Car subframe
Printed From: Unofficial Allis
Category: Other Topics
Forum Name: Shops, Barns, Varmints, and Trucks
Forum Description: anything you want to talk about except politics
URL: https://www.allischalmers.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=170878
Printed Date: 11 Aug 2025 at 9:28am
Software Version: Web Wiz Forums 11.10 - http://www.webwizforums.com
Topic: Car subframe
Posted By: bobkyllo
Subject: Car subframe
Date Posted: 06 May 2020 at 7:57pm
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I had a Hyundai Santa Fe come in on the hook the other day. front wheel fell off. I got to looking at it and noticed the engine cradle/sub frame was rotted out where the lower a arm mounts. I talked to the customer and they don't want to mess with it. They offered it to me. My question is... Can I suspend the motor and trans and remove the cradle? Or will I have to remove everything in one piece then swap the good parts (engine, trans, etc) from the bad frame to the good frame? I know the suspension will have to be disconnected. But thinking about this there is very little hooked to the subframe. Probably 4 motor trans mounts, rack, lower a arms. Anyone else done this or think that it'll work? I've got a engine cradle meant for holding the motor. It's got a bar that goes from strut to strut and then a leg that comes forward to the radiator. |
Replies:
Posted By: Hubert (Ga)engine7
Date Posted: 06 May 2020 at 8:53pm
The front wheel fell off???  How old is this vehicle? Don't know squat about replacing the sub frame but is this the vehicle that was on the news some months back for having bad underbody rust problems apparently from being exposed to the elements while being shipped across the pond? ------------- Just an old country boy saved by the grace of God. |
Posted By: steve(ill)
Date Posted: 06 May 2020 at 9:19pm
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WE had a Taurus several years ago... transmission crapped out... took to a rebuilder.. He took off the hood and had a bar that went from fender to fender and braced on top of the spring/ strut mounts... He "hung" the motor off of that, then dropped the subframe and transmission out the bottom .............. something like that with a box beam between the fenders holding the motor up might work. ------------- Like them all, but love the "B"s. |
Posted By: Hoss
Date Posted: 06 May 2020 at 9:21pm
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Your cradle will hold the powertrain while you swap out the frame. That's exactly what it's for, holding engine/trans while you drop the cradle/frame and then the transmission. Just make sure you chain it to something solid on the powertrain and at least two places three works best. ------------- I got both ends meetin in the middle but I can't seem to get em tied. |
Posted By: shameless dude
Date Posted: 06 May 2020 at 11:46pm
| is the car worth all that work and expense? prolly be better to pull the good parts and sell them off |
Posted By: chaskaduo
Date Posted: 07 May 2020 at 9:31am
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Or decline it. Probably more rot elsewhere like rear suspension, and top of the strut mounting areas. ------------- 1938 B, 79 Dynamark 11/36 6spd, 95 Weed-Eater 16hp, 2010 Bolens 14hp |
Posted By: Dakota Dave
Date Posted: 07 May 2020 at 3:25pm
| Yes it is possable the Chevy dust buster vans were very bad at the K cradle rusting out . You could hold the engine and transmission up with the support frame and swap out the K cradle. Still had to remove the struts but he A Arms came off with the cradle. The factory support structure set across the top of the shock towers and had a couple links that attached to the engine lifting points. I've swapped out a couple transmitions using a 6x6 with 6x6 blocks screwed to each end and a 1500 lb ratchet strap. It really needs to be fairly high off the ground. 3 ft high jack stands under the jacking points worked well. It can be done in one day. Air impact was the only power tool used. |
Posted By: jaybmiller
Date Posted: 07 May 2020 at 3:32pm
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yeesh , sounds like a HUGE 'make work project - money pit - time waster' to me. Unless you really,really NEED that vehicle pass.. heck, scrap up here is 2.4 CENTS per pound...car can't get you much these days !! While the job is 'technically' possible, it's the 'addons'... needs brkes, hoses, fuel pump, window don't go up( it just went down) ,...oh yeah, rains comin.... yeesh, I passed on hauling a load of compost for a neighbour...not worth my time...getting less of that every day.... ------------- 3 D-14s,A-C forklift, B-112 Kubota BX23S lil' TOOT( The Other Orange Tractor) Never burn your bridges, unless you can walk on water |
Posted By: SteveM C/IL
Date Posted: 08 May 2020 at 9:54am
| Sounds like you got the "I can fix this!" gene.....it's a curse,let me tell ya. |
Posted By: GARY(OH/IN)
Date Posted: 09 May 2020 at 12:25am
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Junk that thing. Former friends of ours bought a new Elantra a few years ago and asked the wife and I to go on about a 200 mile road trip. That brand new piece of crap beat us to death all the way there and back while he bragged about getting 43 mpg. That's what he claimed anyway. |
Posted By: HD6GTOM
Date Posted: 09 May 2020 at 7:24am
| I bought a Toyota for the grandson 4 or 5 years ago. His dad was in Afaganastan at the time. It had the same problem. Got a used subframe from California. Bolted it on and then spent hundreds of dollars attempting to keep that piece of crap running. Wiring harness shorted out and we junked it. Then I made the mistake of buying him a Honda. Again his dad was back in Afaganastan. Replaced the rear subframe on it. And then the NAPA store became his home away from home buying parts for that hunk of junk. Send it to the scrappers and don't look back. |
Posted By: Brian Jasper co. Ia
Date Posted: 09 May 2020 at 9:09pm
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My opinion is you're looking to sign yourself up for migraines. If you patch it back together and sell it, you can just about guarantee that unless you sell it to someone a long way away, every little problem that comes up the buyer will want you to warranty. Send it to the junkyard or part it out... ------------- "Any man who thinks he can be happy and prosperous by letting the government take care of him better take a closer look at the American Indian." Henry Ford |
Posted By: ac fleet
Date Posted: 10 May 2020 at 1:40pm
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Junk it and never look back! ---save yourself a lot of liability.---fix and sell is signing your death warrant! ---it will come back to haunt you. ------------- http://machinebuildersnetwork.com/ |
Posted By: DMiller
Date Posted: 10 May 2020 at 2:34pm
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If try to keep it remember the rust that killed it this time is still working it. |