Help with mystery tailgate nut

[Bwmartinkc]

Hey everyone! Finally got through my 15 posts and am excited to be doing my first thread.

About a week ago I started hearing something shaking around in my tailgate when I would open and close it. There was clearly something loose rattling around in there.

Today I pulled out one of the little plastic grab panels on the underside of the tailgate and I was able to fish out the culprit:

Anyone know what this might have been holding in place inside my tailgate? Nothing seems loose on either the inside or outside of the tailgate. I don't really want to go through the hassle of taking the panel off the back of the tailgate and fishing around, but I also don't want some additional damage to be caused by my laziness. So hoping someone might have experienced this before, or has been inside the tailgate recently, and can give me some insight. Thanks!

 

[Raingler_Nets]

maybe dropped during build. I found a similar nut under the door sill on the back passenger side when running wiring. Just laying there doing nothing.

 

[d110pickup]

I just did a backup camera relocation on my truck, IIRC that style of nut is used to secure the key lock in place. There are also nuts securing the trim above the license plate but I don't think it uses that style.
Mike

 

[LandCruiser]

My tailgate pooped out something similar a while back, too.

 

[whtout]

Check if the handle panel is loose. Pretty sure I saw a post about this a while back. They could pull one side of it off the tailgate and found the nut inside.

 

[Racehoss]

Same thing happened with my 2 4runners. 2012 and 2011 after about 5 years I noticed a rattle and popped the plastic grab handle off and out came the exact nut. Didn’t research it further. They have to be coming off the same bolt.

 

[boyguan]

looks like its a 8 or 10mm that could hold the black trim under the 4runner. I have developed a noise as well and maybe i should pull it off and check

 

[A10MileHusker]

I had this same issue on my 2017. Fished out the nut like you had and traced it to the back trim piece (the one that says "4Runner" above the license plate). I was able to jiggle that trim piece when it was off.

I was able to reach up and tighten the nut back on with my hand and ratchet for a fix.

 

[ElectroBoy]

Yeah, sometimes you get hardware dropped into nooks and crannies during assembly and it stays put for a long time. Slamming the hatch could work it out of its hiding place. You could look at it closely on its mating surfaces to see if there’s any scoring to indicate that it was previously installed.

But you really won’t be sure unless you pop off the hatch trim panel and get familiar with what is back there. It’s not very difficult, there are lots of posts on how to do it.

 

[Dukeronomy]

Does anyone know what size it is? I know I lost one a while ago. I heard it jangling around in there and fished it out, no clue where I put it. Now I hear a second and the handle is noticeably loose. I’m gonna dig in and put the one back but I want to buy the second before I tear it apart so I don’t have to do it twice.


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[Charlie Hustle]

Does anyone know what size it is? I know I lost one a while ago. I heard it jangling around in there and fished it out, no clue where I put it. Now I hear a second and the handle is noticeably loose. I’m gonna dig in and put the one back but I want to buy the second before I tear it apart so I don’t have to do it twice.


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I know this is an older post, but just in case anyone comes across this thread and is looking for the replacement nuts. (I had 2 missing myself. I guess they don't come very tight from the factory) They are:

M6 x 1mm thread flange nuts. You can get a pack of 26 on Amazon for like 5 bucks. I hope this helps someone in the future.