Can’t install OEM rock rails because no threaded holes in the frame

[indy14]

Took delivery of a 2025 4Runner TRD Off-Road yesterday. I was disappointed to learn that I would have to put a decent amount of money into it to have it live up to its “off-road” moniker. But I bit the bullet and purchased a couple of real skid plates and rock sliders, all from Toyota.

The dealer did a great job installing the skid plates and taking off the air dam. But they couldn’t install the rock sliders from Toyota. The reason? Toyota seems to have neglected to thread the holes in the frame. While the dealer showed me the lacking threads, I noticed that the underside of the 4Runner was a complete mess from some form of sealant or glue applied at the factory. Short video of what I mean:

Any thoughts or suggestions? I put a call in to Toyota and they said they would get back to me this week.

 

[Hacksaw]

Kind of ridiculous that the dealer service department didn't have a tap and die set somewhere in the shop, so they could thread it and install it. The stuff that looks like caulking is called seam sealer. It's used to fill in any panel seams to prevent rust at the seams, and is also used for noise and vibration reduction when it seems to be applied randomly in the middle of an area. This has been in use by all automakers for a long time. Nowadays, I imagine they put the prototype vehicle in a vibration jig, scan it to find areas of higher vibration or resonance, and a computer program decides where to apply it for production vehicles. It's usually applied by robots but there may be some human-applied afterwards, during an underbody inspection at the factory. Separate from that, there may be a rubbery undercoating in places, also mainly to prevent rust, and that is sprayed on. There are youtube videos of car manufacturing processes that show these things being applied. If the thin remnant dangling threads at the end of a seam bother you, you can probably clip it with a pair of wire cutters.

 

[indy14]

Kind of ridiculous that the dealer service department didn't have a tap and die set somewhere in the shop, so they could thread it and install it. The stuff that looks like caulking is called seam sealer. It's used to fill in any panel seams to prevent rust at the seams, and is also used for noise and vibration reduction when it seems to be applied randomly in the middle of an area. This has been in use by all automakers for a long time. Nowadays, I imagine they put the prototype vehicle in a vibration jig, scan it to find areas of higher vibration or resonance, and a computer program decides where to apply it for production vehicles. It's usually applied by robots but there may be some human-applied afterwards, during an underbody inspection at the factory. Separate from that, there may be a rubbery undercoating in places, also mainly to prevent rust, and that is sprayed on. There are youtube videos of car manufacturing processes that show these things being applied. If the thin remnant dangling threads at the end of a seam bother you, you can probably clip it with a pair of wire cutters.

Thanks! This is helpful. Dealership said they could do nutserts, which sounds similar to what you mentioned. But they said Toyota wouldn’t warranty it and that it wouldn’t be strong enough if the rock rails got some proper use and had to support the weight of the vehicle.

 

[LLL1990]

So how is this a quality control issue?

 

[indy14]

So how is this a quality control issue?

If there should be threads for rock rails but there aren’t, what should that be labeled?

 

[LLL1990]

If there should be threads for rock rails but there aren’t, what should that be labeled?

Toyota didn't install attachment points for Rock Rails.

It's hard to believe Toyota would offer a genuine Toyota Rock Rail and not make it easy to install. Did you ask the tech if the installation instructions stated that the bolts should be screwed directly into the frame? If so he should contact Toyota for guidance since the instructions are impossible to follow. Dealers have a chat line they can go to for help.

 

[indy14]

Toyota didn't install attachment points for Rock Rails.

It's hard to believe Toyota would offer a genuine Toyota Rock Rail and not make it easy to install. Did you ask the tech if the installation instructions stated that the bolts should be screwed directly into the frame? If so he should contact Toyota for guidance since the instructions are impossible to follow. Dealers have a chat line they can go to for help.

I think they talked to Toyota about it and I am as well. Agreed, the Toyota rock rails are supposed to be easy to mount, but that is the problem. Without the threads they won’t work. Not sure if the dealer is correct or not, but the dealer is putting this on Toyota. According to the dealer, Toyota does supply the rock rail mounting points for their own rock rails but didn’t in this case.

The strange thing is that the dealer said the SR5 trim has the mounting points, but not the TRD off-road.

 

[Mad Ghost]

I think they talked to Toyota about it and I am as well. Agreed, the Toyota rock rails are supposed to be easy to mount, but that is the problem. Without the threads they won’t work. Not sure if the dealer is correct or not, but the dealer is putting this on Toyota. According to the dealer, Toyota does supply the rock rail mounting points for their own rock rails but didn’t in this case.

The strange thing is that the dealer said the SR5 trim has the mounting points, but not the TRD off-road.

This has been bothering me I asked an aftermarket company who is developing parts and they said it does have threaded mounting locations so I finally laid under it and looked with a head lamp and yes there are spots on then Frame maybe every foot that are open and threaded just waiting for rails. I have an Off Road Premium.

 

[Vincenzo]

I can see a little offroading. Are you honestly going to go legit rock crawling in a brand new vehicle that really isn’t a rock crawler? Add nutserts and move on. Or, weld, like they do on real rock crawlers. These packages are just icing in case you didn’t know.

 

[DangItsDen]

CBI said that only the sr5 has threaded holes so they have some nut thing that they use for installing their sliders. Sounds like some ORP owners have threaded ones tho so who tf knows what happened here.... I am about to go look at mine in a sec.

Here's a video of CBI explaining

 

[Mad Ghost]

Unlike 5th gen where it was threaded on the side of the frame, the threads I saw on the bottom of the frame match up with what Westcott did for their sliders

 

[DangItsDen]

I just checked and mine has 2 threaded holes near the center of the frame on the sides. How many threaded spots do the OEM rails require?

 

[DangItsDen]

Just found an image from wescotts site showing two different install options. With and with and without holes

 

[indy14]

I can see a little offroading. Are you honestly going to go legit rock crawling in a brand new vehicle that really isn’t a rock crawler?

Yes. And you should too. 4Runners aren't Jeeps, but they are pretty capable.

 

[indy14]

For what it is worth, my dealer is saying that Toyota realizes they totally messed up not installing the threaded inserts on all 4Runners. However, they won't do anything about it until 2026. So all of us that got bad examples in the 2025 model year have to deal with substandard workarounds that aren't yet readily available.

Thanks to @DangItsDen and @Mad Ghost for the info. I unfortunately customized the bottom of the 4Runner just a bit today when the tire slid off a rock. It wasn't bad, but the exact thing that rocksliders prevent.