I was under my Bronco-II yesterday and noticed what appears to be a stress crack in the floor pan. Metal seems sound on both sides, so I think this is not orange cancer. Also, it is not at the low point.

Location is between rocker panel and one of the mounting points for drivers seat. About directly under where driver's left knee would be.

I figure if this spot were not under a pretty good load, it wouldn't have cracked, so the patch needs to be pretty sound to last.

Just wondering what most durable fix would be. If It was flat it would already have a chunk of 16 ga. migged over it. Unfortunatly, the location is not flat at all....sort of a compund curve.

Heh, this is a common problem with us BII's. Just weld the crack shut. You dont need to put down any steel etc. I have had Alot of these cracks appear due to the thin metal on the floor and flexy frame. *thank you ford :flipoff2: * The cracks that have been welded shut have never recracked. But, the floor is like 14ga steel. So dont go and blow past it. FYI, check by the body welds right next to your wheel wells. Theres another common spot of stress fracturing. Keep on wheelin!

I had cracks in the floor of my Exploder after years of severe twisting. First we welded them shut. They cracked in adjacent spots.

I was directed to a local body shop who deals with this type of stuff in 4x4s all the time. They layed some metal over the cracks and plug welded the sheet in several spots. No problems since and it's been about 3 years.

Welding up the crack will not work by itself. I had these stress cracks in the floor of my Mustang. When they were welded up the floor just cracked along side the welds. You need to re-enforce the area with some more metal after you weld up the crack otherwise it will just come back.

Thanks for answering the newbie. Since the answers go both ways (just weld , or reinforce) I don't feel so dumb for asking. Maybe it depends on the welder and/or the weldor. The way I seem to weld, I think I better reinforce it.

They all have the better point. Reinforce the sheet metal and be done with it. Heh, im just lazy and never bothered with it. :zzz:

Duct tape, sure it won't realy do any good. But at least you can finialy use that roll that you have been carring all this time, and will keep the mud and exhaust fumes out.

I welded the crack shut, then a peice of sheet metal welded on top of that
also on the top side i smeared some seam sealer on it