I have a wonderful 2004 Prius. But I've got a screw loose. Actually, two loose screws that I can't find anywhere. I've lost two of the tonneau clip screws so the clip doesn't hold and thus the tonneau doesn't work. I've gone to my local Toyota dealer and once again they did not impress me. Since the schematics didn't show the screw he said he couldn't help me. Anyone know where I can source these? We use the tonneau all the time and plus, I just don't like having things broken on my Prius. It's been wonderful. Any help would be appreciated for these screws that are probably less than 10 cents each. Cheers, Katsu
This thread title scared me. I thought Jayman had taken his fascination with sheep to a new, unhealthy level. Tom
That's a baaaaad thought. I'm not sure about the tonneau screws. Can you post a photo showing where they are missing?
The screws are the small ones that attach the clips to the retractable cover over the cargo area. This problem was brought up in 2004 in this forum. Check out the post titled "Interior Hatch Cover: Check for Loose Screws.." That poster found the screws that had dropped out of the clip on the cover and simply reinstalled them. I wasn't able to find any posting about where the screws can be purchased.
Still don't understand what screws people are referring to. http://priuschat.com/forums/gen-ii-...56-retractable-rear-hatch-cover-hardware.html I'll have to go out to the car to see what people may be talking about.
yeah, the two hardware stores I went to couldn't help me and didn't find anything with the right size/thread combo. And notice that he had to grind the screws down. I don't have anything to grind them with. I'm not a good fix it type of guy. Any other thoughts?
Aided by the photo that Boo kindly took, I went out to my 2004 Prius and removed one of the screws shown. It appears to have the following measurements: 3.5mm diameter 10mm long 0.6mm thread pitch Countersunk (known as flat) Philips No 1 head Blunt point Trilobe thread Aaron's Metric Screws of Orange, California (easy to find with Google, since I can't post a link yet), stocks the following item, which appears to be suitable: M3.5-0.60 x 10mm Metric Machine Screws, Phillips Drive, Flat Head, Steel, Zinc Clear Plated, RoHS Compliant, 90 Degrees. Full Thread, DIN 965 / ISO 7046 Catalog #: 7007MS0519 Cost is $10 for Qty 10, $15 for 100 etc. Don't bill me if they're not the right ones, but as far as I can tell they should be a suitable replacement, except for the Trilobe thread which shouldn't matter. Forrest
$3.93 for a pack of 100. I like that. * * * * * * * * I might be wrong, but shouldn't a good hardware store have these in stock and for sale for under 10 cents each? Maybe the problem is finding a good hardware store these days.
Yes, we have a couple of hardware stores nearby that should probably have them for $.10 - $.15 each ($.04 each from McMaster, but you have to buy 100 + shipping). But with the advent of Home Depot and Lowe's it is getting harder to find good hardware stores. Also, in larger cities, there are fastener distributors (e.g. Fastenal) that would probably carry these. The stores usually sell to other businesses, but will sometimes sell to the public.
Follow-Up: Once again the screws fell out. Previously, when I had it in at the dealer for a regular maintenance issue, the service guy made a screw by cutting a longer screw down and filing it. A few weeks ago, I was in a hurry and just searching through my various screws. I had these below for some computer work and said screw it (pun intended), I don't care about the exact match, I'll try these. They worked perfectly and seem much more firmly in place than the originals. These are 6-32 x 1/4. Should be commonly available (but probably without the square socket we have in Canada). P1030972 | Flickr - Photo Sharing! Thanks to everyone for their advice.
It would be a good idea to buy some thread locker (small quantities available at most auto parts stores and motorcycle dealers) and put it on all four screws so they won't fall out in the future.
I'm glad I read down to the bottom of this thread. After looking around a bit locally to find the "exact" replacement, and then realizing that I was wasting too much time on this small problem, I followed Katsu Curry's solution and picked up some #6-32 x 3/8 machine screws (Oval Head Phillips) at the Home Depot. I went for the slightly longer screw since the 1/4" seemed short compared to the sample screw I removed for comparison. $1.18 plus tax and IT WORKED LIKE A CHARM. For this particular size, they only had it available in Stainless, but with four pieces, I decided to go ahead and replace them all. The #6 size is just a hair larger than the 3.5mm but that's probably what's helping it hold a bit tighter (as Katsu mentioned). I just wanted to thank everyone on this old thread... saved me a ton of time, and made me finally signup for a PriusChat account. Matt
