Core Support

Sodbuster Jr. · Jul 9, 2011

Upon inspection of my truck this afternoon, I noticed that my radiator core support was cracked. No big deal I'll just weld it up. So I yanked my grille to find out that the whole drivers side is completely rotted out. How big of a job is it to replace one of these? I plan on looking in a couple junkyards first. And also what else could I do to avoid this in the future?

Pstroke96 · Jul 9, 2011

its a weekend job. not difficult but time consuming
heres a write up on it i did

http://powerstrokearmy.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1910

Tom S · Jul 9, 2011

Amazing how nice those write ups are to have located.

Diesel_Brad · Jul 9, 2011

Sodbuster Jr. said:
Upon inspection of my truck this afternoon, I noticed that my radiator core support was cracked. No big deal I'll just weld it up. So I yanked my grille to find out that the whole drivers side is completely rotted out. How big of a job is it to replace one of these? I plan on looking in a couple junkyards first. And also what else could I do to avoid this in the future?

Good luck finding a GOOD used one. I had to replace the rad support in my lightning which is pretty much spotless due to rust//

Ford is the ONLY place to get a new one and they list for $711. EVERY aftermarket one that shows a listing is a LIAR. They send you a GASSER one which is COMPLETELY different than a diesel one

ytee · Jul 9, 2011

Agreed, don't buy the core support anywhere but Ford. I purchased one from LMC and it was way wrong. Good luck with finding a used support, I have never seen one that wasn't either cracked or rusted.

Chris

Sodbuster Jr. · Jul 10, 2011

Diesel_Brad said:
Good luck finding a GOOD used one. I had to replace the rad support in my lightning which is pretty much spotless due to rust//

Ford is the ONLY place to get a new one and they list for $711. EVERY aftermarket one that shows a listing is a LIAR. They send you a GASSER one which is COMPLETELY different than a diesel one

Thats what i have heard. I am having a good friend of mine that works at Ford check on prices. I looked at the core support alot closer yesterday afternoon and I am thinking maybe I can repair it. The passenger side is not rusting yet, but who is to say it stays that way. $711 is a dent in the pocket book. Would it be safe to weld it up and repair it for temporary use? I did one in a friends 86 F250, but that is an off road beater.

Pstroke96 · Jul 10, 2011

patching it is fine as long as you keep everything where it is supposed to be, but i wouldnt patch it up as a permanent fix because it will rust out around the welds down the road

Diesel_Brad · Jul 10, 2011

Sodbuster Jr. said:
Thats what i have heard. I am having a good friend of mine that works at Ford check on prices. I looked at the core support alot closer yesterday afternoon and I am thinking maybe I can repair it. The passenger side is not rusting yet, but who is to say it stays that way. $711 is a dent in the pocket book. Would it be safe to weld it up and repair it for temporary use? I did one in a friends 86 F250, but that is an off road beater.

like I said. that is list. NO ONE PAYS LIST. Your friend most likely gets 20-30% off. so it would be closer to $530