Tank strap modification for gas tank skid plate mounting to non-TRD Off Road trucks

Wasn't able to find a lot of info on this so I jumped in and discovered it's an easy mod. No need to spend $$$ on TRD gas tank straps with studs. This cost me $8 of hardware and an hour or so of work. The tank has large divots right where the bolt heads go.

Tips:

Make sure you support the tank with a jack when removing the straps. Do them one at a time.

Check your measurements to ensure you're drilling your strap holes in the right spot and that the holes in your skid plate will line up. You can see that I had to drill one of my holes off center.

Use interior tooth lock washers plus regular washers on the bolt head to help it grab when you start tightening the nut as you will not be able to hold the bolt with a wrench.

I used four 3/8" x 1-1/4" standard bolts in addition to the two frame bolts provided with the skid. You might be able to get away with 1" long bolts but it will be more difficult to get the nut on the bottom of the plate. Buy both lengths when you make your hardware store run because you might want to try each.

Drill 1/2" holes in your straps and use washers on your 3/8" bolts. This will give you some room to move the bolt around when you try to get it through the skid plate hole.

See pictures:

Front strap with off center hole. Bolts with lock and regular washers.




Tank with strap removed showing divots.



Finished product. If you use 1" bolts they won't stick down so far but it will be more difficult to get the nut on.

 

The skid obviously works for the OPs needs. Just as the silly stock skid works for your needs.

Good on ya for putting this out there @andrew61987 I'm sure it'll help someone.

 

Nice work OP. I know a lot of people aren't aware you can do this cheap mod and are spending the 150+ on the Off Road OEM straps with the nuts on them.

 

Nice job. Though in a perfect world I'd prefer to see a slight recession in the skid to allow the bolt head to be at the same height as the main flat skid. You think without the front strap bolts it would really drop/sag being it's aleady secured on the frame?

 

It wouldn't sag, but if it does take a hit I'd rather any lateral force that doesn't go to the frame get transferred to both straps instead of just one. Plus I'm not one to leave provided bolt holes empty.

 

Good Post. at Budbuilt he offers gas tank skid plates and also offers what he calls "Beefy Strap" for those of us with no factory skid plate. He gets $75 for this bracket (in addition to the skid plate in steel, stainless steel or aluminum. I am one of the guys who need this mod or to buy the tank strap from Toyota or the Budbuilt version. So yes, I appreciate your post!

I was originally hesitant to let the back of the skid plate be supported by the tank strap (and thus, to a degree, the tank itself). But your explanation of the tank skid not being meant o support the whole truck but just to defend against puncture makes sense. Plus the front skid mount bolts (2 of them) do bolt directly to frame cross-member.

 

Same skid...but I drulled some holes and welded bolts into the strap.

One gets creative when on a college student budget.

 

I need to do this. I pucker when going over sharp rocks. Years back, I ripped a hole in my Mazda b2300 tank (ended up tying a sacrificial sheet of aluminum to the new tank)

 

Cheapest I found is on Rockauto. Offroad straps for like $47.