Cracked sheet metal above radiator body bushings

I think I just pissed myself

 

The frame is a wet noddle on these trucks so adding poly bushing likely won't do much. Add heavy front bumper, winch and the oscillations become more pronounced.

 

Makes me scared to hit a pothole .

 

Okay. Because clearly I don't know what I'm doing here.

Take apart your OE radiator core support mounts and see what I am talking about if you don't believe me.

 

Ease over the railroad tracks for sure. We have some rough ones around here.

 

He did say a stock truck was having the issue...... I'd at least think that person would bring it in....

 

Early FJ cruisers have sheet metal issues ahead of the firewall too.

 

Have no reason too, but anyone thinking poly bushings will be the be all end all to this problem is likely an engineer a Boeing these days. If one starting adding 200+ pounds of weight to the front frame horns is it's only going to make the core support move with the frame rails more. Adding poly bushing will not stop the metal fatigue.

 

I'm trying to figure out how adding stiffer, less compliant bushings will improve the situation. If anything it seems to me like they would force the core support to flex with the frame more.

 

I had some cracking on mine, though nowhere near as bad as yours. I have poly bushings up front, in case anyone cares.

My solution was to completely cut out the trouble area and weld in some 14 gauge. Has held up well for quite some time now.

 

You clearly don't understand what I'm getting at here. Even when tight, the factory bushings allow a ton of movement. When worn out (which happens at mileage as little as 15-20K) they allow even more slop which not only damages the core support metal mounting points by making it oblong (as well as the frame mounting points), but it allows the support to dance around a ton, particularly where the battery is located due to the heavy weight of that thing. Toyota just uses shit rubber on the bushings for this truck because of they are attempting to make this thing as compliant as a Camry. Because it bounces around all day in there for those who wheel even a little hard their support will eventually collapse, buckle and crumple up in the exact spots the OP is posting about.

It doesn't solve any issues on its own, other than preventing bouncing around, which is a big deal alone, but doing those coupled with a battery relocation nets you years more worth of service life on an already collapsed/ damaged/ crumpled up core support for those who use their wheeler as a daily driver. On a new or undamaged setup it prevents issues down the line.

This is nothing new and you definitely don't have to work as an engineer at Boeing to understand what is happening here. You secure the slop and play and minimize weight bearing on an already weak setup. It's first grade stuff actually.

This topic has been covered ad nauseum at this point. You don't have to pull apart your garbage OE bushings because I have done the work for you nearly 5 years ago. Check the link below if you don't believe me.
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads...-support-mounts-cab-also.361346/#post-9806898

 

I checked mine. No cracks, but still have stock front fascia and bumper. Driven 1000kms of washboard. Mostly try not to hammer the truck, but sometimes it’s unavoidable.

I’m fitting a winch bumper next month. We’ll see what happens.

 

It's not going to stop the frame horns from being a wet noddle. The frame horns on my F150 are easily 2-3 if not 4 times bigger in size. I guess it's the price to pay if you want a good crash test

 

Agreed all around there. The radiator supports on these trucks are just built out of soda can metal. It makes sense for crash testing but it also sacrafices reliability for us. All we can really do is work with what we got or re- engineer the design from the rear of the front end of the cab on forward, and eliminate all of the trash metal all around by building an engine cage. It is costly and time consuming, however, and for those of us who DD their truck it's a mod which is not too feasible unless you get yourself a rental for a good 2 or 3 months.

 

Maybe the answer is to buy another core support and make a doubler for certain sections to extend the life. It's kind of shitty that this is happening

 

def a bummer

 

already have energy bushings. But how do you stop this problem?