-grease, grind off the loose rust, and then paint it with Rust paint.
Here are some pics of that process:
Degreased and washed:
Grinding it down:
Paint:
I figured I'd do things extra nice, look over all my welds, make sure everything was still nice an solid before mounting it back on the truck. Problem is, I CAN'T FOR THE LIFE OF ME!!! Get the darn nuts started on the bolts inside the darn frame! I tried taping a nut to the wrench and trying to thread it on. I tried getting my wife tiny little hands inside the frame rail to try and start the nut, but after over an hour trying on the one side......I GAVE UP!
Of course, Fightman being Fightman.....I had to have a fit! Threw the darn tow package, Thrust kicked and then pounded the crap out of my Heavy Bag a few times, (with my wife simply looking at me like I was some escaped lunatic)!
Basically, the the shop looks like this:
And the 4Runner........is naked:
Now I'm not sure what I'm going to do. Thinking of simply buying longer Grade 8 bolts and drilling another hole directly across so that I can bolt it up on the other side of the frame rail instead of inside......
Please tell me I'm not the only one who has trouble doing stuff to his rig sometimes!!
See the gap between the bumper and the tow package??? It used to be closer together.
When I initially installed that piece of crap, I had modified it to fit as it had come off an 87 Pathfinder. When we came to install it, the bolts we had were too short, so we ended up having to bolt them to the inside of the frame rails. It's kinda hard to explain, but basically, the bracket for the tow package is just a plate, which sits against the inner side of the frame rail. Two holes (on each side of the tow package) were drilled through the plate, and through the frame rail, and then the bolt was pushed in. We then MIRACULOUSLY threaded a bolt onto the bolt, which took for EVER to do. Unfortunately, the bolts that were located deeper into the frame rails, did not have lock washers on, and therefore, the nuts backed off there. The other 2 bolts held tight because the lock washers were on.
Now, I decided to take the entire tow package / Tire Carrier off, and de-grease, grind off the loose rust, and then paint it with Rust paint.
Here are some pics of that process:
Degreased and washed:
Grinding it down:
Paint:
I figured I'd do things extra nice, look over all my welds, make sure everything was still nice an solid before mounting it back on the truck. Problem is, I CAN'T FOR THE LIFE OF ME!!! Get the darn nuts started on the bolts inside the darn frame! I tried taping a nut to the wrench and trying to thread it on. I tried getting my wife tiny little hands inside the frame rail to try and start the nut, but after over an hour trying on the one side......I GAVE UP!
Of course, Fightman being Fightman.....I had to have a fit! Threw the darn tow package, Thrust kicked and then pounded the crap out of my Heavy Bag a few times, (with my wife simply looking at me like I was some escaped lunatic)!
Basically, the the shop looks like this:
And the 4Runner........is naked:
Now I'm not sure what I'm going to do. Thinking of simply buying longer Grade 8 bolts and drilling another hole directly across so that I can bolt it up on the other side of the frame rail instead of inside......
Please tell me I'm not the only one who has trouble doing stuff to his rig sometimes!!
found a used one in a junk yard for $60
