'97 SCAB XLT Flareside 4.6 2WD, bought new

So, I knew there was probably something going on with the radiator support due to the odd noises I was getting. The photos below show what I found. Basically, the radiator was just sort of floating around under there. Maybe the hoses were holding it in place. I guess 23 mid-east winters might have been a few too many. My problem is that there is not enough left for me to tell what was there and what the fix is.

I am guessing that there was a flange that extended rearward from the support structure and the radiator sat on a couple of rubber bushings on two vertical pins on the flange. Now the flange and pins are gone and the vertical braces that connect up to the body mount bushings, along with the bushings themselves, are all eaten up. If there is a fix, I am assuming that I would need to cut/drill out the radiator support and weld in a new one, along with replacing the body mount bushings. I would have to hire someone to do the welding. I am just not sure there is enough left to work with. Some of the parts sites advertise "bolt in" radiator supports, but I can't tell what it might bolt to.

When do you call it quits? The rest of the truck is in good shape mechanically. There is some rust in the bottoms of all three doors, not much in the rockers.


Looking from the fan toward the driver's side

Looking from the fan toward the driver's side

Looking from the fan toward the passenger's side

Looking from the fan toward the passenger's side

 

i had my core support replaced a few years ago - not too big a job

 

lagarde-gl, you don't say how many miles you have on your truck but if you're the original owner, the truck is still in good shape and it's got minimal rust, I'd certainly look into the cost of getting the rad support replaced or repaired before I scrapped it. My '99 XL has a lot of rust in the rad support as well but it hasn't broken through. A mechanic noticed it one day and told me he could fashion a repair by welding on a new piece, as opposed to buying a whole new cradle. I haven't pursued it further because it's still holding but if you'd otherwise hang on to your truck, I think it's worth investigating. Best of luck.

 

Thanks for the responses. The truck has about 227,000 miles on it. After brushing away some of the big chunks of rusted metal, I think my biggest concern is the level of effort involved in replacing the front body mounts (and the rest of them while I am at it). It is not clear from the parts sites exactly what one gets with the replacement radiator support, but I will guess it is the framework across the front of the truck back to where it is welded to the inner fenders. The rest of the parts - bushings, bumper supports, center brackets, etc,, look pretty simple. I will probably do the water pump (original, I think), serpentine belt, and fan clutch while it is opened up.

 

I have a 97 F-150 with 4.6l short bed with somewhere north of 209,000 miles on it the of doesn't work most of the time. Mine was well maintained and likely garage kept for a very long time. I'm attaching photos of the rad supports as best as I could take without tearing apart my truck and on a foggy morning using led flashlights to give as much light as possible. The lowers were taken from underneath the rad hope this helps you. Basically from these photos what I can see is that it's welded directly to the frame, my mistake that's the front body mounts.

Lower rad support

Lower rad support


Upper rad support


Upper driver's side rad support

 

I took a closer look from underneath. The red is a rad cradle/front body mount where the fenders, bumper and other stuff mounts. I recently changed my a/c condenser coil and recall this there is a upper clip that has the bushings for rad support and another set for a/c coil which incidentally sheered off when I tried to remove the old rusty bolts. Currently my AC coil is held in with parachute cord. Seems to be fine, been like that for about a year and this is my daily driver. If your frame to body mount/ rad cradle is intake you might be able to purchase a used or after market cradle. If that mount is bad then you'll need some welding. If memory serves me right that cradle / front body clip is bolted on. Hope this helps you. I will warn you about driver's side window/ Generic Electronic Module aka body module and interior fuse box if any windows leak and your windshield condensates on inside it will drop on those and cause all kinds of Gremlins in your electronic accessories but doesn't usually effect ability to drive

 

Thanks for the input and the photos. I have references on some local welders. The next step will be to tear most of the front end off the truck to provide access for grinding and welding. I will try to get lots of photos for the team.

There seem to be lots of replacement radiator supports out there but very little information regarding the quality of the materials and manufacturing. Has anyone found a particular supplier's replacement parts to be reliably good? I don't need for it to last another 24 years, but 10 might be nice.

 

My neighbor has 2 extended cabs with power everything and atleast 4 regular cab basic model with most of the parts still intact on all of them. His Price's are dirt cheap I've bought a few items from him for my 97 reg cab with power everything. For instance a mirror glass and mount, door lock actuator and seat belt receiver all for $25 total. He doesn't advertise or sell anything online just word of mouth to locals.

 

I have removed the lights, bumper, hood latch, center bracket, radiator, shroud, etc. Welder is coming over today to size up the job. I will order the new support after that.

Regarding the replacement radiator support - are the pins that actually support the radiator from the bottom an integral part of the radiator support or are they separate parts? None of the online photos show the back side of the radiator support. None of the parts diagrams I have seen show separate pins to support the radiator. All I have left are the rubber bushings - I can't tell what they were mounted on.

Thanks.

 

Tommorow morning I will investigate the pins best I can. Let me know if you want me to try and get you a support off my neighbor like I said he's cheap er than most junkyard's