DH was out working on the battery mount a little while ago and on a whim, felt inside the tiny gap at the front hitch mount.
What he felt was unpleasantly rusty feeling at the first frame member crossing. We tried to see the extent of the damage, but a flashlight examination only revealed a teeny (rusted) bit of the frame (the gap is only big enough for a finger to get through)--so we don't know what exactly the damage is. In the exposed parts in front of this place, the frame and hitch looks fine--granted, there's a few little bits of surface rust, but no more than that.
So, we're at the point where we need to find out just how bad our bad is. It looks like we may need to drop the belly pan, at least in the front. But we're hesitant to do this in the driveway, since we might have to take it to a repair shop for welding. Then again, since the pan is tight (save for one small gash), it might be a very small issue that we can cover with a bit of POR-15.
I am trying to look at this optomistically. Since it is International model, the frame is made from 2" wider iron bar stock than on regular models--so we may be lucky... Which might explain why we haven't had problems with towing--or inspection--so far. I am just crossing my fingers that it's not a lost cause.
Anyone else go through this? What ended up happening?
Mary
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