Lower Rad Support Rust Repair - Got Carried Away

Nick Nicolas

Test Drive
Originally planned on simply welding in the lower rad support (ordered the OEM part), when I pulled it all apart I realized the rust was more severe than I had thought. Bought a new rad support and welder and taught my self to weld. The mounts were tricky, ended up using 4” square thin wall tubing mounted horizontally.

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Slapdash Racing

Bought an X
Location
Eastern CT
Well, I guess you did get carried away! Thanks for the details. I'll be embarking on this same project soon enough. My radiator is currently held in with a few heavy-duty zipties.
 

Slapdash Racing

Bought an X
Location
Eastern CT
Nice!

Don't forget the control arm bushings. The ones that are on the truck are really a pain in the a$$. I had to reverse-mount a hacksaw blade and slowly cut off the metal part, then beat the bejeebus out of the thing just to get it out. Patience on that one.
 

Nick Nicolas

Test Drive
Yikes! I believe the arms I bought cone with the bushings already pressed in. Also ordered new mounting bolts all around, by the looks of the ones on there, they are rust welded in place.
 

Slapdash Racing

Bought an X
Location
Eastern CT
Yikes! I believe the arms I bought cone with the bushings already pressed in. Also ordered new mounting bolts all around, by the looks of the ones on there, they are rust welded in place.

Yep, you probably did get the CAs with bushings pressed in, but there's another bushing on the truck itself. You might be able to get away with it, as it might still be good, or maybe somebody did it before your acquisition (let's hope). I did it as a preventive measure 'while I was in there' sorta thing. Either way, good luck with the process!

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Nick Nicolas

Test Drive
All my parts arrived, but i didnt think to get that bushing. Id hate to pull everything apart and find out i need to replace those too. Of course nobody in town has any.
 

Slapdash Racing

Bought an X
Location
Eastern CT
All my parts arrived, but i didnt think to get that bushing. Id hate to pull everything apart and find out i need to replace those too. Of course nobody in town has any.

Shouldn’t be too bad. By the time you order it and it comes in you’ll probably still be disassembling all the other bits.

I’d start soaking parts in PB now, particularly that bushing. Juice it once a day if you can.
 

Nick Nicolas

Test Drive
Front end refurbishment was a bust lol. The torsion bar was rusted solid to the front torsion arm and rear torsion adjuster thing. The old girl beat me lol. I ordered new torsion bars, adjuster things from 4x4 parts. Will have to cut off all the parts to finish this job. Wish me luck.
 

Slapdash Racing

Bought an X
Location
Eastern CT
Front end refurbishment was a bust lol. The torsion bar was rusted solid to the front torsion arm and rear torsion adjuster thing. The old girl beat me lol. I ordered new torsion bars, adjuster things from 4x4 parts. Will have to cut off all the parts to finish this job. Wish me luck.


Oh, that sucks! I had to cut one of my torsion bars off (had new ones anyway) and it took a good day or two, on and off, to get the adjusters off -- and that was after about 17 gallons of PB Blaster. Good thing 4x4 has them because I think they're NLA from Nissan. Good luck and keep us posted!
 

Nick Nicolas

Test Drive
Still working on front end. Finally have everything off. Except those darn rear bushings (had to cut the bolt to get lower arm off)This is by far the most painful repair Ive tackled in a while. At least there wont be anything else to do when I’m done.
 

Slapdash Racing

Bought an X
Location
Eastern CT
Still working on front end. Finally have everything off. Except those darn rear bushings (had to cut the bolt to get lower arm off)This is by far the most painful repair Ive tackled in a while. At least there wont be anything else to do when I’m done.

Yep. They are a huge pain in the arse. The only way I could do it was to chisel away some of the rubber (you could burn it too, but I wasn’t into that), then Sawzall a bit through the metal part of the bushing, then reverse mount a hacksaw blade and just start moving it back and forth without cutting the actual bushing mount, or carrier, or what’ver they call it (the thing that’s still mounted on the truck).

You can try and tap it out with a big socket, or slowly with a screwdriver, etc.

Just keep at it, keep your patience, and soak that Mutha in PB Blaster for all it’s worth.
 

Slapdash Racing

Bought an X
Location
Eastern CT
This video looks like a fair test of penetrants. Liquid Wrench and even WD-40 beat PB Blaster, although applying heat was even better.
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xUEob2oAKVs

That does look like a pretty fair test! To each his own I guess. I happen to like the smell of PB over LW though, but that's my personal aromatherapy. I've heard about Kroil, but that's waaay to rich for my blood anyway, especially fielding a rally car and a 4x4. I also try to avoid heat, especially when there's rubber involved, as in this case, mostly because I'm afraid of burning my garage down if I'm not watching what I'm doing. Yes, I could take it all down and roll it outside, but sometimes that's impractical.

