Core Support Removal and Tubular Core Support

[brutis72eb]

Upon further inspection today, I have come to the conclusion that my core support and inner wheel tubs are Junk! I have done some research on the tubular core support that Dusty and others are running and I think I want to go this route. I dont have much access to sheetmetal or sheetmetal fabrication but I do have an eb friend whose father-in-law is going to be building me my cage and Im sure he can build the tubular core support. I have 2 questions, One: I have researched on this site on what the exact procedure is on removing the front core support and couldnt find a direct answer. I may have missed it but do I just drill the spot welds out and/or cut with a plasma torch or zitswheel the sheetmetal. If so, where exactly do I cut? And Two: Are there any drawbacks to going the tubular core support other than the engine accessories space. Where do you put your battery?? Thanks for all your help in Advance;D

 

[Dusty]

Removing the front inner clip is a piece of cake. Remove the fender skins and grill, then the batteries, radiator and everything else that mounts to the inner clip. Next, look at the side of the inner fender where it meets the firewall. Look on the inside and you'll see that the firewall piece has a flange that is spot welded to the inner fender. The inner fender actually continues back to the door post and forms the side kick panels under the dash inside the cab. What you need to do is cut the inner fender along the edge of the firewall flange, leaving the flange and the part of the inner fender that is spot-welded to it. Its a little tricky since the flange is on the inside and you'll be sawing on the outside. If you can get a small drill inside there to drill a couple of reference holes from the other side it will be easier to make your marks. There will be one turn in the cut, where the firewall turns to form the slanted part of the floorpan. After you've made this cut on both sides, unbolt the body mounts at the core support and you're done.

As for drawbacks, the one people usually raise is that of getting mud and debris on your engine. That hasn't been a problem for me here in dry so cal though. The batteries are about the hardes thing to relocate. You could built the bracketry into your new tubular piece to keep them basically in the stock location. I temporarily moved mine to the bed behind the seat but I'm currently finishing up moving them to a battery tray under the passenger seat.

A lot of folks have done this mod with great results. Mine may be the most visible since I pimp my pix so much. But there's a lot of good info and ideas out there. If you have any more specific questions just post them here and I'm sure they will get answered.

 

[brutis72eb]

Thanks for the information Dusty, I envy you in the fabrication skills that you have and hopefully I will be there one day but for now I have to make due with what I have been given! The body is off the frame and so pretty much all I have to do is cut where I inserted the red lines (pictured), where the core support meets the firewall, but not to remove the kick panel. Gotch ya! I didnt quite follow you on drilling the hole for reference points though. So is this a pretty big task to tackle? Do you think this will be a bid deal for someone who already knows how to build cages? Do you have the measurements on hand? Or can someone look at the pictures (Dusty's rig) and know what to do. How much did the materials cost?
As far as the mud, I dont forsee a problem with that b/c I am not a big fan of mudding. I like rock crawling and intermediate trail. Thanks for all your help and If you are running this setup please feel free to chime in, even if you dont have anything to say I would like to see how many people are running this setup.;D

 

[Dusty]

About the reference holes...what I was getting at is when you draw a line on the outside of the inner fender mark where to cut, it might be advantageous to drill a hole from the backside through, at the point where the bend in the firewall is, so that you have a reference point to draw your line to. I know you can probably eyeball it and get close enough though.

As for measurements I can't help you, and even if I did have measurements they would probably be different from Bronco to Bronco. Also, you can show your fabricator the pictures of my setup but he probably won't need to see them. When you look at the problem like this, what needs to be done to solve it becomes evident. Besides he might think of a better way to do it than I did.

About the cost of materials I don't remember but its just a bunch of 1" tubing, plus a few pieces of plate steel. I would guess it was under $100 in materials.

By the way, don't overestimate my fab skills. I've become pretty good at bending tubing and making brackets and stuff, but my welding sucks the big one!

Dusty

 

[mrcat88]

I was really interested in doing something like this...I think the stock core support is just about useless. I have thought about it alot, for a long time, but I don't have a welder....tube bender....fishmouther....or anything else for work like that. I will get to it someday, it's one of the first major things I want to plan out and accomplish.

I would, however, like to see some better pics of your rig Dusty! I am sure I could measure it out and get the local fad shop to help me out with it. If not, it would be great for future reference. Either way, you should really get some ful detail pics of what you did. I think it would be great for others to see it!

Please post up!

Thanks!
Mrcat88

 

[Labbster]

Dusty, I second the Pic's. Please! If I can build the core support, I will not need to buy one for my rebuild!

 

[Rustytruck]

If you dont have the fab skills and want a professional to do the fab work for you you could always mock it up in PVC and then take the pvc parts to a shop to be made in steel. Its cheap and you can cut and splice at will and really play with your design. While you wont get a really true representation of the bends and stuff you can really narrow down the design before you go cutting up your old rusty sheet metal. You need no special skills or tools and if you just drill the joints with a small drill you can just pin the pieces with a nail through the pipe and the plastic joint. then you can cut and lengthen/shorten at will until you figure out where you want to get to. If you need to bend to an angle you can heat the pipe up with an open flame or a really good heat gun and make small bends or offsets.

 

[Dusty]

Dusty, I second the Pic's. Please! If I can build the core support, I will not need to buy one for my rebuild!

Check out this thread. I wrote a lot about it there and linked to some pictures.

Dusty

 

[mrcat88]

That's some great info, thanks guys! I really like the idea of building it with PVC and then taking it down to the shop and having them build it....I never thought of that!

That's some great info....just awesome, and highly effective!!

Did you use the top body mount bushing? On the body mounts, there is one on top and one on the bottom, it looks like you did away with the one on top. Doesn't that make it a little rought onthe front end? Thanks!

mrcat88

 

[brutis72eb]

Thanks for all your replies! I had seen that thread before when I did a search for core supports. I had never thought of the pvc idea either. That seems like an inexpensive, effective way to determine what you want! Thanks and keep the comments comming! If I decide to go this route I will be sure to take great pics!;D

 

[Dusty]

Did you use the top body mount bushing? On the body mounts, there is one on top and one on the bottom, it looks like you did away with the one on top. Doesn't that make it a little rought onthe front end? Thanks!

I don't know what you mean by rough. I did away with the body mounts all together. The rest of the body mounts I replaced with solid spacers (there are no rubber or urethane body mounts anywhere on the rig). For the front ones I just welded washers under the body perches to have 1/2" holes for the bolts that hold the core support on.