CROSS MEMBER FRAME BROKEN

boloboss said:

What's up guys???
The suspension shop brought to my attention that I had a hairline fracture on my crossmember frame near my gearbox. I have been noticing a light popping sound when I come to complete stop and also when I make a hard cut to the left which is the side where the hairline fracture is. A buddy of mine advised me to install a steering box reinforcement frame plate kit when I weld the frame.
What is y'all's advice about this and what it caused the steering to make a screeching sound when I cut the wheel to the right????

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bucket said:

Just one crack in the crossmember? I'd simply weld it up. But usually when they crack, its a few cracks and a couple busted rivets. ORD makes a really nice engine crossmember to replace it. You can get them for small block, big block and with factory style engine mount provisions or their HD engine mounts.

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Ricko1966 said:

He's talking steering gear box,not transmission crossmember. Threw me for a loop first time I read it also. Drill holes at the ends of the cracks,weld the cracks,install a reinforcement.

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nvrenuf said:

@Ricko1966 @bucket is talking about the engine crossmember, cracks at the outboard end are semi common. In fact, they happened enough that GM rivoted a small reinforcement plate on the driver’s side end on 81+ frames.

The ORD engine crossmember is a really nice part if the OP wants to replace the

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