Replacing Weld Nut - TRD Pro Skid Plate

TBD for sure. It's a pretty big rivnut in pretty thick gauge steel, so I'm fairly optimistic. Plus I don't live in a place that puts it at high risk for corrosion. Nonetheless, I liberally applied antiseize. Worst case if it happens again, I cut the bolt, drill out the rivnut, and do something else. I would probably go the route of welding a nut onto a steel handle if I have issues in the future, similar to OP, but this was way easier and faster to do.

 

Agreed. It is less than convenient but it was cheap and an easy fix. I probably drop my skids 1-3 times a year and I would say that one bolt causes about 2.4 swear words on average each time I have to undo or thread it.

 

Dang that's not bad at all! The broken square nut nearly caused a tear in the in the space-time continuum with the light-speed string of swear words that spewed from me.

 

This is only on factory equipped Pro models? I have the Pro skid on my sport

 

They all have the same shitty welded square nut inside the cross member

 

@tacomarin What size rivnut did you use? I saw M8, but on McMaster-Carr I see an option for material thickness. Do you remember which one you installed? I don't want to drop my skid plate right now to measure...

 

@AllTacosFloat Do you remember what we used on my truck?

@TacoTuesday603 (I think jack did one too)

 

I didnt do it but most of the frame is around 1/8" thick. Standard hardware store rivnuts that size are usually fine up to 3/16"

 

Don’t remember but I thought it was one of the bigger sizes..

 

Good info!
Thanks!

 

I thought this was a good overview of installing your own weld nuts:
Welding nuts to the inside of steel tube - YouTube
Could be used in many, but not all locations on our Tacoma frames.

Edit:
This one's good too:How to Weld a Nut into RHS SHS Steel Tube

Here's another: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ho8CTyaSKq8

 

I just used one from a set I had on hand. I would guess the thickness of the cross member there is around 1/16”-1/8”