FCA Guidelines For Composite Reinforcements

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FCA Guidelines For Composite Reinforcements

2016 Chrysler Town And Country B-Pillar Composite Reinforcement

Stringent crash test ratings and fuel economy standards are making OEMs get creative with strengthening vehicles while maintaining or even lessening overall weight. Different materials are being used along with adding additional reinforcements. If you have repaired recent model year Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) vehicles, you may have noticed the usage of composite reinforcements.

While these composite reinforcements may seem insignificant, FCA repair manuals stress that they absolutely must be replaced. Two different warnings can be found stating, “Composite Reinforcements must be installed to maintain component strength standards.” The manual also states, “Failure to follow these directions may result in serious or fatal injury.”

Depending on where the reinforcement is used, different rules apply to how it is serviced and installed. Some composite reinforcements can be replaced separately, and some come as an assembly requiring replacement of the component they are attached to. For composite reinforcements that are serviceable, or that are being reinstalled, structural adhesive is used to attach them. If the reinforcement itself is removed or any component that touches the reinforcement is removed the composite reinforcement must be reattached.

The 2019 Ram 1500(DT) utilizes a composite reinforcement that is not serviceable by itself. The manual states “If the front door composite reinforcement (3) is damaged the front door must be replaced.”

Look for these reinforcements on many FCA vehicles. Common areas that composite reinforcements are used include but are not limited to:

Doors
A-pillar
B-pillar
Windshield frame
Passenger compartment floor
D-pillar
Roof rail

Make sure to closely follow the body repair manual when handling composite reinforcements. Guidelines for replacing these can vary from model to model.

For additional FCA information, check out the following pages:
Alfa Romeo OEM Information
Chrysler OEM Information
Dodge OEM Information
Fiat OEM Information
Jeep OEM Information
RAM OEM Information

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FCA Guidelines For Composite Reinforcements

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