Wrong bolts on TRD skid plate

[Georgiey22]

Own a 2016 SR5 Premium 4X4 and last week ordered a TRD skid plate. Yesterday I went to install and followed the directions. The bolts for the rear of the plate installed perfectly. The front bolts that were pre-installed on the plate, were about 1/4" - 1/2" too short. I went down to Lowes, matched the bolts, these were approximately 1/4" longer and installed. These new bolts appear to be snug however they are 17MM, instead of the factory 14MM. I put 25 miles on the T4R yesterday and then checked the bolts and the still felt snug, which is good. Has anyone noticed the supplied front TRD bolts are too short?

 

[Saker]

......... These new bolts appear to be snug however the pay are 17MM, instead of the factory 14MM. ............

pay?

......... Has anyone noticed the supplied front TRD bolts are too short?

Nope

 

[Trail Wonka]

Is your front end stock? No aftermarket bumper?


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[00Sebby]

When I was installing mine, I thought they were too short. But it was the bushing hanging up on the edge of the hole in the crossmember that was keeping me from being able to thread it. Once I moved it around a bit, the bushing found where it needed to go and then they threaded in no problem. I assume the reason they are short is because the radiator sets right above them. They worked on my '10 TE. With the new bolts, does the front edge pull tightly against the plastic fairing behind the bumper or is there a gap? If there is a gap, or that plastic piece (again I am assuming '16 is similar to '10) is loose, you may have the bushings hung up in the crossmember and not fully seated.

 

[Saker]

As [MENTION=134890]00Sebby[/MENTION] said, if you made sure the spacers were in the support holes and all clearances were good and the front plastic filler was removed, you should have been good with bolt lengths.

The only issue I encountered was this as noted HERE.

Finally had time to install my skid plate.
Upon first trying to install the skid, I found there was some abnormal resistance while tightening the front passenger side bolt on the skid.
To avoid a bad issue, I went to my local hardware store and picked up 2 items.
M10 X 1.25 bottom tap and a M10 X 1.25 hex die to chase all bolt holes and chase the threads on the bolts to make sure I would have no issues....
Put a small amount of never seize on the bolts and all went well.

Instead of discarding the front plastic trim piece, I decided to cut/trim it so it would fill the gap left between the bumper cover and the new skid plate.
Worked like a charm!

 

[00Sebby]

That's a great idea to trim that piece. I just left mine in place and the skid plate pushes it up a bit when tightened.


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[Georgiey22]

Thanks for the responses all. I triple checked my work and with 100% certainty, my bolts were not hung up on the cross member. They were placed perfectly as noted, however bolts supplied but TRD were just too short. I've put 200 miles on my truck this week with the bolts from Lowes and they have not budged or come loose, seems as though these will work fine, I do wish however the bolts included were the correct length. Oh well...Cost me $5 dollars and another 30 minutes to get to/from Lowes. If anyone else gets stuck, PM and I can email you the bolt size I used?

 

[00Sebby]

Thanks for the responses all. I triple checked my work and with 100% certainty, my bolts were not hung up on the cross member. They were placed perfectly as noted, however bolts supplied but TRD were just too short. I've put 200 miles on my truck this week with the bolts from Lowes and they have not budged or come loose, seems as though these will work fine, I do wish however the bolts included were the correct length. Oh well...Cost me $5 dollars and another 30 minutes to get to/from Lowes. If anyone else gets stuck, PM and I can email you the bolt size I used?

You found a solution that works so it's a win.:thumb: Too bad they are not 14mm like the remaining bolts. I would go ahead and buy matching 17mm bolts for the rears so you only have to use one socket.

 

[sullano4Runner]

Thanks for the responses all. I triple checked my work and with 100% certainty, my bolts were not hung up on the cross member. They were placed perfectly as noted, however bolts supplied but TRD were just too short. I've put 200 miles on my truck this week with the bolts from Lowes and they have not budged or come loose, seems as though these will work fine, I do wish however the bolts included were the correct length. Oh well...Cost me $5 dollars and another 30 minutes to get to/from Lowes. If anyone else gets stuck, PM and I can email you the bolt size I used?

Hey bud, do you think you can message me the size bolt you used please? The bolts I got were too short too...

 

[CutthroatSlam]

First thing I did on our 2023 ORP was to install the TRD Skid Plate and it was done with the stud mount conversion by Saker.

The spacers sit flush to where the threads start in the frame. So if there is any portion of the bolt poking above the spacers, it will grab thread and install. Sorry to inform but this claimed problem was due to installer error.

 

[rageandlove]

TRD Skid Plate Bolts

Also, the TRD Pro does not have that plastic trim, just the skid plate, so you could just leave it off if you don't want to cut the trim piece.