Stripped frame hitch threads...

[Ststephen7]

I'm needing your thoughts on what I think are my options here.

I bought this '98 SR5 used (34K miles) in 2002 and have been enjoying it since. It currently has 192.5K miles, is my daily and going strong.

I live just outside of Philly and the frame is relatively rusty... no holes or soft spots that I could find... just enough for me to want to do something about it.

I removed the rear bumper and the hitch (I put on just after I bought it) to get better access to the rear of the frame, and found all of the hitch bolts badly corroded, and the M12 x 1.25 threads in the frame holes corroded/stripped. I did get new bolts and as they got tight they just continued to spin.

If I can attach pictures, you will see that it looks as if they welded tiny weird pointy little nuts just inside the frame, AND for some reason they added a huge river of weld metal stretching from before the first hole to past the second!? I can't imagine why, and it makes it next to impossible to put nuts or nuts plates in there to move forward.

I am thinking of building up my own bumper out of steel (perhaps with a hitch or perhaps putting my hitch back on) so I need/want these attachment points.

I don't really want to trust the blob of weld metal for drilling out and tapping for M14 or maybe 1/2 or 5/8ths threads. It's not that thick and I don't trust it.

The river of weld metal is very uneven and any nut I put in there will not be sitting on a flat surface.

I have a welder and can weld pretty well.

I can't get in there to do anything about that pile of weld metal unless I cut off the inner side of the frame (on both left and right sides) to get in there and grind away all of that crap. I'd need to cut maybe 8" back.

Once I have a flat surface I could weld in new nuts, or (better yet) make nut plates to sit in there, and weld the sides of the frame back on (or new pieces of steel)

I guess I could also (not cut open the frame and) weld up some thicker steel (and make an upside down U) to slide into the frame, (perhaps weld it in place either with nuts welded in it, or put bolts right through both sides of the frame? My attachment points would now be on the sides of the frame member instead of the bottom if that makes a difference.

The metal of the frame here is not thick at all, so I will feel better reinforcing it in some way no matter what course I choose.

I hope the way I'm describing all of this makes sense....

I'm sure there are other options that are right in front of me and I'm just not seeing...

Thank you in advance!

 

[Riceye]

The nuts in the frame are welded to a strip of steel that inserts from the rear of the frame channel. Here's a related thread

 

[brillo_76]

The other option is to cut the frame open and remove all that rust rot. Weld nuts to 1/8 plate and weld it to the frame like I have done on several frames.
Option 1 might be easier..

 

[RandyBobandy]

There are nuts welded to a strip of metal like a previous post shows as well as welded nuts in the frame, I’d just take a chisel or air chisel and bust off the remnants of the nuts that are welded to the frame and replace them with standard nuts, you can get a wrench in there to tighten them. Then replace the metal strip with nuts if necessary.

I made a new metal strip for mine and used standard nuts in place of the weld nuts attached to the frame and it works fine

 

[Ststephen7]

The nuts in the frame are welded to a strip of steel that inserts from the rear of the frame channel. Here's a related thread

I'm guessing my pictures did not show up for you... there is clearly no strip of steel like the one you showed. I did expect to find one of those, and...

 

[brillo_76]

your photos showed up.. I have seen that same type in mine. I just made new ones out of 1/8 plate and welded nuts to it. The other member just showed you what they originally looked like and Randy just suggested that you air chisel the old rotted stuff out.

 

[Ststephen7]

I was going to leave this alone, and I decide that I have to address you guys this one last time on the off chance that the next person you interact with might fare better.

For some reason (that I do not understand) you each seem to feel that YOUR experience IS THE ONLY POSSIBLE experience. I can assure you there are other VALID experiences in the world.

I purchased this ’98 4runner in 2002 with 34K on it. At that time it did not even have any surface rust to speak of. Nothing was hidden by rust… everything was clearly visible.

It did not come with a towing package (for whatever reason).
It had never had a hitch.
It did not have trailer wiring installed past the loom/conduit (where I found it tucked up inside)

I purchased a hitch. It came with 6 bolts, and 2 nuts on long sections of 1/8” steel rod to allow use of the 3rd hole (front most) in the underside of the frame.

