Now that I hear there are no more patches available, what other fixes are there?

 

hmm marine silicone works

 

Weld them up?

 

Does any one have good pics of a cowl crack?

 

If nobody else posts a pic, I'll try to do it tomorrow (never posted pics here, might need help). To call them just 'cracks', at least on my truck, is kinda sugar-coating it. I'm missing a couple square inches of sheet metal.

I've been thinking maybe I would just overlap and weld some metal there but I heard maybe this would cause stress cracks. ?

The marine silicone idea might work for keeping water out but probably won't stop all the creaks and popping noises coming from the dash area.

Keep the ideas coming, anyone have pics of repaired cowl other than with the patches?

 

On the TDR, there is a write up about repairing them. I need to dig it out, as Mom's pickup has them. Seems like 16ga sheetmetal was used, IIRC. Something a hair thicker than the OEM sheetmetal, but not too much thicker. Weld the cracks (if you can get them close enough to do so), then reinforce it with the plates. You wont cause stress cracks if you weld it right.

DP

 

Here's some pictures of the cracks on my truck, it's no wonder the carpet in the footwells gets soaked when it rains. Although, I have figured out that if I back my truck into my fairly steep driveway that it doesn't leak through.



driver's side:

you can see the door on the left side of pic and the A pillar on the right, looking toward the left front fender



closer look




Passenger side:

you can see a crack and barely visible to the right and above is a pretty large hole.



closer look at crack and large missing piece of metal

 

ok mine has that too. Looks almost like factory not like a crack. Maybe I'll have to get the Borescope from work to check it out.

 

My truck is going into the body shop this Monday to get repainted and they are going to remove the fender and wire weld a patch on the crack then paint it, I only have one on the driver’s side.
It is going to cost about $200.00 out of my pocket, he is also going to replace the hinge bushings and pins at the same time.

 

That void is where the panel comes together, sloppy fold, stamping etc, whatever you want to call it. The cracks are above and/or below that void, mostly above from what I have seen. People may hear a popping, creaking or cracking noise where the crack sort of buckles with the road vibration or body/chassis movements. AKimmel has a post with photos at TDR, the best doable repair resembling the OEM "cowl crack panels" in my opinion.

 

I went back and checked the passenger side and found I do have a crack there too.

How long does this crack take to appear, 100,000 - 200,000 miles? Any idea?
And also if it were wire welded then should it fix the problem or will it crack next to the crack?

What did the repair patch look like from the dealer?
I checked last week and neither side is available anymore.

I think I am going to have the body shop weld the crack and then weld a patch on top of it maybe 3/16” X 1.5” wide following the contour.

The crack seems to go all of the way to the front of the cab firewall so I assume it starts at the cab and moves outwards since both left and right sides are in the same locations.

Since it was just bonded on and pop riveted did this cure the problem permanently or just until next time?

Could these cracks be caused from the front end of the sheet metal drooping like if the cab and core support isolator bushings need to be inspected?

Jim

 

mines been in the shop for almost a month now... cowl cracks being repaired.. rusted floorboard being replaced... and repainted. I can't wait to get it back. hopefully on tuesday!

 

Many years ago, I witnessed an expert repairing similar cracks in a different make of vehicle.

This was one of those rare guys that refuse to do something just good enough.


He had drilled a bunch of very small holes, entirely around the crack, and about 1/4" away from the crack itself.

He then proceeded to lace the crack, just like lacing a boot, with small stainless wire.

He wove each lace through the previous two, sort of like spanish lacing on a saddle.

It took him hours.

Once done, he filled the whole mess with fiberglass, smoothed it down, and primed/painted.


I asked him if welding wouldn't be better/easier.

His answer was welding one crack simply pulled apart another, as thin metal would stress itself, near a weld, only to break somewhere else.

 

Cowl crack panel TSB is here somewheres or maybe Fritz site. THey were epoxied and riveted.

Here is one post on it.

https://www.dieseltruckresource.com/...n&onlynewfaq=1