JohnMasters Posted September 14, 2009 Share Posted September 14, 2009 (edited) Greetings NPORA, My name is John Masters. I am new to the Nissan Pathfinder and the NPORA forum. I recently purchased a 1992 XE off CraigsList as somewhat of an impulse purchase for $1000. 205,000 miles, Timing Belt changed at 199,000, nice interior, runs good, passed emissions, new tires. etc... Well, I wish I had known then what I know now regarding the notorious frame rot found above the rear wheels on these vehicles. Because mine has it... I am lucky enough to have a friend who owns a performance shop in town so we got busy figuring out how to get this fixed up so I can get some use out of the vehicle without worrying about it breaking in half. In this thread I am displaying pictures of the Drivers side repair. The passenger side was worse. You can see all of the pictures by following the link at the end of this thread. We made a template... Got busy with the Plasma Cutter... Then some welding and filling in... And some undercoating... Keep in mind, we did this in one afternoon without removing the gas tank or any suspension parts or jacking up the body so the repair is only on one side of the frame. SO, I have two questions for you guys... Firstly, do you think that this is a satisfactory repair? IF SO... Secondly, If we could have this type of "repair plate" reproduced on our WaterJet machine, how many of you guys(& girls)would be interested at around $80 - $100 per side? Of course, you get to handle the welding. And, are there any other similar parts that pathfinder owners find themselves needing but not finding that could be made on a WaterJet? You will find all pictures relating to this repair here... Visit My Website Thanks! John Masters Edited September 16, 2009 by JohnMasters Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edicer2 Posted September 14, 2009 Share Posted September 14, 2009 thats cool i wished u could of made this a year ago for my old pathfinder! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
94extreme Posted September 14, 2009 Share Posted September 14, 2009 i bet if you made some of these pieces, they'd go.. mine has bad, bad rust too but not over the wheels. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nige Posted September 14, 2009 Share Posted September 14, 2009 welcome did you not see that the frame was falling apart before bought it? The plate is a good, idea, but it doesn't help you if the rust has continued underneath the frame or on the gas tank side of the rail. I started to hit my frame with a hammer to see where all the soft spots were, then me and my friend Bender cut them out and welded patch plates over the holes. I've also had patches welded on the bottom of the frame underneath the rear doors. Everyone's frame rust problems are different, you you may not need an entire plate if you caught the rust early like i did. I'm sure you'd sell a few of the precut sides, but most people will get by with a couple patches here and there. If people can find someone to weld the precut side on, chances are, they have some scrap plate lying around the shop to make patches out of too. don't forget to drill new holes in the side for flushing out the frame with a pressure washer or compressed air. Most of the trouble starts when the flakes of metal off the inside of the frame block the weeping holes underneath the doors. You need to get those chips and dirt out of there so the water/salt/sand/mud can escape and the metal can dry out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nismothunder Posted September 14, 2009 Share Posted September 14, 2009 Huh,That looks like my frame after I bought it...Did you do the bottom of the frame to? Also how about a peace that gos down the frame rail about another foot forward to the bottom of the bend in the frame. The repair looks good but how about a backing peace and bottom peace for the kit...I'm sure there are poeple that would buy it and you dont need to remove the body or tank from the body to burn the peaces I metioned before on,just shield it a bit. Looks good to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrimGreg Posted September 14, 2009 Share Posted September 14, 2009 I wouldn't mind a pre-cut repair panel, but I can get material and cut my own for WAY less than $80, more like $20 for the material for both sides. As for the repair, it should be just fine, they seam to rust on the outboard side more than the inboard, and the top and bottoms tend to be fine because of the overlap. BTW, take a hammer and tap along the rest of the frame rail, from the looks of that section, you probably have some spots by the body mounts along the frame also. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChaosSaint Posted September 14, 2009 Share Posted September 14, 2009 (edited) I'd probably be interested in something like that... however, like Nige said, every one has different frame rust issues... If / when I repair mine it would be an almost complete replacement of the whole rear frame - probably 3 out of 4 sides of my frame are beat or need significant attention. A "general" cutout might not work for me... can the WaterJet machine read in a SolidWorks or Unigraphics file, and then cut the steel based off of that? or is it more of a manual process? After 80 or 100 + shipping cost it will probably be cheaper for me to rig something up in my garage. Where are you located? Edited September 14, 2009 by ChaosSaint Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unccpathfinder Posted September 14, 2009 Share Posted September 14, 2009 Chaos, most waterjets can take an .IGS file and make the part. You should be able to export from solidworks or unigraphics to an .igs...I think you need to make sure it's in drawing space (2d) for it to work tho. