A cracked core support. Not good.
TL;DR - The battery tie down that bolts to the core support has cracked core support as a result of all the rattling around. I've reinforced it, and will monitor it going forward.
As I was pulling my battery to make a bit more room to remove the alternator and service the worn alternator brushes, I was greeted with a rude surprise. Upon loosening the 12mm bolt that secures the battery tie-down, the nut underneath just started spinning. At first, I thought the tack welds that secured the nut to the core support had broken. If only I'd been right!
Unfortunately, the entire core support had cracked around the nut. For the remainder of my paved trip home, I simply snugged everything back together as best I could, but I knew that I needed to do something better before hitting dirt again. My solution - since it's hard to weld something to the underside of the core support in that area - was to fabricate a reinforcement plate - with nuts welded to the bottom - that is secured in three locations on the core support. Hopefully this spreads the load and solves my problem.
My reinforcement plate, fabricated with a cardboard template, an angle grinder, and the metal glue gun.
Hopefully this spreads out the stress points a bit and lasts me for many years to come.
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