what the hell have I just bought??? I looked and looked and managed to miss this..... is there ANY hope of fixing it?? thanks guys!

I don't think you can fix it. just drive and hope nothing you change will beak. use alot of wd40 on any bolts you loosen.

what bolts?? not sure what you mean, it looks like the strut tower is tearing from the frame!?!? sent pics to an autobody shop, they say they replace a LOT of them on chryslers... man I hope I didn't just ROYALLY screw myself
anyone else have this happen?

The third picture looks like a clean cut..hand made...

If you are that worried, remove the wheel, the strut assembly, and have someone with skills, weld patch of steel on it to re-inforce and be done with it... should not cost you more than 100$

S.

so it is actually the inner apron that is failing. where it has torn is rubbing on the steering shaft and pushing the top of the strut tower into the brake booster.... so yeah, that bothers me lol!! I sent pics to a body shop that has done me right before and he gave me an initial estimate of $700 for a new apron. running the vin and giving me a firm estimate in the morning. I guess for $1500 that I payed for the car I might still come out ok with it all said and done. just NOT what you want to find and I am someone that REALLY checks over cars when I buy them, it looks like it tore open on the ride home.

the old 280Zs were notorious for shock tower rusting out. Guys would fiberglass them and paint to sell them, usually would take a few weeks before they failed. By that point you have no recourse, depending where you live...

t

this was the first I had seen this happen anywhere, shows you what I know lol!! and the bodyshop guy says they replace them often on Chryslers.

I bought my pathfinder and just like you didn't notice this until it was mine I had the EXACT same problem & same place, the strut tower housing had rotted and the apron was peeling away and jabbing into the steering.

I didn't notice until I came back from a trip to SC, hit a huge pothole on a highway in NJ going 75 mph (it looked like a touch up of asphalt b/c it was dark). 20 mins later I hear a knocking sound coming from the driver side when I hit small bumps. Well, a strut and ball joint replacement later the truck was still making a noise. Took it to Nissan and they found that rot and showed me that the strut tower on the driver side was jacked up a good 2-3 inches higher than the passenger side, it was visibly obvious! They said the knocking noise was the strut tower pushing the brake master cylinder and power steering reservoir into the hood when I hit bumps. Both were jacked up and looking at the truck from behind, it visibly sagged down on the driver side. The estimate? DEPRESSING! Around $1,500 @ a dealership.

Luckily, my husband's uncle owns a mechanic shop for farm equipment/big trucks. He is very skilled at welding and taught his son (my husband's cousin) how to weld and his son is very good at it. So my cousin in-law did the welding for us for $300. He did a great job and undercoated that whole area for us as well to protect it. It corrected the knocking noise and the structural integrity of the vehicle! Basically, this can be fixed.

I would suggest looking for a place that does welding & getting estimates. Dealerships will rip you off and its inside a wheel well where no one is going to notice if its pretty or not! This repair should run you between $200-$500 depending on where you go and if you want it painted a certain way. If you want, I can get pictures on here for you of what my mended strut tower looks like. Hope I helped!

I actually JUST got the pathfinder back 2 days ago, had it fixed at a bodyshop that has done work for me in the past. they installed a new inner apron (nissan sells them as collision parts) and really cleaned up and coated the frame rail. the whole thing looks like new and feels a LOT better. I feel a lot better about putting my baby girl in the car now, thats for sure! thanks for the reply though, glad it isnt just me thinking these are pretty easily fixed. oh, and th total cost for me with an inspection sticker and a half shaft installed was $1200.

Yeah the repair sure did take a while for me too! I'm sorry you had to spend so much. But I know how much better you feel knowing that its fixed! Did you happen to notice if your pathfinder was sitting lower on one side than the other when the apron was rotted?

yeah, but I did buy the truck for a mere $1200 (the seller refunded $300 because she felt bad!), so I am still feeling pretty good about it, and the rest seems very solid and in overall pretty nice shape. with mine it neither seemed to be sitting low or driving funny at al. no pulling with the steering, still rode pretty smooth, the only hint was the hard steering. I was impressed with it before, now it REALLY feels nice!

My ex wife gave me our 96 path back because it wasin't running and also a mechanic told her it was unsafe to drive. After getting it running I drove it to my buddys house. It was a loud and grinding drive. I got there and started looking around, and there it was, all rusted out in drivers side wheel well. strut pushed in and rubbing on steering shaft. And top of strut pushed up against brake resivor. Now I seen something about a recall about the strut and rusting out, and the rubbing off the sterring coluum. I am in wisconsin, so I'm on that list. Does anybody know more about it? It just came out in 2011, so will they still fix it?
Thanks