Stress Fracture / Crack On Roof

[nath_aus Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close nath_aus]

Good Evening All,

I am a new member to this site as I have just purchase a 2005 GXL Prado Petrol. Great site by the way. Lots of great information. I have been quite happy with the purchase and could not fault the car except for the general wear and tear. Unfortunately before I purchased the Prado I did not think to look on the roof to carefully.

To my disappointment I have found a stress fracture / crack in the steel on the roof panel. I don’t know how serious this is or how it would have happened. I do know the previous owner had roof racks fitting to the vehicle.

The crack is in the back right hand corner. It is 75mm long hairline crack running along the car about 100mm in from the back and right hand side of the car. Apparently in Victoria a crack like this can make the car unroadworthy??

Pictures are attached down the post.

If anyone has ever seen anything like this before or has any ideas of what should be done to fix it would be appreciated to hear from you.

Thanks,

Nathan

[Prado BB Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close Prado BB]

Re: Stress Fracture / Crack On Roof

Nathan

Welcome to PP.

Sorry to hear about your problem. Would love to see a photo to clearly understand the issue, but it does sound rather serious.
Best of luck.

[Guest Close Guest]

Re: Stress Fracture / Crack On Roof

First time I have heard of a roof crack?

Sounds like overloading of a roof rack on rough roads perhaps? or an accident?

Will be a tricky one to fix sadly.

[nath_aus Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close nath_aus]

Re: Stress Fracture / Crack On Roof

I have actually been able to speak to the previous owner and they say that the roof racks were only used once back in August 2008. So I am not sure if this was the cause.

It doesn’t sound good though. Bit disappointing. I will need to speak to a panel beater to see what can be done I guess.

Thanks for the replies. I will try and get some photos up soon.

[Prado BB Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close Prado BB]

Re: Stress Fracture / Crack On Roof

I have actually been able to speak to the previous owner and they say that the roof racks were only used once back in August 2008. So I am not sure if this was the cause.

It doesn’t sound good though. Bit disappointing. I will need to speak to a panel beater to see what can be done I guess.

Thanks for the replies. I will try and get some photos up soon.

PM sent

[Prado BB Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close Prado BB]

Re: Stress Fracture / Crack On Roof

On behalf of Nathan, here are photos showing the damage:





Could well be a result of stress from the rear door being opened and allowed to fall violently or poorly repaired (i.e. bog) previous damage, such as hail damage.

Cheers
Andy

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Re: Stress Fracture / Crack On Roof

It does look somewhat bogged up? Would explain the crack and rust.

A decent panel beater will be able to tell you if it is or not.

Would be a case of dropping the roof lining at rear and welding it up then refinishing.

Not a HUGE job, but certainly bloody unusual where it is???

Wonder if someone drove under something (carpark etc) and damaged it?

[IRON-PAWW Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close IRON-PAWW]

Re: Stress Fracture / Crack On Roof

Anything come to light on this one? Seems very odd.

My first impression would be some damage elsewhere on the vehicle, which has then caused stress in the roof. Exactly where or how I'd really like to know. Even some sort of mild front end collision which has slightly pushed a series of panels out of alignment, causing increased stress across the roof. You might not even be able to pick it with the eye.

Other than that, some sort of roofrack issue with poor mountings or overloaded like suggested. TP could be on the money with damage from above. Maybe they only used the roofrack once, weren't used to having it fitted, and collided it with their garage roof. That is a classic for people with new roofracks.

[nath_aus Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close nath_aus]

Re: Stress Fracture / Crack On Roof

Ah yeh I forgot to say I have actually resolved this one through questioning the previous owner. The roof was damaged by backing under a carpark and taking out a sprinkler system, therefore damaging the top of the rear door and roof. The crack was a result of a dodgy repair job that involved to much bog/filler and the bog had cracked. In the end the original repairer has now footed the $1000 odd bill for the new repair which was fantastic.

I have just got it back today from the panelbeater who seems to have fixed it but left the car in a mess and all the roof gutter rubbers all over the inside of the car. Nevermind losing some of the clips.

So guess what I get another trip to the panelbeaters to get a proper job done. Hard to get a job done right the first time.

Thanks for your replies everyone. Luckly in the end it was not to serious so everyone can relax, your Prados roof is not going to crack.

Cheers,

Nathan.

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Re: Stress Fracture / Crack On Roof

Which panelbeater ended up fixing (losing all your clisp) ha!

There is some dodgy ones around ADL.. Spent 3 yrs getting a job done properly with one on the lower end of Oaklands Rd.... (Sthn side).. What a shark.. 1500 buck repair turned into a 18k nightmare...