Sport Tube/Running Board Mounting Problem

[YotaDriver]

I swapped my '06 Limited's running boards out for a set of OEM sport tubes this summer, however I encountered a problem during the process. As you know, there are six receiver mounts on the underside of the 4Runner which each contain a captive nut that's tack welded to the inner part of the body. While I was removing the running boards, two of those tack welded nuts broke off so now I've only got four working receiver nuts on the passenger side and subsequently the tube step flexes under any weight.

Does anyone have any suggestions for ways I could fix this? I'm thinking of those butterfly type things which can be used for hanging pictures on drywall but wasn't sure if they made something like that for metal that could handle the type of weight the tubes will be subjected to.

Any help is appreciated.

 

[08T4R]

a rivnut or rivet nut will work most likely. do you know what size the bolts are?

 

[YotaDriver]

a rivnut or rivet nut will work most likely. do you know what size the bolts are?

I don't know offhand, but when I first took the running boards off I took the bolts to the hardware store to buy replacements so it won't be too hard to figure it out again. I'll look into rivnuts to see what those are, so thanks for the input here.

 

[08T4R]

No problem. I know that you can get them from Mcmaster carr. I bought some to put on a second hand skid plate that didnt come with them. Once inserted and expanded theyre in there for the most part. I have the install instructions for the skid plate that explain how to use them if interested just pm me and ill email them to you.