I own a NY car and the rust has taken it's toll on my radiator support. It rusted through where the crossmember bolts onto the radiator support. It's rusted so bad that the engine and tranny are the only things holding up the crossmember. I got to replace this thing asap. Is this a job I could do on my own or is this something that will require a body shop?

 

It's a cut and weld deal. It will have to be done by a body shop to ensure proper alignment.

 

I had a body shop take a look at it before I moved to FL cause I didn't feel it was safe making the drive with the support in that condition. I asked him if he could cut and weld a piece in and he explained to me that the whole radiator support would have to come out and that it was not a cut and weld job. He said that pretty much the whole front end would have to come off in order to replace it. He also said that the engine and tranny would end up holding the crossmember up eventually (which is what it's doing now) and have it repaired when I got to FL and if the engine and tranny were going to fall out, they would have already. So it is now to the point where it must be replaced cause it's causing drivability problems along with a nice clunking noise. I found this on ebay:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/RADIA...QQcmdZViewItem

I took a quick look at how the whole support is held in and it looks like the bumper, headlights, radiator, and a few other parts will have to come off in order to replace it but I also noticed it was bolted to the fenders. I wasn't sure if the fenders would have to come off in order to replace it. I don't really want to get involved with it if I have to remove the fenders. But other than that, it seems like all nuts and bolts but overall just a time consuming job. Someone please correct me if i'm wrong. If this is a job that can be done without a body shop, then I would like to save the cash and do it myself.

 

It is a bit tougher to do yourself unless you have some good welding skills and patience. I did one on my '95 and it took way too long to do. It was much easier to take it into the bodyshop and get them to tackle it.

You don't have to take the fenders off, but to do it right, it's best to.

 

yeah i wouldnt recommend doing that yourself, i was thinking about it and its def. too much of a PITA and for something like that i would want to make sure everythings aligned properly. if you do take it to a shop you should let us know how much they charge for that as mine will need to be replaced in the near future as well.

 

I don't know...I did mine a couple of weeks ago and it wasn't that bad. I should mention that the motor was out of the car due to a 3.5 swap, but I don't think it would have been much more difficult with it in. I purchased a spot weld cutting drill bit, 3M rubberized undercoating, POR-15 and borrowed a friends wire-feed welder. It took me about 2 hours to remove the old one and another 2 hours to install the new one (not including the 3 minutes or so to remove/reinstall the bumper cover, bumper, splash shields, cap off the power steering lines, etc). In addition, the only tools I needed were a socket set, chisel, hammer and a vice-grip wrench. All-in-all, I completed the job in one day at a total cost of $180.00 (my body shop quoted me approximately $700-800). BTW, DON'T use the stealership's diagram to gauge the shape of the support in telling you what, exactly, to remove. When I received the it, I realized it actually came with more metal than I was told it would and I then needed to remove more from the car.

 

Almost forgot...I replaced my "lower" radiator support as that is the only area that had rust (by the engine cradle bolt holes). The Ebay link, as you can see, is for the entire radiator support...there's a very good chance you don't need all of that. I'd strongly urge you to purchase it from the stealership to guarantee quality and fitment.

 

ive looked all over the web and i cant find anywhere that sells just the lower support... where can i find that so i dont have to buy the whole piece?

 

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What i meant by cut and weld is that you have to cut off the old radiator support and weld the new one on, not just cutting out the piece that's rusted.

 

I just reinforced mine with rtv sealant , they were cracking

 

 

Thanks for the info. I'll take it to a shop and see how much they will charge me. I will keep everyone updated on the price as soon as I find out.

 

You can get just the lower radiator support at a Nissan dealer (with 10% off) for around 130 bucks.