I need to remove the plastic cover "arms" on either side of the front windshield so I can snake a bluetooth speaker wire behind them.
I tried the drivers side first, but the damn screws holding the plastic in place was on TIGHT!

I somehow managed to end up stripping the screw heads trying to get the screws out.
Any suggestions on how to prevent this (me) knucklehead from doing the same thing to the opposite side?
I used a pretty good fitting phillips tip on my electric hammer drill. Which I needed because my normal 18v screwdriver didn't seem to have the torque I needed.

 

Just make sure you have a really good quality screwdriver/bit. Maybe a hand impact screwdriver with a quality bit.

Those screws can be ridiculously tight.

 

arent they 10mm bolts that you can unbolt, or unscrew? i may be mistaken though. You shouldnt need to remove the entire pillar cover to run the bluetooth wire, with a plastic panel tool ($5 at harbor freight) you can get the wire run without removing the pillar cover. Bring it up over the corner closest to the windshield (where most people put their oil stickers, top left) and then gently pull away the rubber door trim, you can hide the wire under the door boot, all the way down to near the kick panel, then fish it across the underdash into the radio housing area. hope that helps, and makes sense.

jason

 

That is some good advice actually. I ended up doing that on another 4runner for a remote start antenna.

 

If screws are on their tight I always use one of the bits that you can attach to a ratchet or use a socket small enough to slip the bit in ... that gives you a point to apply direct pressure and a bit more leverage works every time