Subframe Connector Issues...

[SHODOGG]

Well, about 5 years ago or so, I purchased a nice set of SFC's and had them installed right away by a reputable local shop. It appeared, on the front end, that they had done a great job and all was well... and it was for quite a while. More recently, though, a couple of significant problems have presented themselves and I'm left not having a clue how to proceed. First, I completely forgot to spray ANY sort of coating onto the SFC's before install (no paint or powdercoating at all). I did, about a year after the install, spray some hi-temp black paint on the SFC's, but they had already gone through 1 harsh chicago winter. After selling my car to the next owner (and designer of the SFC's that I bought), he noticed that the SFC's may not have been installed correctly (which I can't verify, looking at them they look to be installed pefrectly). Now, after buying my car back, I've had to jack it up a few times (it is, afterall, a SHO lol) and when doing so, I've always jacked it up at some point on the SFC's. Now when jacking up the car, you can hear the metal making noise as if it's compressing or cracking while the car is going up. I guess that the SFCs are starting to succumb to the rust that comes with being a Midwest car. Can these SFC's be removed, years after they've been welded on??? What can I do???

 

[ty91sho]

could you not bring it back to the welding shop or where ever you had them put on and see what they think is the problem or if they could take them off? you can always cut and grind them off.

 

[NJSHO]

Probably the welds are rusting. If you do get it redone, Id coat them in POR15.

 

[Bizzy]

Probably the welds are rusting. If you do get it redone, Id coat them in POR15.

That or the body is probably rusting around where it's welded on and is caving in (the floorboard) as pressure is being applied. The only way I know of to get them off is to have them cut/ground off as ty91sho mentioned. Whoever removes them will have to pay close attention to what they're doing when they get close to the underside of the car.

 

[SHODOGG]

nah its definitely not the body of the car. Towards the front end, there is a part where the SFC all but collapsed, it's definitely just the SFC's. The rest of the underbody is in very good shape, esp. considering its mainly a midwest car. I'm gonna have to see if I can have them taken off and put some new ones on.

 

[K-Dawg]

If they are F-ed, chop em off and start over.

 

[NWGRN94MTX]

If they are F-ed, chop em off and start over.

X-2 :wave:

 

[SHOCH]

Spend the money on good beer, come over when it's nice. I've got a grinder and a jack. I'll call Neno, he likes beer too I think.

 

[HotRodKid]

the welds will not rust through anytime before the steel around them does, so its not a problem of rotted out welds

the seam on the tube could be cracked,
the tube next to the weld cound be cracked,
the unibody could be cracked at the subframe weld

next time cap the ends of the subframe, but add some form of Desiccant to the inside of the subframe before you cap the second end, and make sure the welds are pinhole free, now the inside wont rust

as for the rail itself, wledable primer around the welds, then por15 the entire connector after its on .... and make sure the metal is nie and clean before hand

and yes, the connectors can be removed, but leave a tiny tiny bit of the old welds in place, better to have to weld through some paper thin old weld then to try to add material back to the unibody