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Redneck rusty rear strut tower fix

hensleya1

hensleya1

New member
All right, most of us with older GP's, especially the further north you go, have had plenty of salt on our cars. That shows in rust - rusty rocker panels, rusty lower doors, rusty pinch welds, etc... but especially rusty strut towers. The last one of those is a true death sentence for our cars unless you want to weld in a new strut tower (I have yet to see anyone who has done it).

Me, I live in Ohio and my car's previous owner lived in Grand Rapids... with predictable results.

Sometimes they can get pretty grody in there. Here's a perfect example:

aefcca45-834b-153f.jpg

(Image courtesy of RegalGS.com)

Sometimes they punch all the way through, and then your car's pretty well done for. Well, I've got that problem, and set out to find a cheap solution, and would like to share it with everyone.


Materials Needed:
- 2x2 pressure treated plywood
- 2x1 pressure treated plywood
- Gorilla Tape
- Hammer

Total cost less than $10.

1) Cut the pressure treated wood into six inch strips. Home Depot did this for me for free.
2) Wrap the wood strips in gorilla tape. Especially the 2x2's. This is so the wood is less likely to split under pressure.
3) Wedge as many as you can in near and around the strut tower.
4) Use the 2x1's to fill any gaps remaining. Hammer them in.

Enjoy putting off a busted strut tower for months, hopefully years. Eventually as the strut tower rusts away the pressure will be put on the wood instead.

You won't be replacing that strut ever again, though.

3494cap.jpg

The wood as bought.


2w2k6qh.jpg

Wedging them in. A 2x2 works best, it's just about the right height.


2ilowpg.jpg

Hammered a 2x1 in there as an afterthought.



Happy Motoring. :D
 


Consider where the vehicle's weight rests now. If the wheel alignment has been affected by rust, the car is a danger to others on public roads. I do understand that necessity is the mother of invention and am not picking on you. If I didn't give a crap I would not have posted. ANY welded metal repair is better, this is a compact spare tire type temporary emergency fix in my opinion.
 


idrivejunk said:
Consider where the vehicle's weight rests now. If the wheel alignment has been affected by rust, the car is a danger to others on public roads. I do understand that necessity is the mother of invention and am not picking on you. If I didn't give a crap I would not have posted. ANY welded metal repair is better, this is a compact spare tire type temporary emergency fix in my opinion.
Click to expand...

Roughly, what would it cost to do up proper?
 
dsmuts said:
I'm doing this on all my grand prixs from now on.
Click to expand...

:D

spazzz said:
Roughly, what would it cost to do up proper?
Click to expand...

I would actually like to hear this too - since you're factoring in wheel alignment as well it sounds like it would be a precision weld - something that would probably exceed the value of the car several times over. If you didn't mess up the frame somehow in the process.
 


This should not be allowed in this section, this is unsafe and should not be suggested to be done to ANY car. F'in ridiculous.
 
hensleya1 said:
:D



I would actually like to hear this too - since you're factoring in wheel alignment as well it sounds like it would be a precision weld - something that would probably exceed the value of the car several times over. If you didn't mess up the frame somehow in the process.
Click to expand...


Rear wheel alignment is normally off on most un-rusted cars, thats fair to say. The fact is it's not super-critical. BUT if it can shift under load, that can wreck you before you know what happened. If you were to top a hill and those boards fell out then when the weight comes back down, the strut's angle could change and alter handling suddenly. Plus with boards in there, the C-pillar is now bearing some weight (hard bump=break window?).

If somebody had a nice ride with both rear towers beginning to rust through I would want 800-1000 to do a lifetime guaranteed against corrosion type job. If you need to fix a nearly used up workhorse type car with a sturdy but no frills fix, I still can't see doing it for less than $400 at any shop. Alignment could be expected to be off before and after, its just a matter of how much. Normally adjustment is created at the knuckle to strut joint to correct camber. The tower repair task itself is comparatively unpleasant, welding and grinding under the car is dangerous, and so it will be on the expensive side. Worth it if the car is good enough otherwise to keep in service for several more years.
 
I have this same problem right now just made a thread up about it in the noob section Im also a somewhat of a redneck but I bought a welder and am gonna have a go at it any tips would be awsome
 
I did the same thing but with metal welded around up there. I also stopped the rust though, and got a free alignment check
 


if you get it before it pops you can get a 1x4 and a 2x4 in there.

the inner is still attached, the outter half of the weight the strut mount see's is now directed up into the rear deck/C pillar/rear shearplate/inner/outer wheelhouse

plenty strong, thats the rear seatbelt bolt above it
 
bartered a turbo kit install on a 97 bonnie for a free 97 5TP, fixed up with used parts/motor laying around, beater car, drive to truckyard, sits for 3 weeks, drives home.

i made a 25$ dodge intrepid last 7 years after driving it home 127 mile just downshifting and using the parking brake with the lock disabled since the 4 brake lines had rotted away as it sat under a big tree for two years. sold it a month ago for 650$ after i got an 04 gtp clone for 2500$

heaps are perfectly safe, not like im taking em up to 80mph
 
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