Hi guys,

I had a few questions about the stock front crossmember. Yesterday I got done installing a GSR 4-1 header. The hobby shop didn't have anything I could use to cut off the metal on the crossmember for the header clearance. All they had was a hacksaw which I used to cut notches in the thin part of the crossmember. Then I bent the lip so that I would get clearance. Today I want to try taking the rest of the metal off using my dremel and some cutting disks. So I was just wonderin will a dremel be enough to cut the thin metal on the front crossmember? The metal only looks about 1/8" thick, and I have about 20 cutting disks I can use.

My second question is about removing the crossmember. Do the front tires have to be off the ground when I remove and install the crossmember? If I have to raise the car up to remove them then I guess I can do that, but can I at least let the front wheels sit on the ground while the crossmember is out of the car?

And my last question about the crossmember, is about alignment. Do I need to get an alignment after I've messed with the crossmember?

TIA

 

I used a reciprocating saw (sawz-all) and it worked just fine, I don't know about a dremel but I doubt it can do the job.

 

I used a hand held grinding wheel and a hammer. I had to repaint it black after I was finished so it didn't look so ghetto.

 

Hmmm, well I guess I'll still give the dremel a try. I've got about 20 of those cutting disks. If that doesn't work I guess I'll have to get a small saw.

Does anyone know about my other front crossmember questions though?

 

If your alignment is off, then yes get an alignment but I doubt it will mess with your alignment. I took mine off with the car jacked up so I could get in there though.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by EL Vap133 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">If your alignment is off, then yes get an alignment but I doubt it will mess with your alignment. I took mine off with the car jacked up so I could get in there though. </TD></TR></TABLE>

My alignment is the same as it was before I started messing with the crossmember. I'l have to drop it again soon anyways to finish up what I started on the crossmember.

 

i rolled my car around for 6 months without a front crossmember. as long as your not driving it u will be fine.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by johnzm &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">i rolled my car around for 6 months without a front crossmember. as long as your not driving it u will be fine. </TD></TR></TABLE>

what? u drove urs without a crossmember? is that safe...but then u said as long as your not driving it

 

Here's a great website for crx stuff. Bending it seems to be the way forward.

http://www.marklamond.co.uk/cr...r.htm

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by greatwhiteshark &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Here's a great website for crx stuff. Bending it seems to be the way forward.

http://www.marklamond.co.uk/cr...r.htm</TD></TR></TABLE>

I actually bent the thin lip the same way he did, I even wena step and started hammering the larger part of the crossmember. I think it was because of my HCP mounts that I had to bang the lip even more. When I have some more free time I will have to se if my dremel will cut through the metal. If not I will have to see if I can hammer that dent down just another 1/4 inch. It clears now, but just barely...I just need a little more clearance and then I'll be happy.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by BlueShadow &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Hmmm, well I guess I'll still give the dremel a try. I've got about 20 of those cutting disks. If that doesn't work I guess I'll have to get a small saw.

Does anyone know about my other front crossmember questions though?</TD></TR></TABLE>

A Dremel will do the job fine. Just keep in mind that you will go through disks like crazy. But the job itself is actually alot easier and neater with a Dremel than with any kind of saw. Also, are those disks the reinforced cutting disks? If not, you will go through them REALLY fast. I wuld use only reinforced disks.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by StorminMatt &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">A Dremel will do the job fine. Just keep in mind that you will go through disks like crazy. But the job itself is actually alot easier and neater with a Dremel than with any kind of saw. Also, are those disks the reinforced cutting disks? If not, you will go through them REALLY fast. I wuld use only reinforced disks.</TD></TR></TABLE>

I am almost certain it is the disks with the criss-cross weave. I bought a container of 20 of them a while back and I ended up not using them. I'd have to check to make sure they are the reinforced disks, if not I can always go and buy a few of them. It's better then buying a sawzall or something else that I might hardly ever use.

 

errr ummm you know that the lip is the part that give stability to the crossmember? cutting it can make your ride unsafe!!

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by daidilus &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">errr ummm you know that the lip is the part that give stability to the crossmember? cutting it can make your ride unsafe!!</TD></TR></TABLE>

I dont plan on doing any road racing just yet, and I wont be doing regular passes down the drag strip until I get a Full Race crossmember. I'm only about 2-3 months away from getting a FR crossmember, between now and then I might do just a few passes down the drag strip. For now I just need to find a way to make my header fit.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by johnzm &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">i rolled my car around for 6 months without a front crossmember. as long as your not driving it u will be fine. </TD></TR></TABLE>

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by honda90si &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
what? u drove urs without a crossmember? is that safe...but then u said as long as your not driving it</TD></TR></TABLE>

he said ROLLED....that means he pushed it around...

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by daidilus &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">errr ummm you know that the lip is the part that give stability to the crossmember? cutting it can make your ride unsafe!!</TD></TR></TABLE>

i've seen alot of chopped up Crossmembers here on HT to fit many different types of header. i haven't seen one post about them crashing or anything like that because of the crossmember failing. as long as your triming out a small section i don't think that it would cause it to fail. In order for me to fit mine i had to cut some of the lip....bang it flat with a hammer and then make an indent with a hammer to clear the rest of the header. no problems yet...car still drives on rails...and im not worried about it at all.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by BlueShadow &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

And my last question about the crossmember, is about alignment. Do I need to get an alignment after I've messed with the crossmember?

