Rust belt? Save your hatch & plate bolts...and others!

For the people who are not aware of this issue yet figured I would make a thread to save some dread. The license plate bolts in the rear go into the metal of the hatch. The shitty cheap bolts the dealer uses rust in a year or less. I had my runner since December and it saw salt twice. I already had a little rust starting on the threads. Bought some stainless steel hardware, laid some fluid film in hatch and around the threads, and anti seized the bolts. Trying to not have rust issues or welded bolts in the future. My mothers 2019 daily had the bolts pretty much welded in already due to rust! & the dealer used 2 different sizes and just impacted them right in...pathetic. Hope this helps others! New to 4 runners and trying to add some contribution.

 

They make plastic screws for it too. That work

 

Not a bad idea, but in the end I like the durability of a real bolt lol.

 

Me too. Think they want two or $300 for a lost plate down here in Florida

 

I wonder if the female threads are steel or aluminum?

 

Prob steel

 

I have to double check mine but I am 99 percent certain mine are plastic screws on my 21 ORP. I was sort of shocked when I got my regular metal plate to install. They were like a black plastic cheapo screw.