trailer hitch padding?

[snowboardwcu]

some searching really led me nowhere.

had a buddy remove the trailer hitch receiver so I could clean it up. Turns out he sent it to a buddy to sandblast and paint for me.

In the meantime I started looking at cleaning up / rust treating the areas where it came off and cleaning up the mounting threads. On each side theres this 'padding' thingy that would have sat between the receiver and frame. it appears rusted and beat up; rust makes me think its steel/metal as opposed to rubber so i put quotes on 'padding'.

what are these things? (r/whatisthisthing?, LOL)

2005 V8.

 

[TechWrench]

some searching really led me nowhere.

had a buddy remove the trailer hitch receiver so I could clean it up. Turns out he sent it to a buddy to sandblast and paint for me.

In the meantime I started looking at cleaning up / rust treating the areas where it came off and cleaning up the mounting threads. On each side theres this 'padding' thingy that would have sat between the receiver and frame. it appears rusted and beat up; rust makes me think its steel/metal as opposed to rubber so i put quotes on 'padding'.

what are these things? (r/whatisthisthing?, LOL)

2005 V8.

Can't say for sure, without pics, but I am guessing it is a build up of rust in the areas between the frame and the hitch mounting plates. Tapping on it with a small hammer will probably break it loose. If that is it, wire brush the areas clean, then coat the area with some undercoating spray to slow the recurrence down.

 

[snowboardwcu]

Can't say for sure, without pics, but I am guessing it is a build up of rust in the areas between the frame and the hitch mounting plates. Tapping on it with a small hammer will probably break it loose. If that is it, wire brush the areas clean, then coat the area with some undercoating spray to slow the recurrence down.

thanks. these things are definite 'things' not buildup. my best guess is there are spacers meant to distribute forces from receiver to frame. ill try to grab some pics. dark here already....

 

[leonp24]

You are referring to the frame spacers. I upgraded my v6 to the v8 hitch and found an installation manual that calls these out as frame spacers. Link to pdf: http://4runnerclub.com/i/4r_files/f...oyfsrm/accessory/installation/T-AI-0403-W.pdf

Check page 4.

 

[TechWrench]

thanks. these things are definite 'things' not buildup. my best guess is there are spacers meant to distribute forces from receiver to frame. ill try to grab some pics. dark here already....

Both my '03's had the 5k hitch from the factory, so I wasn't aware of the spacers used on the heavier duty frame hitch. I upgraded both with aftermarket frame hitches, and neither came with any spacers.

 

[snowboardwcu]

You are referring to the frame spacers. I upgraded my v6 to the v8 hitch and found an installation manual that calls these out as frame spacers. Link to pdf: http://4runnerclub.com/i/4r_files/f...oyfsrm/accessory/installation/T-AI-0403-W.pdf

Check page 4.

thats them. lead me down a good path knowing they are part of the receiver kit.

SPACER KIT P/N: PT228-89440-SK
HARDWARE KIT P/N: PT228-89440-HW

THANKS