Using 5th-gen OEM fuel tank skid plate on 2007 4th-gen 4runner

I decided to replace my horribly corroded OEM fuel tank skid plate on my 2007 V6 Toyota 4runner. I didn't bother going with after market skid plates because none of them were at a decent price. I live in Canada and the price for shipping from the US was rediculous. In addition, the OEM skid plate had more protection near the front of the fuel tank which the other aftermarket skid plates didn't have.
First off, I called the dealer for a OEM 4th gen skid plate and they quoted me $1280.00 and it would take a week to get in. I then came apon a post on the TR4.org forum by the name of Laufer who claimed that a 5th gen 4runner skid plate was much cheaper and only required a slight modification. I decide to look into it and see if there was any merrit to his post.

Fuel tank shield aka
PROTECTOR SUB-ASSEMBLY, FUEL TANK, NO. 1

77606-35060 $730 J120/GX470/N210/N215 (4th gen)
77606-60190 $360 J150/GX460/N280/N285 (5th gen) full-length
77606-60200 $250 J150/GX460/N280/N285 (5th gen) partial/front of tank only

I purchased the skid plate part number 77606-60190 for $480 from the local dealer. Part arrived the following day. With Alberta tax it was approx $520. I went to pick it up and was happy to say it looked identical to the original OEM skid plate.

Upon further inspection, as Laufer mentioned on his post, one of the legs was approx 1.0 inches too long. I decide to cut the original leg off from the rusted up skid plate and weld it onto the new skid plate. The leg had zero rust on it so it welded into place very easily.

The welding job was not the best but I'm no pro. After a little grinding and repeated spot welds, it turned out nice and strong.

I then gave it a nice coat of black paint, followed by several other coats.

Gave the entire skid plate a nice paint as well.

After I left the paint to dry for 24 hours, I preceded to install it on the 4runner.


As you can see, it fit perfectly.