Note for new owners: License plates

Ok, this is probably common knowledge, but I'll post it here for anyone who has recently gotten a 4Runner. Most new cars have little plastic taps that dealers drill into to install your plate on the back. The issue with these taps is that after a little bit of owner exchanging they become utterly useless. The 4Runner is different, to my surprise I found out that the hole on the lift gate is threaded. A few trial and errors and a trip to Home Depot give me the information that these threads are meant for a M6x1.0MM bolt. How deep the threaded hole goes is around 20mm from my measurements. Any bolt below that length will fit in the hole snugly.

 

Thanks for this post Rhussa. I am awaiting a new plate from the state and purchased a new license plate bracket and was wondering about that.

I usually buy stainless steel bolts just to keep away the rusty look. I will have to go hunt some of these down thanks for the info.

 

Thanks @rhussa !

You reminded me that I've been meaning to get rid of the nasty rusted screws that were holding my plate on.

One of them was a bit rough coming out. Didn't have a thread chaser, but I took one of the screws and put a liberal dab of anti-seize on the threads and ran it in the hole several times by hand. Went ahead and did the same thing to the other hole.

Plate is now held on by 2 fresh 14mm long M6x1.0 screws.

 

Any bolt longer than that in the rear tailgate will interfere with movement of the window.