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnMasters Posted September 14, 2009 Author Share Posted September 14, 2009 So far, this is exactly the kind of feedback that I was looking for. When I sent the link to this thread to my friend with the waterjet, he also thought that the $ should be less than I had stated so that shouldn't be a problem. I will get him to join the site so that he can follow this thread and answer any questions you may have. Can I have the forum email me every time a thread I have started receives a response? We DID NOT do the top or the bottom of the frame rail except in one small place on the passenger side. I was wondering if I should drill a few holes in the new pieces in order to be able to clean it out. Do most of you agree that this should be done? My friends name with the WaterJet is Arthur so hopefully he will start chiming in soon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon Posted September 14, 2009 Share Posted September 14, 2009 To receive an e-mail, just subscribe to the topic. You should be notified every time there is a new post. Top right of the thread....there's an "options" button. You'll find it in there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrimGreg Posted September 14, 2009 Share Posted September 14, 2009 I would drill a couple holes back in for clean out. BTW, there is a nice hose attachment you can buy that does well for cleaning our frames out, it is called, "Massojet". It's made by Staun, and they have a couple varieties, but they have a small angled spray tip that fits right in the holes in the frame. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnMasters Posted September 14, 2009 Author Share Posted September 14, 2009 did you not see that the frame was falling apart before bought it? I forgot to answer this. Although I saw the rust at the lower corners of the rear doors, my eyes never set foot on the frame rail. It would seem impossible to miss(and will be in the future) but keep in mind, I bought this thing 16 minutes after it was posted on CraigsList during my lunch break without doing even 5 seconds of research. I didnt even realize it was a 4X4. Obviously its worked out pretty good because I had a friend to help fix it. Without him, $1000 would not have been a great deal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrimGreg Posted September 14, 2009 Share Posted September 14, 2009 Looking at your second pic, and from what you said, you should check the spot on the lower front of the wheel-well. It looks like you have the common rust there also, if that opens up then you'll be spraying all kinds of crap into the body off the tire. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nunya Posted September 14, 2009 Share Posted September 14, 2009 I'd check the core support to make sure your rad isn't falling out as well. My .02 As for the panels, it would be good for people who don't have acess to metal working stuff, I can se those that do for the most part making their own though since as stated before, everyones frames/bodys/floors/etc. don't rot the same way even if in the same general areas. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adamzan Posted September 16, 2009 Share Posted September 16, 2009 What happened to the pics? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnMasters Posted September 16, 2009 Author Share Posted September 16, 2009 Sorry about that, I was reorganizing my Photobucket. Fixed! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OldSlowReliable Posted September 17, 2009 Share Posted September 17, 2009 it would have to be CHEAP to make it worth while..... cause as said earlier, if someone is gonna buy that for that large of a repair, then they probably don't have a welder..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnMasters Posted September 18, 2009 Author Share Posted September 18, 2009 it would have to be CHEAP to make it worth while..... cause as said earlier, if someone is gonna buy that for that large of a repair, then they probably don't have a welder..... I'm sure they could be done pretty cheaply. Since my friend has the waterjet, he is just looking for projects that he can program in and then just hit "print" when someone places an order. Maybe $50 each. I guess several templates could be made for the front, back, top and bottom and someone could just order the one(s) they need. Are there any other parts that you guys need that are not readily available that are similar to this? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adamzan Posted September 18, 2009 Share Posted September 18, 2009 I would like something for the bottom frame rails eventually when I find another job. Need to start fixing my 93. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kn0xville Posted September 21, 2009 Share Posted September 21, 2009 if it was 'C' channeled id buy it. My frame is rotting top, side and bottom, so i'd want a 'C' channel so i can weld to solid section of whats left of my frame. And it just makes more sence to me. But ya, i think you could sell em, just make em as orders come in or something. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnMasters Posted September 22, 2009 Author Share Posted September 22, 2009 if it was 'C' channeled id buy it. My frame is rotting top, side and bottom, so i'd want a 'C' channel so i can weld to solid section of whats left of my frame. And it just makes more sence to me.But ya, i think you could sell em, just make em as orders come in or something. I'm sorry to hear about your frame. My repair seems to be working pretty good. I have finally been able to drive this thing with some peace of mind. It figures, I went to the junkyard this weekend. There were 9 Pathfinders and NONE had frame rot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisPerna Posted July 18, 2010 Share Posted July 18, 2010 so are these going to be made? im down for a set. i need them badly Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
94 Pathy Posted July 30, 2010 Share Posted July 30, 2010 I have a '94 with frame rust like yours. I also have some in the middle of the frame also, which I guess can be patched by some flat plates. I'd be willing to purchase some from ya. Any possible way you could get a little wider so they can be bent around & welded together from both inner & outer plates? That would solve the top & bottom of the frame. Weld the two plates together. Just a thought. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisPerna Posted August 29, 2010 Share Posted August 29, 2010 hellooo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zelix Posted August 29, 2010 Share Posted August 29, 2010 this post is from a year ago lol, looks like hes long gone from this site. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now