Factory weld stressing?

[ahal]

Hi everyone,

While taking the rear driver - side wheel off my 9000 carly, I had a good look inside of the wheelarch. There's a join in the body ( wheel well ) behind the suspension, and it appears to have come apart a bit

I know the car got a belt from behind at some stage - not light but not 'runaway truck' either. I'm pretty confident the car's not dodgy ( had it checked by professionals ).

I know as much about body construction / welds as the average Eskimo knows about sunburn. I thought I'd throw it out there, in case anyone on the forums who knows these things could opine as to whether this is as a result of the bang, or if sometimes welds in presumably stressed areas can shift over time?

Thanks as ever,

Tony.

[Jim Mesthene]

I've seen it on very high-mileage cars. A vertical tear in the middle? Check the other side.

A decent Body Shop can fix it pretty cheap. Get the cracks fixed, they travel.

[ahal]

Thanks Jim.

That's exactly it - a vertical lift where one panel overlaps the next along the seam. The car's a 166,000 miler, wasn't joyridden but wasn't treated with kid gloves either ( this was confirmed when I found two completely black fruits, and a 1991 WHSmith receipt under the passenger seat )

I'll certainly get that done ... I'm thinking a good poke around the rest of the wheelarches might be a good idea too. I'd never have spotted it if I didn't have the problems I had releasing the back wheels ( all wheels in fact ) from the hubs

Regards,

Tony