I noticed that the air filter was a little loose, the top of the filter had some 20 mm of movement.  This was not normal, so I looked at its support bracket and found a longitudinal crack right through the bracket!  It was quite an easy job to remove the bracket and have it welded at a local workshop, but a few months later the crack had reappeared.

Looking at the bracket: the side of the bracket that is attached to the air filter, is braced to itself at the centre section of the bracket.  The centre of the bracket is then attached to the chassis.  However, the shape of the bracket seems to be fundamentally flawed in that there is no brace across the centre of the bracket.  With vibration from driving, the bracket flexes along its centreline and this is where it cracks.

I added a small fillet to the outside underside of the bracket.  This stop all flexing along the centreline of the bracket and seems to have fixed the issue permanently.

Hey… was this useful? If so, you might like to support our website costs with a donation below. Thanks 😊👍