What does this bolt hold together?

Hello fellow Tacos! So, I need some help identifying what portion of the truck is being held together with a particular bolt (see pics, it's the middle bolt).

Why, you ask? Well, I took on the project of removing my ProMaxx step bar I had installed on my truck a few years back. I figured it was a simple project as it seemed to be attached to the body and not the frame...but of course, silly me, I was wrong and the rear mounts are attached to the frame

Both sides are the same, so for one side of the truck there is one bar and two mounts (front/rear). The bar connects to the mounts by a bolt (duh), then the front mount connects to the body with 3 bolts and 3 washers. The back mount, however, connects to the frame using 2 bolts, 2 nuts and 2 washers which was the 'arm' of the mount...the actual support connection was via this mystery nut and bolt that is meant to stay with the truck.

I was able to remove the bars and the front mounts on each side but the last bolt on the rear mount was tighter than a ****** and no matter how hard I prayed to God to give me the strength, I couldn't budge it on either side . I then took it to a mechanic (before knowing about a cheater bar ) and had them use their impact wrench to loosen it up. They tried tightening the nut back down after the mount was removed but the bolt kept spinning. You can see from the photo, there is no way to hold down the head of the bolt to keep it from spinning. So the guy tightened it down by hand.

Could anyone tell me what it is that the bolt is holding together? My concern is that the nut needs to be torqued correctly but I do not know by how much. I can take it to the stealership for them to examine but I know it will cost me $50 just for them to spectate and then laugh.

Thank you sooooooooo much!

 

looks like body mounts

 

Cab mount bolt

 

It looks like the bolt that holds the cab to the frame. Passenger side, rear of the cab if I'm not mistaken (looks like the exhaust can in the background of one of the pictures).

 

If I follow the bolt straight up it does not appear to be the bed of the truck but the bottom of the cab. Any chance I would need to have this torqued correctly? I suppose I could check it after a few days of driving and make sure it hasn't loosened?

Thanks for all the quick responses!!!!!!!

 

Yes, that bolt should be properly torqued down. It holds the cab of the truck to the frame.

 

Looks like cab mount bolt. The head is probably under your carpet. You definitely need to get it torqued right.
I'm not positive, because I've done very little to my taco, but I have removed the cab mount bolts from my ford, and the heads were under the carpet.
If its your bed mount bolts, the head will be on the floor of the bed.

 

Sometimes you can just take an impact wrench to the nut and it can spin it fast enough to get it to grab and torque down. If not you might just be able to pull carpet back and find the head of the bolt. Good luck!

 

Just make it tight i guess I don't think any issues will result, i mean when it was loose you should've at least been able to find what was attached, sorry i don't have anything concrete for you...

 

This guy would know! Look at all the awesome things he's done to his taco, I'm sure he's had his interior apart several times!

 

Alright, do I actually still need to get to the head of the bolt though if it was able to be tightened down by hand (without it turning)? The mechanic tightened it with a good amount of force but I still want it done right.

 

Only way to know for sure is to check with torque wrench.

 

WOW! Thank you!!

 

Will do! Thanks a million for the feed back!

You are awesome! I will give the torque wrench a go first and then move to the TSB instructions if I still can't get it. Thanks again!

Who's the dummy who chose this step bar?!?! THIS GIRL!! My bad...

 

Your welcome, happy to help. Good luck!
I think it's awesome that your under the truck figuring this stuff out!
Plus, you had a really good description, and good photos, made it pretty easy for everybody give you a hand.

 

Got it guys. And it actually did need to be tightened! thanks again!

 

Welcome to TW and a great group of guys Miss Heather!