Cracks in Inner Guards

[maxh Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close maxh]

Re: Cracks in Inner Guards

I made the original post in this thread about cracking. We did the CSR in June this year and despite my trepidations about body cracks we had one small problem only at Durba Springs:-

I noticed that the left headlight had a bit of movement then discovered there was a broken spot weld on the bracket that the nose of the guard is bolted to. This bracket is spot welded to the inner guard. An easy repair - drill a 6mm hole through the broken weld, reattach the bracket to body with a bolt..

I believe all my cracking problems were a direct result of two things:

1. El cheapo second battery mount (since changed to a Piranha, only after the Piranha installation did I realise how poor the El cheapo was – always had a bit of movement)

2. Hitting a blow out in a sand dune exceeding hard.

My faith in the car has been restored.


Max h

[stencorp69 Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close stencorp69]

Re: Cracks in Inner Guards

Like all cars Prados have their issues and the 120 Prado seems to have been slightly under engineered for a broad range of 4WDing - I've had excessive cracking on the guards and crumple zone and its clear to me that the frontend body is under engineered for prolonged use on rough roads. I don't believe the issue has anything to do with the Bullbar as I have an alloy Toyota bar. It could be the second battery increases the likelyhood of cracking as I've had a greater degree of cracking since installing the second battery forward of the air filter. My guess for what its worth is a combination of too high tyre pressure on rough dirt roads at speed and an inability of the body to handle the flex as well as it should. Its possible that this is the reason for the dash crack issue as well as I have experienced this as well. The 120 Prado does have other engineering design issues such as the rear door being too heavy with the spare wheel which is far more expensive to fix than the wheel arch cracks.

I like the engine reliability of the prado especially when I spend a lot of time in the land between Laverton and the NT border so my solution has been to patch and weld up the cracks as they appear - after reading this thread I'll try that french mod and see if that is a longer term solution.

I guess the the cracking issues are alarming from a quality point of view but aren't a show stopper. Would I buy another prado - probably yes - but I'm more inclinded to keep the devil I know until its run into the ground than spend money on a new model that may have worse issues due to poor body design.

[budgie913 Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close budgie913]

Re: Cracks in Inner Guards

I made the original post in this thread about cracking. We did the CSR in June this year and despite my trepidations about body cracks we had one small problem only at Durba Springs:-

I noticed that the left headlight had a bit of movement then discovered there was a broken spot weld on the bracket that the nose of the guard is bolted to. This bracket is spot welded to the inner guard. An easy repair - drill a 6mm hole through the broken weld, reattach the bracket to body with a bolt..

I believe all my cracking problems were a direct result of two things:

1. El cheapo second battery mount (since changed to a Piranha, only after the Piranha installation did I realise how poor the El cheapo was – always had a bit of movement)

2. Hitting a blow out in a sand dune exceeding hard.

My faith in the car has been restored.


Max h

I have been reading all the comments and would love to hear from Prado owners with their Dual Battery Trays they have used and what issues they have noticed if any.

I have just purchased a Piranha tray and was planning to install it in the next few weeks.

I also Have an ARB Bar and am looking at putting a winch on and updating the suspension to TJM Gold series.

Please be honest with your feedback with.

Cheers,
Budgie

[Schaffer Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close Schaffer]

Re: Cracks in Inner Guards

Budgie, I havn't heard of anyone having issues with the guards cracking when using the Piranha tray. If the tray is sceured properly and the battery secured to the tray correctly then this should minimise the potential for cracking. I also havn't heard of any cracking on the later year models so maybe toyota did something to amend the issues.

[budgie913 Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close budgie913]

Re: Cracks in Inner Guards

Budgie, I havn't heard of anyone having issues with the guards cracking when using the Piranha tray. If the tray is sceured properly and the battery secured to the tray correctly then this should minimise the potential for cracking. I also havn't heard of any cracking on the later year models so maybe toyota did something to amend the issues.

Cheers Schaffer,

Piranha looks like the one to go with.

Appreciate the feedback.

[tkstrong Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close tkstrong]

Re: Cracks in Inner Guards

I have only just discovered my inner guards were cracking on the passenger side. They had developed a vertical crack slightly to the front of the mid wheel arch. I am 100% convinced that this is due to the under engineered OEM battery tray and basically entire Toyota wheel arch area. My prado is a 2004 model. Unfortunately it spends most of its life on the black top. Some members here have reported never being off road and still have issues with guards cracking.
Lots of people over in Hilux land also have this major issue with cracking inner guards.

