Well damn. It seems I have hit a snag. I was wondering why my hardware package appeared to have been opened. Now I know. Someone borrowed some hardware and didn't replace it with the correct stuff.

The M10 130 bolts were replaced with 120's
The M10 50 bolts were replaced with 40's

I have not tried to install the hitch yet, but I assume my hardware is too short.

Here's the kicker - minimally the 50's need a 16mm head to fit into the recessed "bolt head trap" in the tow carrier. It looks like the standard is a 17mm head. It may not matter for the 130's - not sure yet.

I've checked McMaster, Grainger and Fastenal and have come-up empty so far.......

What's more rare than a unicorn? Unicorn nuts!


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Apparently I am looking for a JIS standard bolt? - all of the ones I can find seems to be flange bolts and not straight up "normal" bolts. Sweet.

The plot thickens - maybe it's a typo? I'll try the assembly with what I have a a see if the bolts are long enough. They are such an odd size to begin with it seems unlikely they would have been replaced with something similarly odd but not quite right. Dunno.


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So apparently the M10 40's are long enough. You don't need the M50. These have a 16mm head

The M10 120's have a 17mm head so they won't fit into the recess in the bumper brackets.


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I'm surprised you're having trouble.

For some reason, on my car the bolts had been tack welded to the bumper mounts post installation. I had to grind them off (so that I could remove the mount and straighten it as it had been bent in a fender bender by PO). So I had to buy new bolts. I walked straight into a hardware chain store and found a suitable bolt in about 2 mins flat. I know that doesn't help you, but I am surprised that you're having trouble - I'm sure your hardware stores are 5 times the size of ours in Australia.

Don't forget that the length of the bolt is not critical. Because the nut secures on the inside of the trunk, there is actually a fair bit of extra room that would allow you to use a longer bolt if necessary.

The issue of the bolt heads not fitting is a common one if you read the old threads. It seems they originally designed for the 16mm heads and then changed to 17mm without revising the holders. The installers typically grind or flatten the tabs down to use the 17mm bolts.

It's always something isn't it? Here's my issue right now. The bolts that go at 12 and 5 or 7 o'clock are okay even though they are 40mm long and not 50 like the spec says.....the threads on the nut are fully engaged.

The bolts that are at 3 and 9 I believe will be long enough even though they are 120mm and not 130 or 135 as the spec suggests they are/need to be.

The current issue is the bracket has ident/traps that need the head to be 16mm and not 17mm. I am thinking I'll just grind .015 or so off each flat and make em so......

My local hardware stores seem to only have M10 10.9 cap screws up to 100mm in length.

I thought about finding maybe something grade 8 SAE - but I figure I'll give this a shot first.

See? No fit!

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Ah hah! An explanation! I didn't think about digging through old posts. I just thought I was going nuts. Since the bolt has to fit down into the recess past the tabs - they must have chiseled the thing to open it up. I've just been carefully grinding down the flats a little at a time 'till the bolt snaps in place.


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Ahhh....this explains why my bolts were welded to the plate.

Those recesses were completely ground flat on mine. Bolts must have been tack welded in place as an alternative to stop them spinning.

I used a punch to open those tabs up. I wasn't pretty, but I gave it a shot of tremclad when I was done fwiw. I cursed the tabs too.

One side I ground down the bolts - the other side I cut a couple relief cuts with a Dremel and opened the tabs up with a chisel. Things are moving along again!!!


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