TRD skid plate+Stripped thread ...shameful first post

[E-FARAOH]

So like the title says this is my first post and what a shame it is.

I was test fitting my TRD skid plate for clearance on my '18 TRD Off Road w KDSS, as I opted for a cut similar to Trail4runner.com

Anyway, I took the time to tap the mounting point threads in the frame and everything was going great until I decided to run the tap through the driver front mounting point again just to do a final clean out of the the threads. I hit a little resistance. I back it out and advance again and then POP. The tap came out intact as I initially thought I broke the tap. I test fit the original bolt and ...FML the mounting point thread is stripped.

I assume I need to retap but larger? I followed http://www.toyota-4runner.org/5th-gen-t4rs/239833-if-you-have-trd-skid-plate-read.html. Used a 10mm x 1.25 mm tap

My question is :

1. What size tap do I need now?
2. Will I also need to drill bigger holes to mount up to?
3. Will I need to upsize the front bolts that hold the skid plate and is that even possible on the TRD plate that comes with the bolts and spacers in place?

Sorry for the newbie questions but I appreciate any help. This forum has been great thus far!

 

[Boyds4Runner]

@EFARAOH

If you had a "pop" then most unfortunately the nut that is on the inside of the lower radiator support frame broke loose from it's little bit of tac weld.

You might be able to get a finger in there to slide the loose nut out of the hole in the bottom of the radiator support but you won't be able to get another one to stay in there without cutting out the bottom of the radiator frame and welding in another one.

Or, others have used a larger sized riv-nut or riv-cert and gotten different bolts to match. For the life of me I could not find any riv-nuts or riv-certs with the M10x1.25 pitch.

There is nothing there to tap a larger diameter hole other than the thinner steel of the lower radiator support frame.

I ended up having the dealer break both of the back nuts loose on mine. Rather than have the dealership do a bad job of fixing it I went to a fab shop that cut out the area on the bottom of the radiator frame, weld in larger nuts but the same 10x1.25 thread and then weld the assembly back into the bottom of the radiator frame.

Anytime I know the vehicle is going in for maintenance I remove the front skid myself with hand tools and use anti-seize to bolt them back on again with hand tools.

Here's another thread about the skid plates and the weak little tac welds that Toyota uses on the inner nuts for the skid plate mounts.

http://www.toyota-4runner.org/5th-gen-t4rs/235479-skid-plate-thread-3.html

Good luck with your fix. I ran around with only three bolts holding up my TRD front skid for the longest time. Finally the dealer air-tooled a bolt in the other front skid bolt location breaking that back nut loose. They probably thought they were doing me a favor by putting a bolt in there when I had removed the front skids for them to have easy access to perform the oil filter change. :ybrick:

 

[E-FARAOH]

Thx for the info Boyds, what's weird is the thread in the bolt I'm talking about looks stripped , it still looks like its secure in the support. I'll try to take a picture compared to the other side. I hope there is another solution . I definitely don't want to cut the frame support , truck has 1600 miles

 

[E-FARAOH]

So I just checked the driver front nut and it is definitely intact and secure to the lower radiator frame so that’s a plus. I guess I’m looking at rethreading the nut at this point . If anyone has any advice regarding this I’d appreciate it.

 

[Jeremy556]

Even if you can fix those threads you have now, you'll break other welded nuts out eventually. If you plan to keep the 4runner long term, get a metric rivnut kit. Astro 1442 has worked well for me.

 

[arehman11]

I went really slow and backed out every few turns and went slow if it grabbed. Using a lot of the oil in that thread helped keep things moving smoothly. I was able to get the chaser tap all the way in there and got a lot of gunk out. Hopefully it all works out for you.

 

[E-FARAOH]

I went really slow and backed out every few turns and went slow if it grabbed. Using a lot of the oil in that thread helped keep things moving smoothly. I was able to get the chaser tap all the way in there and got a lot of gunk out. Hopefully it all works out for you.

Yeah the tapping wasn't difficult and went fine. My OCD kicked in and I tried to improve on a essentially completed job and thats where I got into this mess. No problem though. Bought a timesert set and I'll see how that goes.

 

[MaddoxPics]

Well, one thing I can say it two bolts are holding mine on perfectly fine right now. I broke one bolt off, and the other I broke the weld nut. It'll go in and keep the skid on, but it never "locks" in. It is however sturdy as can be. I just need to get the other bolts in before hitting the trail again.

I happened to nail a big rock that made me come to a stop. My guess is that's what did it all.

 

[E-FARAOH]

http://http://www.toyota-4runner.org/5th-gen-t4rs/188450-trd-pro-problem-skid-plate.html


Pasting this here as another resource regarding this issue for anyone in the future. Although I had already tapped everything , my issue arose after trying to foolishly improve on something that was fine.

Perfect is the enemy of good.

 

[empty1]

Time-Sert kit, just did it on my gx470


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[E-FARAOH]

Time-Sert kit, just did it on my gx470


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

:thumb3: mine arrives tomorrow