Toyota just wave their hands and tell themselves that this issue does not exist.

My guard was fixed professionally and has now got an added reinforcement patch in the problem area. Hopefully this is the end of it. The inner guards are literally paper thin !

[prh Member Find all posts View Profile Close prh]

Re: Cracks in Inner Guards

My guard was fixed professionally and has now got an added reinforcement patch in the problem area. Hopefully this is the end of it. The inner guards are literally paper thin !

Just out of curiosity, how were the guards fixed, and how was the reinforcement patch applied? Do you have a photo?

Cheers. Paul

[tkstrong Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close tkstrong]

Re: Cracks in Inner Guards

I was lucky enough to have a good mate who could take care of this.
The crack was fixed by using TIG welding, as per the guards being so thin. A new metal patch was then manufactured and molded to fit perfectly over an approx 10cm by 25cm area, which encapsulated centrally, the fixed crack. This patch was TIG welded over the top of the area (Can be seen from Inside the engine bay area). After which, rust prevention / paining occurred.
Yes, the patched area can be seen if you go looking. The area in which mine cracked is basically right on the vertical guard but normally is obscured by the fuse box and cables etc in the general vicinity. Once its all painted up, you have to specifically look to see the fix. Im extremely happy with how it turned out.

Hopefully this patch will help spread the load and strengthen the failed area.

Time will tell.

[Tonic Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close Tonic]

No matter the bull bar it has no effect on the guards cracking, bull bar is fitted to the chassis the guards are part of the body which are rubber mount.. Seen plenty of diesel Prado's without bull bars and cracked guards.

[Hutch Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close Hutch]

I have the piranha tray for about 3 years now with no issues.


Robert Hutchinson

[crowey Member Find all posts View Profile Close crowey]

ok..... so......
Have just come back from a Flinders Ranges trip with the wifey. Had a great time apart from this bloody sqeek/rattle coming from the front. One night i decided to pop the bonnet and make sure that everything was ok. I discovered that my second battery had some movement in it and decided to unplug and remove for further investigation. When lifting the battery out i discovered that the tray was still attached (tjm/pirahna). All the mounts that are attached the the inner guard/wheel arch have been distroyed. This has happened over a period of 2 days max as i checked the vehicle before i left for the trip. I also have cracking on my inner guards on both sides (centre top of guards as described by others on here), but that has been there for a while now
Now heres where it gets interesting, visited my local toyota dealershit and they wiped there hands of the problem and blamed the fault on ARB as it has a steel bar on it. So i called toyota australia. Explained my problem to the fella there who said "jeez never heard of that before" and also blamed it on the battery tray and ARB for their bar. He explained that toyota dont make a genuine steel bar for the 120 as the vehicle is not designed or it and it is not strong enough to handle it. He also stated that it does not meet ADR with a steel bar regardless of what tjm/arb/ironman tell you.
He advised me to seek legal advice to basically sue the dealership who fitted the bar,snorkle,dual batteries,lift,tint,turbo timer,chip as none of them meet ADR and shouldnt have been done at Pre Delivery before the vehicle was taken delivery of.
So in saying that, who has had their second battery tray/mount replaced here in adelaide and where do i go? I hate having to leave the ignition on to cool my beer in the fridge and no body likes warm wine and warm cheese

[D4D Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close D4D]

pics please

[crowey Member Find all posts View Profile Close crowey]

yeah sorry about the poor quality of photos, bad light but you should be able to get the idea
http://s594.photobucket.com/albums/t...t=IMG_2123.jpg
http://s594.photobucket.com/albums/t...t=IMG_2122.jpg
http://s594.photobucket.com/albums/t...t=IMG_2121.jpg
http://s594.photobucket.com/albums/t...3DIMG_2120.jpg

[D4D Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close D4D]

Wow that battery tray punched itself through all right. I'd take it to ARB to look at the guard cracks but the battery tray I would send pics to Pirahna and ask WTF.

[crowey Member Find all posts View Profile Close crowey]

Wow that battery tray punched itself through all right. I'd take it to ARB to look at the guard cracks but the battery tray I would send pics to Pirahna and ask WTF.

Yeah i have been thinking about that, but the tray is in perfect condition, its the car that has failed so ARB and TJM will wipe their hands of the problem as their product is ok, its toyota that failed