I have a 90 crx hf with a b16a in it, and a custom crossmember. Both front wheels have play if I try to push them towards the front of the car.. I can see the tie rods move. Also if I hit the breaks hard, I can kinda hear a clunk in the front of the car. Is this a common problem?

 

bump for a legit problem/question!

 

just replace the tie rods. or it could be the wheel bearings.

 

Check if its not cracked or broken. My crossmember was cracked because the previous owner cut it to make the headers fit on a swap and one day it finally broke on half! and my car would make noise when i take off and break hard. Replaced it and fixed the problem hope this helps

 

I literally see the cross member move when I move the wheel forward and aft. Its missing a couple bolts.. Im hoping thats the problem.

 

Sounds like you answered your own question.

There are only 4 bolts that hold it in place, so if you are missing a couple that's not good. I would check other bolts up in front. If the cross member bolts fell out then you probably have other loose ones. If you can push on your wheel and see it move your lower control arm bolts might be loose too.

 

When I go to bolt in the cross member, two of the bolts just spin freely like theres no nut on the otherside, and I cant get them out. is there a way to fix this?

 

I was wondering because I took my crossmember off and the 4 bolts he is refering to, two of them are a little bit longer than the other two, does anybody know if the longer ones go on the inside or the outerside part. Not to thread jack just my question might be his question.

 

Where is the 4th bolt? I only have 3.

 

when i swapped out my crossmember all four bolts where the same size...also check the condition of your radius rod bushings...!!!

 

There are 4 bolts, 2 on each side, all 4 bolts are the same length. They are M12x113mm. Pretty sure they thread into a captive nut inside the frame, so if that nut broke loose, you will need to find some way to get at it and weld it back, or get a tool in there to hold it in place while tightening.

 

he said he has a custom crossmember which mean he probably has a aftermarket traction bar that takes the place of the factory toe hooks that explains why he has 3 bolts on each side.
as far as fixing your problem it may be hard getting to the inside of the frame, a buddys did the same thing so he just put a few spot welds on the traction bar bracket to the frame....... but thats not my first choice, gl

 

I'm in the process of removing all of the suspension on the front end to degrease, de-rust, and restore/repaint.

The radius rods came off with little or no problem. Nice and easy with the impact wrench and plenty of PB Blaster.

So I'm on my last four bolts. The big f**kers that hold the front crossmember onto the chassis.

BRRRRRRZIP....one.
BRRRRRRZIP....two.
BRRRRRRZIP....three.
BRRRRRRRRRBANGBANGBANGBANG...WTF!!!

The bolt has come half way out and is now just spinning around. To make matters worse, it's a blind hole, meaning whatever the bolt threads into is hidden. It wont come out any further and won't go back in. Just spins around. The other three bolts are surprisingly rust-free.



So my good car buddy down in Florida gave me a pep talk and told me to get my air cutter out and make a small exploratory hole to see what's going on in there. I saw a bunch of fuzz-like material that started smoldering as the sparks flew off of the cutoff wheel. Couldn't figure out what was going on. Dug around in the hole with needle-nose pliers and pulled this nightmare out:



I enlarged the hole a bit, and then was able to get vise grips on the captive nut cylinder thing, and then tightened the bolt a bit using a hand socket wrench. Then I applied some PB Blaster, and then zipped the bolt out with the impact wrench.



So the crossmember is off. Now I need to figure out how to clean the residue out of there, prime it and seal it, and then weld the hole closed.



I'm still a bit confused on how those captive nuts work...

 

It is hard to see in that picture but is the nut stripped? If not try to tack weld the nut and collar to the unibody.

 

Well, I had to come in for dinner and haven't been back out there. It's too damn cold. I want winter to be over already.

Anyhow, I'm not exactly sure how these things work. Are they supposed to spin? I didn't get my mirror out and take a close look at how the bolt threads into these things. So, I don't have an answer for you yet. If you have some insight into how these crossmember bolt nut things work, I'd appreciate reading it.

Thanks.

 

None of it is supposed to spin.