Quote:
Originally Posted by Graham
Mark, I agree that the jack points are solid even when the rocker metal has rusted. I am sure that even without the rocker metal, the jack points would be strong enough if the tubes haven't rusted out. It seems that the fronts are designed to transfer load from the tube to the A-Pillar. (Mine was fully apart a little while ago ;( ) Not sure how the rear points transfer load, but presumably they too transfer load to the rear door pillar.
I have this idea for a mechanically attached patch that would be screwed or riveted in place and have an indent that picks up the load from the tube. I have this idea that I might have seen something like that, but maybe not?
PS: Seems this not a new idea 
So far no sign of any commercial jack point patch panels. |
On my TD, I found big blobs of filler hiding a gaping jagged rust-hole next to the left front jack-point. I cleaned it all out, trimmed the rough edges, and sprayed some prservative inside the rocker. Then I riveted some gavanised sheet over the whole area and used a ball-peen hammer to outline the jack-tube so I could accurately cut the hole.
Finally, I covered the whole repair with spray undercoat.
Except for the lack of indenting around the jack-hole, the repair isn't too noticeable. Since then, I've jacked it numerous times to make repairs to the brakes and shifter without any problems.
Happy Motoring, Mark