[monkeyrelish]

Hi all,

was doing a bit of maintenance on the wagon yesterday getting ready for a trip out west. When I noticed that the drivers side front spring perch cover was rusted and flaking. So I thought I'll rip that off cut up a new one and replace..

I wasn't too happy with what I found underneath. It appears that the battery has been leaking down into the top of the perch for some time and it has rusted to buggery .
The rust seems to be confined to the top of the perch and doesn't appear to have gotten into the chassis as yet.

So I am hoping that someone here has done this kind of repair before, and can give some helpful tips. I can't decide whether to clean back the rust and weld some plate to the good bits of steel that's left, or to source a decent perch and cut out the old one and in with the new?

If I do cut out the old perch how much should I replace? Just cut past the cancer? or is it more structurally sound to replace most or all of the perch?

Any, and all help is appreciated..

Pics..

 

[rx313bt]

Jeez mate looks pretty bad, others may chime in here but to me it doesnt look like it has corroded right through in any spots where the spring sits, so it may not be to much of an issue, i would be more concerned if it had rusted where the spring perch is welded to the chassis. If it did need to be replaced i would talk to a chassis builder or fabricator.

Cheers
Scott

 

[MikeH]

sandblast it and add a bracing kit.

 

[monkeyrelish]

sandblast it and add a bracing kit.

Thanks for the input guy's..

Mike, the brace that you mentioned. Are you talking about a specially fabricated piece or, an off the shelf unit? I have had a look on this site and on the net and the only after market brace that I can find is the rear brace kits like those that superior engineering sell.

If you know of any for the front or can suggest how to fab one please let me know..

Cheers

 

[monkeyrelish]

Update.. took some pics after I gave it all a tickle with the wire brush..

Bump stop might also be stuffed

 

[off road heaven]

I think you will find this is a common problem. Mine was full of mud, sand and crap due to the drain hole being blocked. The passenger side was spotless, no build up at all. I took mine to someone who speciallised in chassis repairs. They cut out the old one and replaced it with one I sourced from the wreckers. I now don't have the covers on, so I can easily see if there is any build up. To anyone who owns a gq and hasn't looked yet, I would be removing the covers and have a look. You might fine what monkeyrelish has.

 

[MikeH]

I'm sure someone sells a kit but it's not too hard to make up your own.
This gives you the general idea, flat bar on edge back across the top of the chassis rail and a couple of tabs across where cracks tend to start.

sorry about the pic being sideways, I dont have a reasonable pic editor on this computer.

that bump stop of yours does look wrong. Replacement might be a better option.

 

[LordBug]

Not much help, but from a photography point of view, the third pic in your first post is really damn nice, the focus is sharp and the lighting interesting. See, there's a tiny benefit to the rust

 

[vitopatrol]

I think you will find this is a common problem. Mine was full of mud, sand and crap due to the drain hole being blocked. The passenger side was spotless, no build up at all. I took mine to someone who speciallised in chassis repairs. They cut out the old one and replaced it with one I sourced from the wreckers. I now don't have the covers on, so I can easily see if there is any build up. To anyone who owns a gq and hasn't looked yet, I would be removing the covers and have a look. You might fine what monkeyrelish has.

i looked under mine, after i removed all the dirt did find sum rust wire brushed it and hit it with kill rust, but as you said none on the passenger side tho.

 

[insane_patrol]

i have the exact same problem on drivers side too apart from mine has a hole through it about 3cm long just after were the spring slots in the groove at the top, took it too engineer and he said brush it back and rust kill it then paint it as there isnt any load on that part of the perch its more in the back half from the height of the spring havent had any issues as yet but i do check every now and then.

 

[88 GQ 4.2]

Glad I read this post, just checked mine and same thing. I'll hit it with the brush and rust kill first. Can anyone tell me of a place that would repair something like this if it needs it??? I live in the Redlands, Brisbane. Told that "On Track" at Slacks creek can do the repairs???

Thanks