well its a known fact that the caravans had a rust problem with the strut towers rusting out. this was my drum/music equipment transportation so i needed it 24/7. after one good pothole it found its defeat.
heres the pic of the rust my strut was held in by 1 1/2 bolts out of 3…
i took my cut of tool and basically did a clean up got all the thin/destroyed metal out of the way and came up with this
i went to the the dodge dealer to get what they have known as “strut tower replacement” but it did me no good. all the holes for the strut plate to bolt in for were rusted completely out and the replacement part didnt have holes to actually bolt into in.
top pic of part
bottom pic
so i fabricated out of old shelving metal a piece to actualy bolt into.
i used a metal cone that holds tires down on our balance machines to start the hole in the center then used a rotor that was the same diameter of the strut mount as a template for how big to make the hole. heating and a big fuckin hammer did the trick to make it the desired size.
so after taking the whole wiper assembly out this is what the finished product looks like
and all bolted in. i might go to dons welding to just tack weld it in for added strength but it seems ok with the bolts and rivets i used so far.
