Cracked sheet metal above radiator body bushings

And my plate fix finally died this weekend. But to be fair I was really driving like an asshole.

 

TLDR: 1) I want to know if you all have heard about this issue of cracking in front-end sheet metal associated with Gen III Tacomas, FJ Cruisers of any vintage, the Hilux group at large or older (smaller) Tundras.
and
2) do you all think that the main cause of this issue is repeated impacts on high speed washboard and rolling dips of 2WD dirt or flexion and twisting on more technical 4WD. I have my thoughts, but I'd like to hear yours so I can try to get myself into better place as far as not killing perfectly good Tacos.



The Long Story:

Old Silver, my beloved '09 Taco access cab has - to paraphrase Chris Farley - *had more than her share of fun* at high speed on dirt tracks out in the dusty-d!ck drylands outback. I've also done a very small amount of technical 4wd "crawlin'". I will continue to drive these roads in the future and I have a problem correcting my bad habits. I run 265 65 16 tires.

I've finally confronted what I did not want to and found what I deem to be very serious cracks in the sheet metal on the fenders/wheel arches beneath the battery and in the upper tie bar and the uprights of the radiator support. I can, in no particular order 1) cage and re-sheet the engine compartment and re-mount the radiator, headlights, fuse bank, battery, etc; 2) start over with a different vehicle; 3) do a band-aid and get on down the road with minor bracing/welding reinforcement; 4) fully replace the core supports and aprons.

I like and need work truck functionality, I will absolutely be driving terrible roads with great regularity (easily 1,000+miles annually on very badly washboarded 2wd dirt and perhaps 400 of super dune-sand stuff, at least 250 miles of bedrock 2wd, and then another, say, 50-100 mi of the really bad rock crawling/tech 4wd). The roads I drive are super remote and I must have something reliable (read: a Toyota, not a Jeep - as my mechanic says "If you want to go on a safari, sure, take a Jeep. If you want to get home, take a $&@# Toyota".) I run Jeeps for my work on these bad roads...they run great in 4wd and romp the worst stuff capably, but I need a truck bed and I need 3rd world level reliability.

I'm kinda sad about this lack of staying power in the sheet metal alloy/design/resilience to my - ahem - amortization of Old Silver on the terrible roads I've subjected her to...

I want to find something that will not fall apart given my applications and will also still afford full (at least 72") bed length and work truck functionality.

Hilux? New Tacoma? Older Tundra? Stop driving like a bat outta hell? Or, given my love for this old rig, keep her holding together in one way or another and maybe put in some

 

I joined the crack club

 

Recently switched to a lighter battery after finding this

 

I find it almost hard to believe these problems are so common...

 

When the overlander craze has everyone thinking they need two batteries and all the accessories it's easy to see why.

 

I just got one of them winch bumper things and a pulley device in there

 

Then apparently you drive too fast like I do

 

More Bigger More Better
Yeah, didn’t do proper looking into before making my choice

 

@CG256 Is this what you were talking about?

 

I'm not sure I can agree with this. There have been way more people in here with cracking than I expected. I would appear that battery location and support strength is a contributing factor. Time and rough roads should produce the same. I plan on keeping an eye on this. I expect to be able to reasonably drive my OffRoad off-road. These trucks are absolutely marketed and sold as off-road capable. I don't have any cracks, but I'm skeptical that all of these are extreme abuse. Jumping and other dumb shit obviously not a part of this discussion.

 

Did that break above a weld, or on a weld? It looks like you had rust under the paint. Plating the support should be a good solution, but that is a fuck ton of work. Not a big deal on a 70s or 80s truck that where you can stand in the engine bay, but these are tight and there are so many wires and hoses to move to get to stuff.

 

Above the weld, and probably.

The cases I have seen of cracking are extreme abuse. My fix held for quite a while. It wasn't until I bombed up a rocky mountain trail at 20 mph for half an hour, getting a little airborne a few times, that this new crack formed.

 

Yeah, that sounds a little tough. I am subbing to a few of these threads to watch. Again, I don't have any cracks, but I am surprised at the amount in here so far. My truck stays grounded, but I do wheel some - nothing I would expect issues with, but steel seems to have become cheaper and thinner on everything any more.

 

Dealership looked at the truck. Toyota doesn’t care to touch it as expected. Think I’m going to go the full plate route. Time to start drawing so I can put it back into service...

 

Kobe steel?

 

I really want to just cut the body off from the windshield to the front bumper and remake it with tube... maybe someday

 

Well, shit. Just rolled over 100k miles and noticed it this afternoon.

poly pushings in the radiator support the last three months and a AGM 27F battery since May. 99% street driven, haven’t been off the highway in over a year and a half.

 

I would stop drill that ASAP

 

yeah I am. Just goes to show how weak the metal really is. You don’t necessarily have to abuse the truck to make it crack.