Strut tower repair
- Thread starter 94Ford'stang
- Start date
HemiRick
I'd be looking at jacking under the house
Someone has obviously tried to hide this w bondo, etc. remove the brake prop. valve and sand, grind the bondo away so we can see how bad the rot really is. The body man that fixes this will have to do the same so your just saving yourself some $$.
Wow, that repair is...interesting.
When I was looking into fixing my tower, I found strut repair prices were all over the place. Some folks will want $400 to do it in their garage with some patch panels, and some shops will want $2-3K to do it with replacement donor panels or a whole clip. I ended up fixing mine myself using a donor frame rail/tower section.
You're going to need to strip all that bondo out of there so a shop can get a good estimate going. But looking at the pics, I've seen worse.
When I was looking into fixing my tower, I found strut repair prices were all over the place. Some folks will want $400 to do it in their garage with some patch panels, and some shops will want $2-3K to do it with replacement donor panels or a whole clip. I ended up fixing mine myself using a donor frame rail/tower section.
You're going to need to strip all that bondo out of there so a shop can get a good estimate going. But looking at the pics, I've seen worse.
off it and see the real damage
I agree with Mike, I have seen much worse. The repair...not sure I would call it a repair as much as I would call it an attempt to hide a problem.
91TwighlightGT
20+ Year Stangneter 
Kind of off topic, but does anyone have any pictures of a car where the tower actually failed? I have to assume that at some point the subframe actually disconnects from the car body?
No, and I've looked. I've seen some REALLY bad condition cars still running and driving up here in the northeast. Holes in the rail/tower that you could pass a hand through and grab a header.
I've wondered how these cars haven't simply collapsed and looked to find examples of it, but haven't found much. I've never seem then rot out back at the firewall though. It always seems to be from the rear tower fold forward that rots out. I imagine a gross failure would be one where the strut tower migrates up and fails sending a camber plate into the hood (with a portion of the tower attached). I've seen this happen during road racing when hitting a curb, but not from rust.
My thinking is that the K-member, and the edges of the tower are what is preventing collapse. When you hit a bump, all that force goes up to the top of the tower. Something needs to prevent it from going upwards and I think most of the strength is in the shape of the tower and how it joins with the rest of the fender. I believe these spot welds along the sides are the most critical, including at the bottom where they connect into the frame rail. Most frame rail rot happens on the front but I think most of the stress is on the edges. Often times these area are somewhat intact, where they connect to the rail near the bottom.
I also think the lower K-member nut plate is taking the brunt of the work in holding the K-member in place (along with gravity) as I've seen a few cars where the 4 main bolts holding the K-member in place were corroded to the point they looked like tooth-pics.
Obviously those cars shouldn't be driven, but i'd seen them registered and inspected and for sale up here. Run away.
At least...that's my theory. I've seen enough badly rusted cars to wonder the same thing. How are they still rolling?
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91TwighlightGT
20+ Year Stangneter
Thanks, that is an interesting analysis. I always figured as these cars aged that people would start posting about how their front ends just fell off while they were driving down the highway. Assuming they survived to tell the tale, of course 
Maybe they do, but people are too embarrassed to admit what happened?
But how does something like this not collapse? That rear nut plate looks like it's the only thing holding the K-member in place. But what takes the load when this car hits a big bump at 70MPH?
But another thing that baffles me is when people cut off the front end of their car and tube frame it. You basically cut it off at the front of the tower so you lose part of that structure that takes the load. I just assume Ford overdesigned these towers.....massively.
But how does something like this not collapse? That rear nut plate looks like it's the only thing holding the K-member in place. But what takes the load when this car hits a big bump at 70MPH?
But another thing that baffles me is when people cut off the front end of their car and tube frame it. You basically cut it off at the front of the tower so you lose part of that structure that takes the load. I just assume Ford overdesigned these towers.....massively.
I just wonder also if you got in a decent front end collision with this kind of rust how bad the front end would just fold up and collapseMaybe they do, but people are too embarrassed to admit what happened?
But how does something like this not collapse?
91TwighlightGT
20+ Year Stangneter
I haven't taken my subframe off - do we have bushings that isolate the subframe vibrations from the body? Maybe the load is distributed through the bushing and enough to keep it together? It seems like they would fail over time, though.
@94Ford'stang - Based on how well these cars crashed when they were new, I imagine they fold up like a cheap suit!
@94Ford'stang - Based on how well these cars crashed when they were new, I imagine they fold up like a cheap suit!
Gravydog
dripping from every hole
This is what mine looked like, the guy I got the car from drove it quite a bit, I couldn't bring my self to
This is what happened when I unbolted the K-member
I don't think it would have held up well in a crash.
This is what happened when I unbolted the K-member
I don't think it would have held up well in a crash.
91TwighlightGT
20+ Year Stangneter
Always good as to remember what wasI keep my old rail as a momento
Wow, this all scares me.... my car is a georgia car but this still makes me want to prod and poke.
Gs1987GT
Active Member
Better that you do, so if something is brewing you can address it sooner than later.
I checked my 87 real good. Just had some surface rust, (confirmed with a screwdriver! ) so I wore wheeled, sanded and painted my strut towers (and the rest of the undercarriage) real good. But I'll still check it from time to time.
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