Should Skid Plate Be Removed or Modified for Installing Curt Front Hitch on 2018 4Runner TRD

Published 11/06/2019

Question:

Is this adaption more difficult then just notching out mount areas?

asked by: Tom C

Helpful Expert Reply:

Completely removing the skid plate on your 2018 Toyota 4Runner to make room for a front mount hitch like the Curt # C31076 that you referenced will be much simpler than just trying to trim the needed areas to allow fitment of the hitch's mounting brackets and crosstube. There aren't any specific instructions for this available so you would just need to cut the areas based on the hitch dimensions and how it lines up with the skid plate if you decide to do this.

Since you would need still to remove the plate either way (just temporarily if you wanted to trim/modify it and put it back on) I really just recommend that you remove it for good. The hitch itself is going to do a nice job of replacing the protection that the skid plate provides too.

I have attached the written installation instructions that you can check out as well.

expert reply by: Chris R