OK...I went and took pictures of what I think is a problem with after market bumpers/body damage....
note this is the ARB bumper...the one trail teams use...
Note the size of the gap between bumper and body....at least 1 inch
note the flags on mine...still rubbing at over 1 inch gap
note the body rubs on the side
I have seen a few bumpers with the bumper smashed right up against the front grill...This WILL cause damage in the long run because the frame and the body are NOT connected(note the rubber bushing you are all talking about)
there HAS to be some play in that area
please go check your bumper and tell me if the bumper touches the grill AT ALL...or is there a gap...the gap is absolutely nessisary if your are going to flex this truck as far as some of us do....to be continued...after you gap check
HOMEDAD may be onto something here. I took my laptop out to my FJ to try to locate the exact locations of failure on my rig. I looked a the suspension and tried to picture the wheel travel. It would be very difficult if not nearly impossible for the suspension to transmit the required stress to those points of the body to make it fail that way. Ditto for the wheel travel.
The wheelwell liner is plastic and sheet metal spot welded to the body structure. Pounding on the wheelwell will apply shear stress to the joint and will fail the welded areas first.
The area of the body where the cracks developed are in the crumple zone of the body and it does appear to be slightly compressed in the photos. If the bumper is transmitting stress directly to the body it could failure.
BERND: Did you hit anything with the front bumper?
A 3-D CAD model of the suspension and body could really help clarify what is going on.
Either way, it's difficult to identify how "normal" use in legal terms could have caused this damage.
No I was out side reinstalling my air filter. The warn bumper is a lot closer but I do not see any contact points. I'll run out and look again.
I think the thought is that even if there are no visable contact points at rest, under flex you may be impacting. Is that what you're getting at Homedadr?
So would something like the Light Racing Jounce Shocks fix this?
Well, Todd had those and I guess they didn't.
I, too, have stress cracking in the exact same area, and it is growing quickly. I have the jounce bumper on my vehicle, and am running tires that are barely 33" in diameter, not much different than the factory 32" tires. I have never jumped my vehicle, although I do off road it on a regular basis. Keep in mind this area is a crush zone for frontal impacts, so is supposed to give in an accident. However, that has not been the situation with any one else I have seen or heard about. Also, the bumper, suspension, etc. is attached to the frame of the FJC, and this inner fender well area is isolated from those components by the rubber body mounts. Anyone with an aftermarket bumper (or who uses lights on the stock bumper) knows how much vibration is present in the body of the FJC when driving. My guess is this stress cracking is due to the excessive frontal vibration present in the vehicle due to extremely soft / tall body mounts designed for flexibility. While a stiffer suspension and additional weight on the frame may increase the vibration of the front end, I, in no way, believe it would be solely responsible for this type of stress cracking alone. I've owned many, many vehicles, and most I've wheeling more aggressively than my FJC (its an age thing, I guess - maturity ???? - NAW....), but I have NEVER seen body component failure with out evidence of an external collision. I think this, along with the windshield "issue", is another area of concern for fJC owners, and one for Toyota to examine closely for public relations / future sales reasons....
I am very curious at this point, to see the condition of the Trail Team FJCs, both from last year, and this year....Team members, any help here from your loyal customer base ????
__________________
" I'm not aware of too many things, but I know what I know, if you know what I mean..."
"Your enthusiasm for the subject borders on the interesting..."
ok I just flexed me rig with some ramps in the driveway and the bumper comes in contact with the body . The rip on the diverside( wheel on ramp) is closed up and bumper is touching body. The rip on the Pass> side is opened(back wheel on ramp). I might say that the bumper is causing this problem.I'll take pics and post.
ok I just flexed me rig with some ramps in the driveway and the bumper comes in contact with the body . The rip on the diverside( wheel on ramp) is closed up and bumper is touching body. The rip on the Pass> side is opened(back wheel on ramp). I might say that the bumper is causing this problem.I'll take pics and post.
Bumper contact that severe would cause obvious damage to the outer panels before spreading to the rear inner fender wells. On my FJC, there has been no bumper contact. Also, the stress cracks grow inseverity after they start, so a small crack becomes more pronounced over time, even without any other event affecting them....I've watched mine grow in size over a weekend of street driving...
__________________
" I'm not aware of too many things, but I know what I know, if you know what I mean..."
"Your enthusiasm for the subject borders on the interesting..."
ok I just flexed me rig with some ramps in the driveway and the bumper comes in contact with the body . The rip on the diverside( wheel on ramp) is closed up and bumper is touching body. The rip on the Pass> side is opened(back wheel on ramp). I might say that the bumper is causing this problem.I'll take pics and post.
This nail just got it's head wacked....what is happening is....as the frame flexes...the bumper get's pushed up into the front body...the body has nowere to go and the crunch zone is doing EXACTLY what it is supossed to do...
You no longer have a claim with Toyota....you do...on the otherhand... have a claim with Warn or your installer...my guess..Warn...design flaw....
good luck ...and someone better give me some REP points....
good luck...and all aftermarket bumper owners should make damn sure there is a gap for flex!!!
Bumper contact that severe would cause obvious damage to the outer panels before spreading to the rear inner fender wells. On my FJC, there has been no bumper contact. Also, the stress cracks grow inseverity after they start, so a small crack becomes more pronounced over time, even without any other event affecting them....I've watched mine grow in size over a weekend of street driving...
Once the crack starts...it's like rust...it never dies!!!
IT'S ALL GOOD!!!!!!!
