[mx592]

Hello guys –

I am new to the forum but I have owned my ’04 XE for about four years and I have lurked on here from time to time. I recently tackled the project of replacing the rusted out front radiator core support. I live in Michigan and the salt obviously got to it – the radiator was about to fall out of the car!

Anyway, I know this is a common problem on 01-04 X’s and I was surprised that nobody sells a replacement piece other than the entire front radiator support assembly. I did find a few sites that had just the support piece for sale, but all of them were either out of stock or unavailable so it seems as though you can no longer buy just this piece.

I briefly considered buying the entire assembly an just cutting out the spot welds to obtain the piece I needed, but that seemed like a waste and I have also heard that these parts are made from thin gauge sheet metal which will just rust out again in a couple years so I decided to fabricate my own from stainless.

The welded assembly I created turned out well and fits great, but it got me thinking – this piece could be made from a single piece of laser cut and bent stainless. I went ahead and modeled the part. A screen shot is below.

My question is, would anyone be interested in buying these? I have not yet gotten a production quote but that would greatly depend on purchase quantity so it’s hard to say what they would cost. I’m going to say somewhere between $100 and $200.

I’m just trying to gauge interest – I already put the engineering time into it so I figured I might be able to help out others as well as recoup some of my development costs!

 

[bossX]

amazing work there! looks clean and done by someone who knows what they are doing

I wish I could help you with the demand issue but where I live cars never rust, I hope you do get a group buy if this is such a common problem

best of luck!

 

[GIJOEGURU]

I may need this really soon. Insurance company just totaled my X after I nailed a deer. I know my radiator is busted, ac condenser, grill, bumper, right fender, but I can't tell yet about radiator support. I am going to keep my X and rebuild her on a salvage title and keep it as a play toy.

Would you build another one for me if I do need one? Willing to pay more for quality construction. And this looks like quality to me. Contact me at [email protected]

Thanks!
Brian

 

[cuong nguyen]

Awesome work!

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N920A using Tapatalk

 

[kjs65]

Ken

I would be willing to pay you for a CAD model or fully dimensioned drawing of the core support you have modeled up. I have means to manufacture my own and was planning to measure it up myself but no need if you are willing to share your info.

Contact
Ken Sutton
[email protected]

 

[lepiment]

Awesome work. HOnestly i'm willing to pay for this part since mine is completely rusted. Do you ship to Canadan- BC?

 

[mayur patel]

Looks amazing,
I am in need of this as mine rusted out. I live in Ottawa Ontario, Canada. Let me know if you would ship this out here!

 

[kms1990]

if i still had my 2000 x yeah i would be more than interested but i have a 2011 now.

 

[Lindienfou]

Hi, nice work, i need to replace mine too, would you sell either the CAD or a new piece ?

[email protected]

Thanks !

Simon

 

[Rich Jennings]

Did you ever make these I have a 2004 Xterra with rusted out lower radiator core support Needing replacement. Contact me at [email protected]. with that in subject line if you did.

 

[mx592]

Gentlemen -

I sold my X long ago and kinda forgot about this. Sounds like there is some occasional interest here and there - I will get a quote and see what these could cost to produce. I would need a beta tester for the first one, and that person would get a deal.

 

[mx592]

Alright, I have quotes, and it looks like I could do these for about $155 plus shipping. Maybe less if I can get 5+ people. I'd say $20 to ship in the lower 48 states.

Again, these would be 12 gauge stainless steel and will outlast the vehicle. Who wants one? I would like to find a beta tester or two who can install one and give me feedback in case any tweaks are needed. This person would get 30% off...

 

[Larry Lesniak]

I'd be interested in one for my 2004 that won't pass PA state inspection without a repair. Just let me know what steps I need to take to place the order and make payment and when you expect the part to ship. Thanks!

 

[mx592]

Alright guys, I have three on order and they will be done by first week of October! Post up here or send me a private message if you are interested.

 

[PsiFire]

I'm moderately interested.

Question: Is the design meant to be welded onto the X or bolted via the 4 holes on each side wing? If I can do this without welding that would be a big SOLD for me.

 

[mx592]

No welding needed. You have to drill out the spot welds holding the original piece on. Then you are left with the four holes on each side, which is where the new piece bolts on.

 

[PsiFire]

Count me in. I have a 2002 XE is that matters. Let me know where and when to send payment.

 

[PsiFire]

When you install it, do I see blocks supporting the radiator in one of the pictures? Obviously no need to support the AC condensor since it's bolted onto the frame already. Any other advice for the install? Bolt types/sizes? etc?

Is there a place to bolt the lower part of the washer fluid reservoir in place?

 

[mx592]

Sorry for the late reply -

The parts are done and will be shipping to me this week. However I won't be able to ship out the first sample to Larry until I return from my honeymoon on the week of Oct 18th.

To answer the questions - there are M6 rivet nuts installed for the washer fluid reservoir and the vertical hood latch support member. I am planning to include the hardware for these items (M6x1.0) and also the hardware to bolt it to the frame where the spot welds were previously located (M8x1.25 + flanged nuts). There is also a series of 5 holes along the bottom for the plastic rivets which hold the lower rubber radiator shroud. So all OEM attachment points are recreated here.

 

[PsiFire]

Cool, thanks for that. How did you want to go about the ordering process? Wait until after the honeymoon?