For the other 2 bolts in each frame member I found 2 nuts in each. They were welded (using much too much weld metal).
The nuts themselves looked like pyramids, drilled and tapped, with the process of drilling and tapping leaving the 4 points visible in the pictures. In the new pictures one of the 4 sides of one of the ‘pyramidal’ nuts can be clearly seen… they failed to weld that side.

My 4runner DID NOT EVER have a strip of metal with nuts welded to it. First It would have just fallen out since it did not have any bolts holding it in place. Second I would have seen it, and had to remove the bolts in order to install my hitch!

YOUR EXPERIENCE OF YOUR 4RUNNER IS NOT THE ONLY POSSIBLE EXPERIENCE!

AND… unlike you people, I know that I have made a ton of mistakes, and been wrong many times in my life. So… on what I felt was a very small chance that I was remembering my hitch installation incorrectly, I checked again…

I took a large hammer and the heaviest chisel I own and went at this apparent rusty bar sitting (for more than 20 years) in my frame for more than 30 minutes.

This is clearly solid metal and NOT a rusted away 20 year old piece of 11 gauge steel.

It’s hard to get inside the frame to clean off the POR 15 and paint it slapped on there while dealing with current frame rust (at the time I was not thinking I would build a new bumper).

And it’s hard to get good pictures of the inside of the frame member, more so now that there are black parts as well as parts of bright metal.

And… if you are willing to allow that something you did not expect might actually exist, you will see the clean metal my chisel turned up/exposed, as opposed to a pile of rust.

As far as how to best move forward, I was hoping to get sone new/different ideas on how to deal with this river of weld metal when adding bolt points for my new bumper, and all I got was knowitalls telling me that I could not see what I was looking at. I’ll figure it out without your “help”…. Thanks anyway!

 

[brillo_76]

Wow to you assume alot. We are not know it alls. We actually know that lots of these 3rd gens didn't come with hitches nor wiring kit.

I personally have 2 that did not have hitches on them as a matter of fact when I bought them.

These kits were installed stateside. Thus from Japan most of them didn't The factory installed hitches kits came with those bolts and hangers-on some of the members showed you.

We simply showed you options that we have done ourselves.

So if your done assuming things, and making a complete fool of yourself on a forum that just offers free advice to the owners can always do as they wish as the rigs of theirs.

The back two bolts are welded in the frame as some of the 3rd gens had 2 hook plates bolted to them. [ The 2 closest to the end of the frame] Hence why the nut holders are so long as they are for the front 2 nuts that are nuts are not welded in.

Good luck in all your adventures.

Sent from my SM-A505U using Tapatalk

 

[phattyduck]

These kits were installed stateside. Thus from Japan most of them didn't The factory installed hitches kits came with those bolts and hangers-on some of the members showed you.

Roof racks, rear dust deflectors, 'skinny black' flares, side steps and hitches were all port/dealer installed.

All I can says is that the original nuts are long gone on that frame. That's not how it came from the factory, however it got that way. The two rearmost were for the tie down and were welded to the frame (started square with four tacks at each corner). The front two for the OEM hitches were on the nut strips, which allowed it to be installed easily but were just bare holes if no hitch was installed. Aftermarket hitches use different nut strip styles than OEM.

-Charlie

 

[jsnppp]

The removable strips of metal with nuts welded to them are only for the two furthest forward hitch bolts.

The ones posted by the OP are the two rear most nuts which are welded to the actual frame.

I would do as Brillo said. Make a new rectangular plate and weld two new nuts on them. I'd then chisel, hammer, or air saw the remnants of the rusted away nuts to make flat. Will take some time. Another option is to drill out the nuts from the bottom - make the hole big enough to take away the leftover nuts. This is the best option IMO.

Then place the new piece of plate steel with nuts on them and install your hitch. These are large nuts and with a properly clean and smooth frame bottom, will sandwich tightly on the existing frame. Once it's all tight, you may be able to put a blob of weld on the plate to double ensure it's not moving.

Not sure if that is clear but thats my 02 cents.

 

[gamefreakgc]

Before you throw the baby out with the bathwater, everyone who responded was trying to help. You asked for ideas and suggestions and you got them. Just because the ideas didn't work doesn't mean they were wrong or irrelevant.

If you would like people's help and ideas on how to repair and improve your 4Runner then this is a great place to do so. If you already knew what you were going to do regardless of what people try and help with then why post here at all?