for my subframe. Last night I noticed a crack about 3/8" in length coming from the top bolt on the drivers side of my sway bar bracket. Its a SkunkWorks bar with a mounting kit which is supposed to distribute the load and prevent this problem. I guess 3 years of hard autocrossing finally took its toll; it probably didn't help that I was not lubing the bushings regularly...

Anyhow, I did a search and found one post on this subject and in that post one person described how they fixed their subframe. Unfortunately this solution involved replacing the subframe and beefing it up. I'm looking for a solution to repair this subframe and strengthening it. Anyone have experience with this want to shed some light on it for me? What do I need to do, get, etc...

Thanks,

Mike

 

hi. sorry to hear about your troubles...

i am sure that a competent welder/fabricator could repair it. some well placed 14 ga or 11 ga steel sheet welded properly (tig or mig) should facilitate a good fix/strengthen operation....

if not, i happen to have a good front subframe from a 94 Teg down in my basement; I might be persuaded to part with it???...

good luck

todd

ps make sure that the fabricator/welder guy you use doesn't impart too much heat to the localized area; that can make the metal brittle and weaken it. you need enough heat to melt the metal and make the joint, but not too much. i've seen folks blow right through when trying to weld thinner stuff without enough experience.....

 

after you get it fixed, get the comptech sway bar/tie bar combo. you will not have this problem again.



in red:
http://solar.innercite.com/comptech/140100r.html

in silver:
http://solar.innercite.com/comptech/140100.html

the list price is 399, but you can get it cheaper(~275 or 300 shipped if you look)

later

 

Unfortunately, does not surprise me with the skunkworks rear swaybar. I believe a few folks just had their subframe welded back with a plate or two overtop of the rip. That's if damage is small and localized, which hopefully yours is.

I agree though, if you can, get a better kit after you have the rip fixed. The skunk bar and support kit they were coming with were still not that great.

i would tell you to check integra.vtec.net/geeser, but the mods took that page down and combined it with http://www.vtec.net. It had good pics and a description of what was done to cure this exact problem.

 

I'm sorry to hear about the subframe crack.

 

Are you talking about front or rear? The rears are easy to fix. This would be the first I have heard about issues up front.

SPiFF, goes to check his front subframe.

 

no its the rear...sorry to freak you out.

I'm just looking for experiences in repairing the REAR subframe.

Thanks,

Mike

 

Before I knew him, my boss had to fix a subframe tearout on a Civic a couple years ago. I believe he just welded a thick piece of metal plate to the subframe and mounted the swaybar to that.

 

Pressure = Force/Area

 

hi. todd here again.

the rear is easier to fix. just take it to a good welder....

i only have the front subframe at my place. you don't need a new rear piece; just have it welded up well.

good luck with it!

 

Maybe this is an Ignorant question, but I wonder if welding the subrame to fix it will make it more brittle? I had some stress cracks in a pick up frame welded once, and it just made things worse. The welder was good and expierienced at his trade, and warned me of what would happen, but I chose not to listen.

 

That depends on how you fix it. From the sounds of it, you just welded up the crack. If you do that, you're still likely to get cracks through the welded area since you've just dumped a bunch of heat-induced stress onto something that already has a crack to propagate from. What most of us seem to want to do with the subframe is weld a bigass piece of metal to it. The swaybar mounts will go through this thick piece of metal that has no cracks in it to propagate from. The welded areas will be more brittle where the plate is joined to the subframe, however, the load of the swaybar will be distributed throughout a much larger area and the rest of the stress on the subframe isn't as localized.

 

Sorry to hear about your frame. That sig has some impressive numbers in it btw.

Anyone have subframe damage w/ an r bar and bsq kit??? I have to say destroying the subframe is a nightmare I dont want to face.