TIA</TD></TR></TABLE>

Your alignment on a civic/crx on the front is dealt with toe, unless you have a camber kit, then it's camber/toe. Taking off the front crossmember will not mess with your toe/camber, since the toe is dealt with tie rods, and camber (if you have the kit) is with your struts. So, taking off the front crossmember will not mess your alignment up at all.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by H82BLGL &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

Taking off the front crossmember will not mess with your toe/camber, since the toe is dealt with tie rods, and camber (if you have the kit) is with your struts. So, taking off the front crossmember will not mess your alignment up at all.</TD></TR></TABLE>

This is incorrect actually. The front crossmember controls the fore/aft movement of the front wheels through the radius rods. This is also know as caster. Though the caster is generally not adjustable, by removing your crossmember, you potentially will change the location of the forward end of the radius rod. This will change your caster, and will also affect your toe. The bolts that hold the crossmember in place are a substantial amount smaller than the holes in the crossmember, allowing for slight miss-alignment of the crossmember mounting points.

You should get an alignment after removing the front crossmember.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Jaker &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">This is incorrect actually. The front crossmember controls the fore/aft movement of the front wheels through the radius rods. This is also know as caster. Though the caster is generally not adjustable, by removing your crossmember, you potentially will change the location of the forward end of the radius rod. This will change your caster, and will also affect your toe.</TD></TR></TABLE>

How is this effecting tow ? It doesn't effect toe nor does it effect caster. The radius rods are not gonna pull the steering knuckle forward or back more because the steering knuckle is bolted to the frame and on the bottom is bolted to the lca which never moves forward or back. Toe is controlled by the tie rods, as long as you do not mess with the tie rods you will be fine.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by daidilus &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">errr ummm you know that the lip is the part that give stability to the crossmember? cutting it can make your ride unsafe!!</TD></TR></TABLE>

Are you joking ? The lip does nothing, and if you really think that lip does something, look at all the after market cross members, none of them have lips on them.

About the original question, I use a cutting disc attached to an angle grinder. Also if you are still worried about alignment after wards, use white out to mark where the nuts stops, this will you will not over tight in them. There is no reason to worry about the alignment though. And it does not matter if the car is on jack stands or not.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by 90blackcrx &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
Are you joking ? The lip does nothing, and if you really think that lip does something, look at all the after market cross members, none of them have lips on them.
</TD></TR></TABLE>

I think that if you take away too much of that lip and the main crossmember then the whole crossmember might become more likely to bend. Aftermarket crossmembers dont have a lip, but if a take a small chunk of e4tal out in the middle, the crossmember might "fold" or bend and that missing chunk would act like an elbow.

It's hard to explain...try this take your arm and extend it out to your side palms down., think of this as your crossmember. The inner part of your elbow is the part of the crossmember that you remove material from. If you remove too much material I think that would cause the crossmember to flex when put under stress I think the metal would flex in the same way that your elbow bends.

...or something

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by BlueShadow &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I think that if you take away too much of that lip and the main crossmember then the whole crossmember might become more likely to bend. Aftermarket crossmembers dont have a lip, but if a take a small chunk of e4tal out in the middle, the crossmember might "fold" or bend and that missing chunk would act like an elbow.

It's hard to explain...try this take your arm and extend it out to your side palms down., think of this as your crossmember. The inner part of your elbow is the part of the crossmember that you remove material from. If you remove too much material I think that would cause the crossmember to flex when put under stress I think the metal would flex in the same way that your elbow bends.

...or something</TD></TR></TABLE>

I under stand what your talking about, but your only taking about 1/4 of in inch out of the cross member, its not like your cutting it in half. I have cut 5 cross members and I never had a problem with them bending or causing a saftey hazard.

 

i just use an angle grinder with cutting disks....works ******* great

 

I had to cut mine.

I had a HUGE header i needed clearance for. Anyways, i cut the lip off, right off, no hammering i wanted it to look decent. Then i hammered in the side where it was thin untill it cleared. While after that was all said and done there was a big gaping hole across the bottom. Time to bust out the MIG, welded it sold. Grinded it down, test fit again. Looked real nice.

Dont let people tell you it wont be strong, It wont be if you dont weld up the hole you MUST (highly recommended)

After it was all said and done i painted the crossmember and installed it, looks like it was ment to be.

Pics.





Installed, yes my exhaust needed hardcore re-working, you can see my tools under there. Ground clearance blows



My crossmember is still PLENTY strong, its the only way i jack up the front end of my car, dosent even FLEX.

Goodluck, im assuming you dont have a mig since you dont have a basic grinded.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by 90blackcrx &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I under stand what your talking about, but your only taking about 1/4 of in inch out of the cross member, its not like your cutting it in half. I have cut 5 cross members and I never had a problem with them bending or causing a saftey hazard.</TD></TR></TABLE>

yah, I have only seen one pic where somebody cut away have of the crossmember to make room for their JDM 4-1 header. I'm not talking about just the small lip too, but it looks like at least an inch or so of the main crossmember was gone. But I dont think I would go that far.

HamiltonRex,

you are right about me not having a welder. First I'd have to learn how to use it, then I would have to find stuff to weld. hehehe

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by BlueShadow &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

yah, I have only seen one pic where somebody cut away have of the crossmember to make room for their JDM 4-1 header. </TD></TR></TABLE>

Must be my pic.

2.5" collector

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by LSVTEC 91 Civic &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I used a hand held grinding wheel and a hammer. I had to repaint it black after I was finished so it didn't look so ghetto.</TD></TR></TABLE>

thats what i did!