My truck's cowl crack

[Wayne M.]

Just thought the Guys would like to see what I found when I took my right fender off today. Basicaly I just cleaned things up, mig'd the crack back together (as well as other small cracks I found in the area) and then I made a patch out of . 060 sheet and backed the area up. I then painted the whole side of the cowl with anti rust paint. While I was there I found a cowl drain (rubber flap) next to the heater box, and it was clogged solid. I did blow it out.



I tried to get the TSB cowl fix patches, but my parts guy had trouble with the numbers so I had to improvise. Now my cab is quiet enough that I can enjoy the ride again! This job signals the start of the long awaited restoration of my truck. This is the first time since it was new that an actual reapir (other than maintenance or a fender bender) has been done to this truck. Next job is the skyjacker 2. 5 kit waiting in my garage. I have spring bolts, sway bar end link kits, and other items coming in from at the dealer.

 

[Wayne M.]

here's the image again????

 

[Dale Reed]

1) Could you see the crack by simply opening the door and peeking in with a bright light?



2) When I peek in to see if there are any cracks I see that the cowl, etc. is made of many different pieces with gaps between them. Can't tell if any of the gaps are cracks.



3) Dash, cowl, whatever does not squeak, rattles but no squeaks. What bad will happen if I assume everything is OK until it is obviously is not OK?



Thanks for the observations and advise.

 

[1 locomotive]

give me a better pic ?? were is that crack ?? thanks for the heads ups

 

[sparks57]

I have a squeek in my dash towards the driver's side... I'm betting it's a cowl crack.

 

[CDegner]

Welcome to the club! I've got the patches sitting out in the garage right now. That is my summer project! IT should really cut down on cab noise in the truck.



Carl

 

[JLEONARD]

I'm pretty sure mine is cracked on the pass side... . makes noise in the winter when the temps are cold, is quiet in the summer... .

I guess it's telling me to move south!

Jay

 

[Wayne M.]

Dale and Locomotive 1, No you can't really see the crack through the door hinge area. Figure the problem to be in the area right under the antenna-too far in. See the stud at the top corner of my picture? that stud is on the edge of the fender under the hood on top of the cowl. The fender has to come off (not a real bad job).

I drove my truck for a year with this noise, I don't think you'll do damage by letting it go. The noise is a hideous screech like scratching a blackboard which happened while going over the slightest irregularity in the road.



Jay, I still have a dash rattle when it's cold out-it's more like a plastic squeak, but it's not a obvious dash noise and I haven't found it yet.

 

[cdrider]

I just did this repair on both sides of my truck. On mine you could see the cracks with the door open. I did not really know what I was looking for at first but I was able to see them quite well with a flaslight at night. I think the crack can occur in different places on the cowl piece---mine was in a different place than Wayne M's.

The other problem I found was that some of the spot welds that hold the cowl piece to the firewall had broken loose.

I found that I had to do a little hammer work on the patch pieces to make them fit the contours of the truck better. I also drilled in several more rivet holes than the patch came with. It probably took 6 or 7 hours total to do both sides.

I could not believe how much noise(squeaks, creaks and groans) the repair eliminated. It seems like a new truck ! Well worth the effort.



K