As Honda of America is well aware, the rear trailing arm mounting area on the Element is notorious for rusting away and causing the car to become unsafe for the road. This known issue is recalled under warranty in Canada, however for those of us blessed to live in the United States of America - we are stuck with a rusted and non-roadworthy vehicle.
It is a shame that Honda cannot honor their recall here in the USA.

Needless to say, I am looking to see what solutions some of you have come up with in order to reinforce or repair an already rusted rear trailing arm mounting point.
Are there any shops local to the Chicagoland area that would do this type of frame work? The Honda Element is among the greatest cars ever produced, in my opinion, Made in the USA no less! And I would love to continue to own mine for many years to come. The only problem the car has is this area of rust and deterioration. With a renewed frame, the Element would be near bullet-proof for the next 20+ years. Thank you for any input!

 

Isn't that rear suspension all mounted to the rear sub frame? Just replace the subframe and be done.

Nope never mind. The leading pivot is bolted to the unibody.

Repair probably will exceed the value of the vehicle several times over.

 

I have faith there is someone close to the Chicago area who can fix it for a fair price - I don't think it's that big of a deal for something like a seasoned hot rod shop to knock out no problem. At least I am hoping so. Although price is something to heavily consider, this is a common and seemingly regular problem and ending to most Elements altogether. So if I can lead some Chicagoland Elements to find a solution as well, maybe I can help save more than just my own.

The last comparable Element to mine sold on BAT for $13.5k. Mine is a manual AWD and I have it religiously maintained by the same Honda dealership that sold it originally so I'd like to keep it if possible. Other than that spot at the rear trailing arm mount, knock on wood, the car is mechanically sound for another 100k miles with routine oil changes. I love the Element and it is not easy to find a manual AWD model.

Also, I feel that with a reinforcement of the frame and new steel professionally done, it would add some value to any potential future buyers should I ever consider selling the car.

 

Buy a west coast or southern Element. They are not getting the money they used to.

If that area is rotten there is probably a lot more that is rotting. Probably have to cut pretty far to find sound metal. Chicago is not nice to sheet metal.

It's not even nice to all their steel infrastructure. That was scary driving under some of those buildings with fully rotten steel support structures. Even the traffic lights were rotting.

 

Anybody else? Maybe somebody who can read the post and answer the question? Someone who has had the experience of fixing this area on their Element?

 

There are people who definitely fix them. A guy up in New England does it all the time as a business plus other Element repair work. It depends how bad it is, but I’ve seen some of his jobs where he’s replaced the complete rocker panels with plate steel. It would probably be useful if you took pictures of the affected area.