WTF?! Body mounts rusted off front clip

[shane96ranger]

Sorry to hijack, I am thinking out loud (so to speak). How about powder coating the radiator support? My buddy has a powder coating business, so it is a viable option for me. He was telling me he is going to do the new tailgate for his F350 the other day and that just crossed my mind.



Sent while I should be doing something else

 

[Thed]

I fixed mine so it wont happen again. I simply replaced the entire core support with box tubing.lol

I managed to get the hood latch to line up perfect on my first try. Poppe the rubber bumper off the stock hood stops and popped them over the head of a 5/16 bolt to make the new ones.

That looks like it cools very, very well. I kind of want to make one myself!!!

 

[PlumCrazy]

I actually have trouble keeping it cool still, but thats my undersized e-fan's fault.lol

-PlumCrazy

 

[88B2EB]

All finished. Can't believe the difference it made to the ride. The old Ranger handles like a new truck again! I really appreciate you guys sharing your wisdom. Without it the Ranger would still be broken.

Josh

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

Good job!
Do you remember how many weld spots you had to drill out?
Using lots of little rivets is the right idea, it's stronger than a few big rivets. I used a wack of self tappers myself but haven't put many miles on to see the effects if any IE; backing out.

Richard

 

[88B2EB]

Richard, Good to hear! There must have been 2 dozen or so weld spots to drill out and I used just as many rivets when installing the new panel. Seems to me most of the force on the radiator support is up-down and those loads are carried though the points where it 'snaps in' with the rest of the front clip so any connectors (screws or rivets) are more or less just there to keep the panels from sliding apart and don't need to be overly strong. But that's just my opinion and I have absolutely no idea really.