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Several years ago, I bolted a tire carrier to my rear crossmember, and withing weeks, it was moving around so much, we laid 3 tack welds across the top of it, and welded it directly to the crossmember.
I pulled my tank, bumper and tire carrier, and decided it was time to repair the crossmember.
Looked like this:
Looking online, replacements are expensive. So, I built my own.
I used 1/4" thick angle iron, 3" X 2". I used a flat piece of iron that was 1/4" thick and 3" wide for a backing plate.
I cut and trimmed the angle iron to size, then drilled 4 holes (3 already in crossmember) across the rear face, and 3 holes on top. I decided to notch the angle iron around the body mounts, so I would not have to redo those.
I painted the 2 pieces of metal then bolted them in place
This shows the backing plate:
After bolting the bumper back into place, I have a total of 8 bolts between the front angle iron, and the backing plate, sandwiching the old crossmember. I have 3 bolts on top of the angle iron bolted to the top of the old crossmember.
I bought some brackets that will mount on the outside part of the rear crossmember, and the bolt directly to the frame. Those have not been installed yet, but are sitting right here.
Without those outside brackets, the rear crossmember does not move.
Thanks to Geebo who helped me out!
BTW, cost was very minimal.
$30 bought me enough angle and flat iron to make 2 of these. About $10 worth of new bolts. So, about $30 total for this.
I pulled my tank, bumper and tire carrier, and decided it was time to repair the crossmember.
Looked like this:
Looking online, replacements are expensive. So, I built my own.
I used 1/4" thick angle iron, 3" X 2". I used a flat piece of iron that was 1/4" thick and 3" wide for a backing plate.
I cut and trimmed the angle iron to size, then drilled 4 holes (3 already in crossmember) across the rear face, and 3 holes on top. I decided to notch the angle iron around the body mounts, so I would not have to redo those.
I painted the 2 pieces of metal then bolted them in place
This shows the backing plate:
After bolting the bumper back into place, I have a total of 8 bolts between the front angle iron, and the backing plate, sandwiching the old crossmember. I have 3 bolts on top of the angle iron bolted to the top of the old crossmember.
I bought some brackets that will mount on the outside part of the rear crossmember, and the bolt directly to the frame. Those have not been installed yet, but are sitting right here.
Without those outside brackets, the rear crossmember does not move.
Thanks to Geebo who helped me out!
BTW, cost was very minimal.
$30 bought me enough angle and flat iron to make 2 of these. About $10 worth of new bolts. So, about $30 total for this.
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