Who has the famous inner fender crack? (1 Viewer)

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:) and whats the fix ? I mean I know to re weld it up and all but the long term fix. I know the cause on mine and that is winches I think? Mine was cracked when I got it.
 
He's referring to the inner front apron, not the fenders.

The cracks occur where the front apron has the crumple zone crinkles, about 10" (rough estimate) from the firewall. Basically cracks can develop from the flex forces at work on the front frame section.

It's more prevalent on the FJC's because of the frame to firewall dimensions combined with the newer metals used. It's been addressed with the 2007-2008 FJ's and I personally have never seen or witnessed any 79-95 vehicles experiencing it, except when the situation revolved around someone winching themselves over a very steep section fully loaded when they should have just used the bypass. (Truck was literally "hinged/levered" over the rock.)
 
i heard about the fender crack on the fjc's. so i made a thread in that section quite a while back.

none of my trucks have this kind of crack, and i have never seen one that did. well a stock truck. those wheelers are cracked everywhere...
 
My inner fenders are a mess. I have cracks at the firewall, and at the rad support. Anyplace where two pieces of metal were pinch welded together they are cracking or separating. 1985 4Runner.
 
I'm pretty darn hard on my trail rig and I have never had it happen to it or any of the other Toyot trucks/4Runners I own or have owned. This is the first I've heard of it.
 
Guess I'll get the camera out.
 
I've never heard of it happening on our vintage mini-trucks, but I suppose it's possible. I think a lot of it depends on how the truck has been used (and abused).

I remember seeing a video somewhere on the 'net where they took a brand new stock Subaru WRX and started prepping it for rally racing. The first thing they did was completely strip the car down to a sheetmetal shell, then they welded and gusseted every body seam. This was to keep it from cracking apart. Then they started building the internal roll cage.
 
Ya pappy....I need to dig my camera up also. My crack is like 10 inches or so.
 
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cruiser88 said:
Ya pappy....I need to dig my camera up also. My crack is like 10 inches or so.
:hmm: Hereby nominated for Quote of the Year, Best Signature Material to use out of context!
 
Ya pappy....I need to dig my camera up also. My crack is like 10 inches or so.



You have a crack? Or rust? I've seen brake fluid get in/ on the seam and cause corrosion, that's about it. But NEVER a crack. And I've owned about 10 trucks in my time. Seen countless.

Please post a pic, 88. You might have had front end damage, and that crack is a result of trying to straighten it out.



And I guess we're gonna turn into 80s tech...:frown:

No more making light by me!
 
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I have numerous cracks on the inner and outer fenders, and around the headlight buckets. Some have been "repaired" while some still need attention.
 
Its a known issue with the FJ. If you don't have them, you will and 2007 didn't fix the issue. Mine is a 2007 and its cracked pretty good. I don't heavy four wheel with my truck, just fishing and hunting trips on forest roads about 3 time per year.

Anyway, if you know of folks with FJ, let them know. I'd be willing to bet many folks have the problem but don't know it. A slight bulge is the beginning (barely noticeable, followed by a large bulge and cracking.)
 
Had these on my '80 and '85 pu's. Seen it on lots of other early p/u too.

I just left mine alone. The crack travels a few inches and then stops. If you weld it up a new one will show up near by. Drill a 1/4" hole at the end of the crack and let it be.
 
I have no cracks in my cab or inner fenders, I've inspected everything thoroughly now that the cab is totally stripped bare. But, I found several cracks in one of the doors that I pulled out of my parts stash, the cracks we on the inner door panel, 4 or 5 of them or so, about an inch long each. I put some tack welds on them while I was patching those mirror holes. Really weird, it was only on the driver's side, the passenger side was fine.
 
For those of you that have not seen these, here they are.

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First of all why in the hell is this not in the 79 section?

I know I didnt put this here.

Yea I still have my crack but its not got any worse
 
Corrected in 2010 FJC and 4runner when Toyota started using the Prado 150 frame. Previous FJC and 4runners were built on the Prado 120 frame.
 

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