well, i just found out that my rear crossmember is bent. i am getting my swap done now at a shop, but they ran into problems because of my rear crossmember. by rear crossmember i mean, the one your steering rack is connected to right under the firewall. i knew this car had been in an accident but i thought it was just a fender bender with almost no damage, but i was wrong.

the crossmember is supposed to be level, as in parallel to the ground, but mine is bent downwards. they said they can replace it and everything will be ok.

my question is do you think anything else on my car is severely damaged? i would think no, because my car drives fine. it handles and steers fine. maybe putting a new rear crossmember in will throw off other things?

 

Thats called the subframe, not the crossmember. Front ones bolt right in and out unlike the rear one which is weld in. The only way to tell if anything is going to be messed up is put in the new one and go from there.

 

I had mine replaced when it was cracking, it was a bolt-on job so I would suggest you get yours replaced too.... Check your front suspension to see if anything is bent or broken....

 

-Well the subframe piece is a designed weak point, and is actually made to "give" before the frame. So as long as the damage is not severe, then chances are the frame is OK

-It is actually pretty common to "dent" these things in fender benders as the tranny casing usually flings back and smacks it, denting/cracking this piece. (what happened to a CRX I bought a few years ago that "mysteriously" pulled to the right all the time)

-The piece IS NOT a weild in piece. At least not on EK's and EF's I havent pulled one off any other chasis, but I just replaced an EF one last week. Pick one up at a yard or second hand since the OEM cost is like 4-500$, just be picky about what car you pull off, since like I said this is a "weak point" and is easily damaged in a collision (even rear/side collisions can transfer force to this piece)

-While the piece is off, have a new rack put in, or re-build/re-adjust your original unit to tighten up the steering, this makes a HUGE difference at higher speeds. and is easily done (consult the EF maintence manual for rebuild instructions)

Hope that helps Good luck

 

hey thanks guys. yeah i knew that it wasn't welded on. like i said the car handles and steers fine. it does pull slightly to the right, but nothing big. the shop is giving me a "new" one for 175 + 120 to install so i'm gonna do that. i'll just hope everything goes good from here on out.