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My Rear Strut Tower is Broken.. Structural Advice!

I highly disagree. If it can be determined that the failure was a direct result of a bad casting, then I think a case could be made against Ford on this. If it was a result of rust, then nothing can be done...


Bad casting?? I dont think there's any castings anywhere near there. I believe it's all stamped and formed panels spot welded together.
 
Bad casting?? I dont think there's any castings anywhere near there. I believe it's all stamped and formed panels spot welded together.

Regardless, in that case maybe one of the panels was faulty. I mean, not ALL the Contours in this world are perfect structurally, right? ;)
 
3yr/36K Mile warranty... as one person said from the dealer!

Does anyone know where I may do some more investigating about the warranty for my vehicle. as all Stealerships are gonna say something to detter the issue and say its ur fault and not under warranty...
PAY!

- amyn
 
3yr/36K Mile warranty... as one person said from the dealer!

Does anyone know where I may do some more investigating about the warranty for my vehicle. as all Stealerships are gonna say something to detter the issue and say its ur fault and not under warranty...
PAY!

- amyn

That's really your only option, no one is going to fix this for nothing.

I might take the car to a collision shop, and get their opinion.
 
poor stamping or not..good luck getting ANY auto company to 1)admit fault 2) pay for anything.
i mean come on,how many 2.5 duratecs spun the number 6 bearing under 100k miles..how many cam's failed in the v8 sho engine? what was done about either??? nothing..not a thing.
the warranty is the warranty. 3/36. rusted through panels generally falls under the 10/100. but that varies from manufacturer.
 
looks like a hackjob of a previous repair to me...i don't know what caused it but looking at the area to the left in the pics, where there's "surface rust" there's torn metal there too...just doesn't add up IMO. i say previous owner wrecked somehow and had it covered up.
 
I took it to TWO different places. On guy gave me the price of $1200 bucks and offered another hackjob that will prolly fail in the future!

I also went to a bigger place and was informed 650-900 bucks depending on parts being available or custom work to close that up.

I am also going to another place on saturday morning to check out the car. I was referred to him by a neighbor that always helps me out with my car and gives me advice. Hooks me up with a bunch of stuff. I got there asked for the person like 10 minutes ago and he told me ur the guy that blew ur strut tower. So seems like they spoke for me and did great things. This guy also always seems to do legit work probably gonna cost more but hey this is my chassis/structure of the vehicle. Cant be on the track and then be on the floor by a wall!

By the way Koni's feel amazing and I only have the Rears on! I only drive it because the car needs to be seen in order to get some type of rough qoute!

- amyn
 
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i'd still look for another car,just in case the rear tower isnt available. any modification or rot the strut towers is a automatic failure during a inspection. you might get a shop to pass you since you know people. but if it were to give way again,and it caused you to be in a accident,its his ass....and when it comes to people livlihoods they're quick to turn state.:shrug:
just my 2cents
 
i'd still look for another car,just in case the rear tower isnt available. any modification or rot the strut towers is a automatic failure during a inspection. you might get a shop to pass you since you know people. but if it were to give way again,and it caused you to be in a accident,its his ass....and when it comes to people livlihoods they're quick to turn state.:shrug:
just my 2cents

I'm sure that you can get a strut tower from a donor car at a junk yard they would cut out the piece that you need you could even mark where it would need to be cut. As far as the inspection goes if the repair is done by a professional body shop it should be no different than a repair after an accident. I would even venture to bet that it could be repaired so well that to an untrained eye it would be hard to tell it was done.
 
Well the people I still havent been to are real experts and friends of my neighbor. From what I have learned from my neighbor he is a perfectionist and will not tolerate the less. The guy he recommended me to is a close family friend and he repairs new ford vehicles that get messed up during transport or are under warranty/accident/insurance.

He is does Frame pulling for exotic cars as well!

- amyn
 
3yr/36K Mile warranty... as one person said from the dealer!

Does anyone know where I may do some more investigating about the warranty for my vehicle. as all Stealerships are gonna say something to detter the issue and say its ur fault and not under warranty...
PAY!

- amyn

You're running Non-factory suspension parts on it...if it had 8 miles on it they have grounds to deny warranty as it directly impacts the broken part.
 
You're running Non-factory suspension parts on it...if it had 8 miles on it they have grounds to deny warranty as it directly impacts the broken part.


I was not running GC's before this.... Read carefully... I found out about this while installing a new suspension....Koni/Ground Controls and came around to find this issue.

- amyn
 
You're running Non-factory suspension parts on it...if it had 8 miles on it they have grounds to deny warranty as it directly impacts the broken part.

I was not running GC's before this.... Read carefully... I found out about this while installing a new suspension....Koni/Ground Controls and came around to find this issue.

When the car was purchased it did have the B.A.T kit on the car but it never hit that hard back there... except the Sway Bar had an issue which has been fixed w/ a B.A.T. Reinforced subframe and Stazi Aussie Endlinks....

bat struts/springs
bat sway bar
reinforced subframe
aussie end links
 
These things were all added recently after the damage was present on the car.

The only thing that was on the car was the BAT Kit...

- amyn

I'm far from an expert, but I don't think you could have driven like that for a year. And if you've just discovered it, you don't really know when it happened.

The tear on the front/side looks fresh, no corrosion or oxidization.. Could it be that clean after driving it for a year including winter? I can see specks of surface rust all over the strut tower, as if from a moist trunk liner and the damaged rear area is very corroded, yet the tear on the side is clean.

I can see that you've had an alignment done -- would this have been possible with the strut tower damaged?

It may be possible that the tower was weakened via rust and your rigid rear suspension expedited its failure.

It's sad to see you in this situation after all the hard work you've put in.
 
Last I check ford didn't ship these with the BAT kit.

Noooo SHhh**, Regardless this shouldn't fail that easily and a BAT kit is not as aggressive as what others on this forum are running in their Contours.

Regardless I checked and the repair is going to be between 600-1200 bucks, I am going to end up repairing it.

$600 if it can be put back together welded(plate on it as well inside and out)

$1200 if it gets replaced.

- amyn
 
Noooo SHhh**, Regardless this shouldn't fail that easily and a BAT kit is not as aggressive as what others on this forum are running in their Contours.

Regardless I checked and the repair is going to be between 600-1200 bucks, I am going to end up repairing it.

$600 if it can be put back together welded(plate on it as well inside and out)

$1200 if it gets replaced.

- amyn


I agree, and most everyone would except the bean counters at ford...they live and die by the letter of the word.

Regardless, $600-$1200 for that is far better than a new steed eh? Good luck and post some pics when done.

RJ
 
If you're going to fix it, get it done right. I've seen a lot of cheap body work fail within two years or less.
 
Yes sir.... I could see why. Some people were just like this is all you have to do.

Others were like lets replace it and get it done right. Like i said the people I am going to are very close friends of my neighbor and im close to him. He said they are legit and im taking his word.

- amyn
 
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