Exterior radiator grill

[jerry davis]

Just a piece of info and another item to check.

About 800 miles from home headed for Canada, stopped for fuel and noticed the exterior radiator grill was flapping. Seems the tabs that are welded to the grill and bolted to the radiator shroud were sheared off and missing. It is now being held in place with nylon ties,

Suggest inspecting this area.

[GMDavidson]

Had the same problem on my 2001, but I had all the pieces. I had the tab welded back on - a tab should be easy to make, at least on mine it would be. They made the weld without discoloring the paint. Lots of luck!

[Dale777]

After only 1 year, the tabs for the radiator grill on my 2006 Alpine broke off at the bend. I fabricated new aluminum tabs and bolted the new tabs onto the radiator grill. I had to put a shim under the new tabs to compensate for a difference in thickness. Since the bolts for the new tabs are underneath the bottom edge of the grill, it is not noticeable. For over 3 years now, this arrangement works really well. I consider my bolted on tabs much stronger than the original L-shaped tabs. Take a look at doing something like like this. It is fairly easy to do.

[Dave and Jaime]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jerry davis Just a piece of info and another item to check. About 800 miles from home headed for Canada, stopped for fuel and noticed the exterior radiator grill was flapping. Seems the tabs that are welded to the grill and bolted to the radiator shroud were sheared off and missing. It is now being held in place with nylon ties, Suggest inspecting this area.

Same thing happened to me. Nylon ties also in use.

Could someone who still has the tabs (OEM or fabricated) post some pictures so I have something to show a repair facility to fabricate them? Not sure what they should look like, where they go, or how they work to permit access to the exterior grill. Just noticed the grill flapping, figured something was wrong and put on the ties. That was last year.

[Dave and Jaime]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dale777 After only 1 year, the tabs for the radiator grill on my 2006 Alpine broke off at the bend. I fabricated new aluminum tabs and bolted the new tabs onto the radiator grill. I had to put a shim under the new tabs to compensate for a difference in thickness. Since the bolts for the new tabs are underneath the bottom edge of the grill, it is not noticeable. For over 3 years now, this arrangement works really well. I consider my bolted on tabs much stronger than the original L-shaped tabs. Take a look at doing something like like this. It is fairly easy to do.

Any pictures to post, Dale?

[Birddog Pilot]

Same problem with our '06; and I might add that this problem is not just a radiator tab problem, but also the broken spoiler brackets. These issues are, and will be, a continuing problem because WRV completely neglected to use the proper bend radius when they fabricated these parts. Too small a radius creates stress in the metal that will fatigue and eventually break.

I used 1" x 1/8" 4130 steel to fabricate the radiator tabs and also those on the blank door panel covering the holding tanks on the coach right side. As Dale reported, I also bolted the new tabs to the radiator grill, but made the appropriate bend in the tab so no shims were necessary. To make the removal of the grill a bit easier I rivited aircraft nut plates to the radiator frame structure. This way all you need is a single wrench or scocket to remove the three bolts through the tab and the bottom of the grill is now free to be released.

[Wil Rathke]

I cut short pieces of strap metal, drilled a hole in the radiator grill bottom, drilled matching holes in the strap metal and bolted it on. Refer to the pictures

[NorCal C&H]

I have to agree with the above recommendations to bolt a short piece of metal between the grill and shroud. After my original bracket failed I had another welded on. The welder dropped the door gouging several fins in the radiator and scratching the louvered grill. Before I could have the grill repainted a few days later the new welded bracket had already failed.

I put bolts in each end of a 3"-4" piece of steel and it has worked great for the last couple of years and 20,000+ miles.

Harold

[Dave and Jaime]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wil Rathke I cut short pieces of strap metal, drilled a hole in the radiator grill bottom, drilled matching holes in the strap metal and bolted it on. Refer to the pictures

Thanks for the pictures!

[Dale777]

Dave and Jaime,

See photos:

[Lindenberg]

I like your solution. I've been using zip ties for the past year and will bolt it back together this weekend.

[Dave and Jaime]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wil Rathke I cut short pieces of strap metal, drilled a hole in the radiator grill bottom, drilled matching holes in the strap metal and bolted it on. Refer to the pictures

Is one strap enough to prevent vibration or do you recommend two (one on each end)? If using a single strap, I presume it is mounted at the midpoint of the grill along the bottom?

[Wil Rathke]

I used 2 straps, one in the same location as the OEM tab. I suggest using double nuts or Locktite single nuts.

[mikron]

I have a 2008 Windsport and it has 2 plastic grills. To attach to the body they guled blocks of wood and screwed the grill to the blocks. The blocks seperated from the body and the grills were lose. Drilled through the body with a thin screw and secured the block of wood to the body.

This is our 4th class A motor home and over the past 12 years we have owned they have not got that much better built. They have however got much more expensive.