Reinforce upper core support mount (fender)

[Matthew Jeschke]

I need to come up with a unique way to reinforce the upper core support mount. It currently ties into the fender but I've wrecked a fender already. I go off road, and might have been I didn't tighten up the bolt? Not sure, but I started to hear a noise, thought it was the dash but it was the passenger side core support rocking back and forth. It ripped the corner out of the fender. It also popped several of the spot welds where the inner fender attaches.

Long story short, I don't much like the design. I venture I could easily break it again going off road. Or rather, damn washboarded roads just destroy it. First one exhaust fell off, second one today my repair to fender / mount came apart.

I need to find a way to reinforce that core support, brace it further back or put another strip of metal across the bottom of the inner fender. Anybody do this before or see any slick ways to do it?

Video HERE

 

[strutaeng]

Interesting. I had a fender bender a few years ago on my suburban and the little welds on that side of the fender broke. I've been meaning to weld that back up.

Would a piece of 1" square steel tube it under the sheet metal? You could drill some holes and weld a nut on the underside and use longer bolts to bring it all together. That way the steel takes the pulling and pushing (tension and compression ) instead of the sheet metal.

 

[Matthew Jeschke]

@strutaeng is the first thought I had. There's that 1/4 radius metal cross member that ties upper fender into the front windshield cowling. I could at lest take it back that far. I didn't see anything great to tie it into further up by the firewall which would be more ideal.