Core Support is Tearing Itself Apart

I’m sure one of you fucks found my first grill in Death Valley someplace

Current grill has a couple of zip ties here and there. I know there’s an issue as you can see it moving.

 

Someone said JD Fabrication was making some fenders.. but $1500

https://jdfabrication.com/collections/05-15-6-lug/products/tacoma-inner-fender-replacements

 

that was me lol, gotta pay to play.

 

You just spent roughly that much on bypasses. It's not that the kit is pricey, it's your priorities are different.

The JD kit will offer a lot more clearance in the wheel well as well as reinforcing the core support. It's a no brainer for people who wheel their truck IMO.

 

Subbd to this thread so I don't lose it.
My core support is also quite trashed and nothing lines up right.
I know a couple friends who had tubes welded up instead, probably going to go that route.

 

They're $2000 now.

 

Bumping this thread. My 2017 DCSB is bone stock and this is still happening to mine bad. All it's ever done is a few fire roads, but besides that only thing I can think of is potholes and speed bumps. Any one ever consider going through car insurance and a body shop?

 

All things considered if you have access to a good welder the upper radiator support tie bar isn't hard to replace, or stitch weld the damaged part.
That's something any body shop can do.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/2841536395...MIgu2t9ePu9wIVAeTICh00Swx7EAQYBCABEgJJ_PD_BwE

 

I'm not sure what to say about the insurance route, but for what it's worth, my above fixes are holding up really well 1 year in (post quoted from the other thread on this topic).
It was a ton of work last year, but I just pulled the front end back apart to check and do some very minor clearancing in a couple spots, and didn't see any further tearing - in those same spots or anywhere else.
In my opinion, this is the best compromise I've come across for stopping it while still keeping everything as factory as possible.

 

Definitely not something I would even consider using insurance for. Save insurance for when you actually need it. With deductibles to pay, and potentially higher rates for filing a claim, I just wouldn't mess with.

Just to clarify exactly what you did....looks like you bought a whole new core support and cut the top off to sandwich over the old? That's what I was planning to do...I think they are less than $200 bucks for the entire core support.

Also, is that drilled angle iron a permanent cross support now also? That doesn't interfere with the hood closing?

 

The core support is multiple pieces spot welded together. The top piece is just the "upper tie bar."
I revised my plan quite a bit as I got all the front plastics and headlights off to the point that I could actually see how it was all put together.
I actually bought both of the side sections of the core support as well (that get the worst of the tears in them), but eventually decided that the direction I ended up going would save me a TON of work vs trying to actually replace those side sections. Otherwise, I don't think I would have gotten everything in the front to line back up nearly as well as from factory.

And no, that drilled cross support was because I was planning to cut the upper tie bar on both ends and just bolt the new one to the leftover ends. But for the same reasons I said above, I steered away from that.
Completely nesting one on top of the other had its own challenges because of the bracing on the underside of it and all the stuff that mounts to it, but I didn't want to lose any of the factory body panel alignment.

The hood closing became another (fairly minor) issue just because of the extra height the new upper tie bar added. But I finally recently learned how to adjust the hood latch for that, despite all my searching before showing that it actually wasn't possible anymore on 3rd gens...

 

Zip ties get the wrong kind of attention. They work, they can be easily replaced, they're flexible, FFS - NASA uses beefy radiation resistant tipties on their rovers. If anyone tells you that you use too many zip ties, 86 them from your life. No one needs that kind of negativity. Every single thing does not need to be OEM Toyota or even made of metal to do the job. Non critical fasteners like this are a great place to use a zip tie instead. There are places to spend money and buy the best part you can. Stuff like this isn't it.

 

@GHOST SHIP might be able to help out with your core support.

 

Thanks for taking the time to explain all that. Very helpful!

 

No, it's "normal wear and tear" insurance is for more grandiose incidents of macro trauma, not repetitive micro trauma.

 

Subscribe me to your newsletter. This is the Gospel according to a Maligator Daddy.
This quote should be day 1 of Electrical Engineering and Electrician schooling.

 

I think you have to subscribe yourself. Just keep it down when you’re taking notes.

 

i'd buy one of those aftermarket rad supports and find a fabricator to beef it up before installation.

 

I love my truck but hate the core support. Went to put in new spot lights and am seeing horrible cracks in the core support. Need to get the battery in the back seat with the aux battery.