TRD Pro skid plate weld nuts broken

First it was 1/2 quart low oil in the rear differential, and now when trying to check the front differential, the weld nuts for the skid plate bolts that are inside the frame are broken and I can't get the skid plate off.

I've owned 6 Toyota pick-ups in the last 30 years and I've never seen such shoddy craftsmanship, if you can call it that. What are they doing in San Antonio?

I have an appointment at the dealer. See what they come up with. I can always remove the bolts somehow and install helicoils, but that's their problem.

 

So you broke the "weld nuts" trying to get your skid off?

 

Yeah, with a ratchet. Geez, why do they do this? I assume that it was broken when they put it on, probably with an impact wrench. I'm sure the dealer won't have a clue and I'll have to try and get them out and insert helicoils. All for $44,000.

 

If the weldnuts are broken, helicols won’t help as there is obviously not enough metal to tap (hence the need for weldnuts). Nut inserts are what you’d need.

 

This happened even on my 2nd gen. The nuts are spot welded and time as well as corrosion and rust eats at the integrity of their welds. If you are talking about the sheetmetal splash shield that is held in place in the front this is super normal, still not excusable, but normal. You will find in time a lot more welded nuts on the frame that have been spot welded in the same manner will be breaking off. I know mine did.

 

Can you reach the nut somehow and hold it in place?

 

Not without cutting that part of the frame crossmember. I'll let the dealer try first, but don't have much hope with those guys.

 

Insert the nuts in the hole below the weld nut, assuming I can get them off?

 

Taco has open frame. U sure can not reach them? Got a few angle pictures?

 

The skid plates don't bolt to the frame, but fully boxed crossmembers.

 

Cross members welded? Been a while since under the truck.

 

Agreed with @Dacon wit would be very helpful to see some pictures of this.

Regardless, if this is an actual frame issue then this on Dana who built the frames for Toyota, not Toyota themselves. Dana has had a fairly bad rap in the past for building these frames on the cheap side using subpar paint, and even less than stellar weld techniques in some cases.

 

If it's the crossmember where the back side of the LCA mounts (rear of the skid) you can 100% reach the broken welded nut. I broke one and was able to get an open ended wrench on the nut inside the frame.

Then I got an m8 nutsert to replace the broken nut

 

Sorry about your troubles. But things do break, even in expensive cars. If a nut is all that's broken, hardly anything to get frustrated over. I won't get into my Jeep and BMW ownership experiences.

 

If a welder got in there to spot weld it, there is access. Maybe not conventional wrench but you can usually make something to hold it. Problem is if the access is blocked due to the skid plate. I usually find the bolts stripped before the weldnut comes loose, but no idea in your case.

 

Stripped my weld nuts threads when I put my skid back on. Drilled it out so the bolt would slide through and put a new nut on it from the top. It’s a HUGE pain in the ass to reach it inside that crossmember, but it can be done with a ratchet extension and multi-direction adapter. Gonna suck when I need to take it off again though.

 

This is great to know. I’m going to do this the next time I take mine off instead of how I did it.

 

Awe nuts!

 

Good idea. Where did you find the nutsert? Tomorrow the dealer can try, but I bet they won't have a clue.

 

I think the fronts would be possible but the center bolts at least one seems loose might be nearly impossible. We'll see.