rear crossmember

[viper-blue]

has anyone ever undertaken the task of replacing/repairing the rear crossmember? The right side of mine is f'd up by honda cancer. this is the only part of the car that has any severe rust damage and i wanna get it fixed before I end up in the rhubarb. Anyone that knows anything about welding or unibody repairs please advise. Is this a part that can be purchased? My search has left me with the wrecking yard as my only answer. How easy/hard is this job for an experienced welder?

[FrodoGT]

Are you referring to the crossmember that the steering rack bolts into?! If so, yeah, Ive done it! I replaced mine with a 91 sedan rack and crossmember, on paper it looks easy, and I did do it alone (bastard friends of mine), but it was hard, painful..and long, with work interfering, it took me a good 3 days to get out of the other car, and into mine.. I had to completely dissasemble the front end of my car, to include shift linkage, exhaust, all suspension and steering components, engine mount and of course the steering rack had to come out too. Spent hours trying to fenagle (sp?) that bastard in and out. Car was nothing but an empty unit-body for days.


BUT...if this isnt what your referring to, then good luck and I have no idea what your talking about :P

[jeef]

on the other hand, if you are refering to the rear crossmember tied to the rear wheels I have done that one. It was a pita but doable. You basically just have to unbolt all of your suspension, drill out the spot welds with a spot weld bit. Then I pot rivited the new one in place till I could get it to some one who could weld the very fine sheet metal, no way I coulda done it with my welder.

[viper-blue]

Originally Posted by jeef

on the other hand, if you are refering to the rear crossmember tied to the rear wheels I have done that one. It was a pita but doable. You basically just have to unbolt all of your suspension, drill out the spot welds with a spot weld bit. Then I pot rivited the new one in place till I could get it to some one who could weld the very fine sheet metal, no way I coulda done it with my welder.

Yeah Jeef this is the part I was referring to. This is good to know. For me, when looking at the part mounted on the car it looks to be rather permanent, so just knowing someone else has tackled this job is good to know...As i mentioned before, this is the only cancer-ridden part of my car and would hate to have the crossmember be the end of her

[jeef]

Yeah, you just have to find all of the spot welds and remove them... I had the joy of my rear cross member ripping inhalf, which in turn caused me to spin out and remove a few garbage cans. thank god I was only doing about 30-35 when it happened.

[viper-blue]

Originally Posted by jeef

Yeah, you just have to find all of the spot welds and remove them... I had the joy of my rear cross member ripping inhalf, which in turn caused me to spin out and remove a few garbage cans. thank god I was only doing about 30-35 when it happened.

thanx jeef...I know this isn't a typical repair for this vehicle, so I'm glad to hear from someone who knows first hand...looking at the state of mine on the right side, i can't believe it still holds...my car is so low there is no cushion even to protect it...did you get a new crossmember, or a used one?...I haven't went to honda yet, but I haven't found anywhere else that sells them

[FrodoGT]

Yeah, ripping a crossmember blows ass, Im pretty sure mine was fucked when i bought it, dont know how I missed it..it eventually tore, then after being welded, tore again, I finally said screw it and replaced it...Cost me 2 new Cv axles too Good luck findingthat rear piece, doesnt sound like something youll find lying on a shelf at a dealership. I would try a repair shop that specializes in crash damage.

[viper-blue]

Originally Posted by FrodoGT

Yeah, ripping a crossmember blows ass, Im pretty sure mine was fucked when i bought it, dont know how I missed it..it eventually tore, then after being welded, tore again, I finally said screw it and replaced it...Cost me 2 new Cv axles too Good luck findingthat rear piece, doesnt sound like something youll find lying on a shelf at a dealership. I would try a repair shop that specializes in crash damage.

Your killing me frodo! lol....but thats some great advice about the specialty shop..I have one a couple of miles from my apt...makes sense, a shop like that would be the only place that would ever have use for such a part as a dealership likely wouldn't ever tackle such an involved job. i didn't realize it was just spot welded into place..origionally I was worried about having to cut it and the chassis metal it was attached to, then trying to get another one in and keep the alignment true...its funny the rear is the only part of the car that is that way..the rest of the underbody has lots of life left..why did it have to happen in such a shitty spot

[maxassassin]

try honda majestic they should sell it as for collison repair well shit theyd jsut try to repalce it thats kindah ow they run.

[FrodoGT]

The reason it rusted there may be because at some point the car got scraped in that spot..removing some undercoating. Make sure you take LOTS of measurments!

[jeef]

actually I picked mine up from the dealership, took them the standard 3 days to get it in, If i remember right it was a bit over 100 bucks for it... and its a tight fit, you can only get it in right... unless your frame is bent. You can also take measurements from various areas to double check though.

[jeef]

here it is part 33, 124 bucks

http://www.hondaautomotiveparts.com/...ASHBOARD-FLOOR

[viper-blue]

thats a great price for such an important part...thanx for the help everyone!

[FrodoGT]

Let us know how it goes, and thanks for putting up that site, looks like its got alot of parts Id be interested in.

[jeef]

yeah, hondaautomotiveparts.com aka majestic honda is great, a lot cheaper then going to a regular dealer most of the time.