Two years ago I posted a picture of fractures starting around the shock mount on the lower control arm.



I posted an updated picture last year as the fracture began to worsen.



Being a procrastinator, I put off fixing it until last night, after it had progressed to the following.



I new it was getting bad, but hadn't been driving the Xterra lately, and only noticed this amount of damage after lending my X to a friend who lives at the end of 15 miles of washboard. That large amount of bumpy miles finally did it in.

Erik from RMXC came over with his welder last night to finally put a band-aid on this problem (which I have seen happen to completely stock Xterras).

First we got the mount back to its initial position with a c-clamp, and cleaned up the area for welding.



I then (doing my best MVM impersonation) cut and shaped some straps to go over the shock mount.



The cracks were welded, then the strap was laid over the shock mount and welded in place. It isn't pretty, but it's a lot better off than it was, and should hold up to a few more years of abuse.



If you wheel your Xterra, you might want to take a look at this area of the lower control arm as it appears to be a weak spot.

Looks good Ian. Last I looked mine were still fine, but I don't do nearly as much wheeling as you. If the time comes I will surely use your idea!

So far so good, had a look for this specific problem when I changed my oil last weekend.

Good remind info....

I need to look at that. I haven't noticed any cracking on my usual once-over inspections, but I will look more closely now.

Looks like a good fix, too.

Might be a good time to remind folks that this is caused by the fact that the Bilstein shocks aren't quite long enough, right? Something about how they measure length to the end of the mount vs. most measure to the eye or something...

Brent

It's uncertain what causes it.

I ran Rancho 9000 shocks when the X was stock height, and they were a bit short. I installed the SLR lift in March of 2001, and the cracks were apparent by September. In July of 2002 I switched to the CALMINI lift and have run both CALMINI shocks and Bilsteins, both of which are long enough at full droop.

Ian - what size was the band iron you used 1/8th? and how did you guys weld it up arc or MIG? nice weld pattern whoever did it !!

It was 1/8"x1.5" weld steel from the local hardware store (I was on a budget). I ground the center down to just under an inch wide to fit in the shock mount. MIG welder I believe, Erik did all that work.

That's a good wire feed bead, but It doesn't appear that gas was used (required for MIG).

Aside from some spatter, another way to tell is that most welders that you would just pick up and carry somewhere like that won't weld anything that thick using gas. A small 110V wire feed welder (which I suspect was used) hooked up with gas for MIG welding will only do sheet metal.

There was a big tank of gas here.

That was MIG then. He must have a bigger welder than I thought. I don't think my little portable welder would do 1/8" using gas.

I don't know what to say, I know a lot more about breaking things than welding them.

A 110V MIG using a flux core wire can do 1/8" and no gas is required.

True (sort of), and infact a 110V welder will do heavier than 1/8" using flux core wire. Mine will do 1/4" using flux. However, flux core welding is not a MIG process. MIG uses gas to shield instead of flux and that's what makes it a MIG process. I have the gas kit for mine but have never used it because all the welding i've done with it was too heavy.

Anyway, just wanted to clear that up.

Ian's probably really excited this turned into a welding thread!

Good MVM impression lol

Now stop doing your Chia impressions of breaking your junk.

Rats I didn't know that it would eventually get that bad. My lower control arms are showing the cracks from your first picture. At least now I know where it will be heading.

Correct, it was MIG. 1/8" is the thickest I can weld with my welder using gas. I could of used flux core, but I'm better with gas.

Flannel and sparks baby !

Maybe it's time to get that tattoo.

nice clean CV boot.

That I can't explain.
It should look like the inner one. Erik did wrap them in wet rags to keep them cool, maybe it got some of the muck off.

But its clean in this pic?



It looks like nobody have done any cleaning yet. How the heck did the boot not get dirty like the rest of the area? Even if you cleaned it, you couldn't get it THAT clean. It looks brand new.

Actually, I have a theory. After our Halloween run (where I got it muddy) I forgot to unlock the passenger side hub. For the next month I wondered why my mileage had decreases, but I was certain the hub was unlocked. I park on the right side of my garage, so I could never take a peek at it, and any time it was out of the garage, I would forget to look (I've never left a hub locked before).
With one hub locked, the other shaft would turn the opposite direction. That plus the movement of the boot from steering action could have been enough to fling every bit of crap off the boot over the course of a month.
If you look closely, there is still dirt on the boot right near the small band.

I have a theory about this. I wheel my truck hard and have not developed these cracks. I run RS5000s. Maybe the to short shock started the initial crack, and the proper length ones just made it worse over time. What do you think Ian? It seems like a proper length shock should never do that.

Which RS5000 model do you use, because Rancho does not make one that fits correctly.