2004 Nissan. Have been feeling like the hood and front part of the body (i.e. fenders) really move around a lot when off pavement (washboard logging roads, etc). Feels like the whole truck was rattling loose; I know washboard feels/sounds like shit in general, but it was way worse compared to other SUVs/trucks I've driven!
Started investigating, took off the fender and bam! Check this out:
The spot welds all around the fender support 'reinforcement box' let go so the thing was flexing like crazy. Also had cracks along the rad support, as well as around the hood hinges (where multiple body panels join).
For example: passenger side (rubber tube with anti-seize is the antenna mount). You can see cracks along the joint where the fender support joints the top of the body box where the window wiper motor sits:
Was worried about fire risk with all the wiring harnesses behind it, so decided to rivet it all back together, along with some welding of the actual cracks:
Truck is body lifted (2") and has seen some off-road use, but nothing crazy - I'm not rock crawling! Only 180,000km on it, and most of it's life it was a stock city driver (I got it used a few years ago). Is this normal?? Is this something you would expect if a vehicle has been in an accident? Just seems crazy that so much is busted up :|