Side trine hole fix

[Nvpe]

I removed all of my side trim now I'm stuck with holes in the sides. I don't want to weld the holes over and was wondering if anyone had any other alternative fixes to these holes.

 

[FreshSeaBass]

You could run a bolt through the back side of the door, weld it, and then cut the bolt shaft off and grind smooth. Less welding, but still welding.

 

[4runner DOA]

I removed all of my side trim now I'm stuck with holes in the sides. I don't want to weld the holes over and was wondering if anyone had any other alternative fixes to these holes.

Filled mine with clips because I had a bunch from when I kept snapping my trim off and breaking them. I'm thinking seal them from the inside of the doors and eventually Bondo on the outside to cover them.

 

[Duckbutter6]

 

[Itaro]

Someone had got those clips, sanded the caps smooth and painted them to color match

 

[Notcrow-of-judgement]

Someone had got those clips, sanded the caps smooth and painted them to color match

There was a write up on tw. I did it on the tacoma I had

 

[Itaro]

There was a write up on tw. I did it on the tacoma I had

It’s not rocket science, all depends on how nice you want it to look

 

[clntg]

It’s not rocket science, all depends on how nice you want it to look

…and I’m agreeing with @Itaro, what has the world come to?

they were put there with purpose - so, unless you want to go through the process of removing them purposefully you should maybe consider making them have/look like they still have one.

I’ve thought about this off and on myself. I came to the realization that if i did remove the Limited trim I’d likely heavy coat with linen-x (or similar) and either before or after put shallow face (pretty flush) stainless hardware in the holes - whatever looked less stupid, because it would likely look a little dumb no matter what. Ideally I’d use them to bolt actual body armor to the panels, or simply better more rigid custom trim/flares/skids.

but then there’s body armor on my T4R…

The problem is all that crap was originally installed for looks really so anything you do outside of deleting the holes also runs the risk of looking just as arbitrary. And I believe form SHOULD follow function. So I’ve struggled with these really somewhat arbitrary responses.

Where I have kinda’ landed is to do basically what @FreshSeaBass recommended, either with metal as mentioned or more robust epoxy (bondo/fillers might be too prone to popping out without good backing) finished flush THEN use color matched Line-X ONLY where the trim was… as scuff protection and cover for the holes. Cleaner and more functional than the bolts and less picky than all of the work required to spot weld and flush finish with paint match. Also gives some minimal added protection.

 

[clntg]

Filled mine with clips because I had a bunch from when I kept snapping my trim off and breaking them. I'm thinking seal them from the inside of the doors and eventually Bondo on the outside to cover them.

or just go this route and move on. Lol.

 

[FreshSeaBass]

…and I’m agreeing with @Itaro, what has the world come to?

....

Where I have kinda’ landed is to do basically what @FreshSeaBass recommended, either with metal as mentioned or more robust epoxy (bondo/fillers might be too prone to popping out without good backing) finished flush THEN use color matched Line-X ONLY where the trim was… as scuff protection and cover for the holes. Cleaner and more functional than the bolts and less picky than all of the work required to spot weld and flush finish with paint match. Also gives some minimal added protection.

It's been done, check out Dirtco build thread on t4r. Line-x, monsta, raptor, etc the lower third of the truck is a brilliant idea. That's what I decided to do on top of repainting the rest of the truck. Functional rock chip protection