That is a good test though and thanks for the video. Much appreciated. Now I know what not to spend on various canned, smelly, oily things!
 

Slapdash Racing

Bought an X
Location
Eastern CT
I hear ya. And I definitely feel your pain — from personal experience.

Just know that this is the roughest part. You will get through this, and it is so much awesome on the other side.

On my phone, I can’t see where you’re from, but if you’re in New England, let me know. I might be able to help on site.

Patience is the key. When you’re just about to stick a rag in the gas tank and light’er up, take a deep breath and back away slowly. Go do some gardening, or stain the deck, or shine your sockets.

It’s gonna be good.
 

TerryD

Total Tease
Supporting Member
Location
Covington, Va
This video looks like a fair test of penetrants. Liquid Wrench and even WD-40 beat PB Blaster, although applying heat was even better.
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xUEob2oAKVs
I'll have to watch this test in particular but Liquid Wrench has proven the best in many tests I've watched like that. I've found that WD40 is better than a lot of other stuff as well in personal use so I normally reach for it.

Kroil is good but after using it for years at work, I still feel like PB Blaster is better. But both are good.
 

Nick Nicolas

Test Drive
I hear ya. And I definitely feel your pain — from personal experience.

Just know that this is the roughest part. You will get through this, and it is so much awesome on the other side.

On my phone, I can’t see where you’re from, but if you’re in New England, let me know. I might be able to help on site.

Patience is the key. When you’re just about to stick a rag in the gas tank and light’er up, take a deep breath and back away slowly. Go do some gardening, or stain the deck, or shine your sockets.

It’s gonna be good.

its been a rough road, just ordered OEM abs sensors too, you know since Im in there haha.

i appreciate the offer to help, unfortunately Im in Canada(2 hours north of Toronto).

thing will be mint when Im done...right ha!
 

Nick Nicolas

Test Drive
Finally. The sawzall got away from me and I ended up cutting into the metal beyond the bushing sleeve. Probably over kill but I welded up the cuts and ground it down. Finally this ugly chapter of the story is over haha.B2DD9B16-88C0-4203-8900-4E73C91161A9.jpeg
 

Slapdash Racing

Bought an X
Location
Eastern CT
Oh man, that sucks. It’s gonna be good when it’s done though. Hang in there.

As far as the ABS bolt, you could just not run ABS. I intentionally disabled mine as it gives a false read on gravel and snow at times.

If you really need/want to keep it, if your super skilled at welding, you can weld another bolt on top of it and back it out that way. My friend who built my rally car did that for me on a brake bleeder screw. It was pretty amazing to watch actually.

If that’s not an option, they make bolt extractors too. Like you can drill it out a bit, then use a reverse bit to try and back it out that way.

Keep at it.
 

Nick Nicolas

Test Drive
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I tried every trick in the book. Welded nuts, extractors...everything. Eventually I drilled out the bolt, plug welded the hole and attempted to drill and tap...stripped my tap wtf lol. The welded steel is harder than the casting. I may try this route again, just need a mental break, ive ran out of curse words haha.
 

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Nick Nicolas

Test Drive
so, if all goes well...going for wheel alignment Saturday morning. Installed new spindles from Southern US, no rusty bolt issues lol. Had new seals and bearings pressed in. I even replaced the front crossmember. This job got way out of hand. Apart from a few hurdles, it's been fun. Stay tuned.
 

Nick Nicolas

Test Drive
well...another snag (par for the course).

The cross member I installed had stripped threads!!! After talking to Ebay seller, they werent going to send me another without receiving the damaged goods. Screw that. I cut out the bad threaded section and grafted a new one in its place. Going to attempt to get it back together tonight. Obviously, I missed my alignment appointment. The saga continues...
 

Fromfrontier2Xterra

I bought a Taco
Super Moderator
Supporting Member
Location
All over PA
well...another snag (par for the course).

The cross member I installed had stripped threads!!! After talking to Ebay seller, they werent going to send me another without receiving the damaged goods. Screw that. I cut out the bad threaded section and grafted a new one in its place. Going to attempt to get it back together tonight. Obviously, I missed my alignment appointment. The saga continues...
pics of fix?
 
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