Crossmember Reinstall

[hokeymcf]

well, it seems like i really messed up now...
yesterday i decided to replace all of the engine mounts, starting with the rear one. i unbolted the sway bar, the bracket that holds onto the ball joint for the control arm, the four main bolts, and all the bolt for that piece of metal that runs perpendicular to the crossmember. the car's up on jack stands in the front, the wheels are off, and because my tranny pan was already dented once and pushed back out, i got paranoid and jacked up the engine where it meets up to the transmission. i've also got the crossmember supported by a scissor jack.
i've already got the new front and rear mount installed, but only the rear one is totally bolted in, and with it like that, i can only put two of the bolts into the crossmember. all of the others are out of alignment.

am i doing something wrong? do the bolts go in in any specific order?

[Shuttlepod One]

Been there. There is a correct order to reinstalling everything. If you try to force the cross member up onto the center bolts you risk damaging the threads on those bolts. The following is from memory. I apologize in advance for any errors.

I loosened or disconnected everything related to the x-member: lower rear mount, c-arms, sways, all the bolts to the x-member, the support brace that runs front to back under the engine.

Raise the x-member up into place and start the center bolts, all of them. Try to either have the rear engine mount on the x-member when you do this, or wiggle it up into place after you start the lower x-member bolts. (tight fit) Getting the engine mount to bolt through the engine was a huge hassle for me, but I got it with a bigass screwdriver, pulled it into line and slid the bolt through.

Once you get that work on the outer bolts, getting them started going back and forth, from side to side. You have to do get the sway bar up there as well since it's bushing support braces are part of what holds the x-member's corners up.

At this point get the c-arms back in place, connect them to the ball joints, put your axles back in the spindle, get the spindles connected to the struts, etc etc depending on how far you went.

Now tighten everything to spec. Put the car on it's wheels and recheck every bolt. This will be tough but it's important. 'Missing' a bolt or nit tightening it enough can cause you to loose bolts as you drive. They are replaceable but not something that's fun to deal with. BLUE THREADLOCKER is a nice addition to any bolt you put back in and helps keep anything from coming loose.

Test drive the car for a bit to ensure you don't have to redo anything or replace any more parts. Be careful not to over torque anything, especially bolts that run through the chassis. Retapping those is not something you want to deal with. Once you are confident, take it for an alignment and hope you are done fixing for a bit

Tip: Many shops guarantee their alignments for 3000 miles or so. If you redo anything to do with the suspension, just don't tell them and bring it back with a mysterious 'out of alignment' complaint.

[hokeymcf]

Originally Posted by Shuttlepod One

Been there. There is a correct order to reinstalling everything. If you try to force the cross member up onto the center bolts you risk damaging the threads on those bolts. The following is from memory. I apologize in advance for any errors.

I loosened or disconnected everything related to the x-member: lower rear mount, c-arms, sways, all the bolts to the x-member, the support brace that runs front to back under the engine.

Raise the x-member up into place and start the center bolts, all of them. Try to either have the rear engine mount on the x-member when you do this, or wiggle it up into place after you start the lower x-member bolts. (tight fit) Getting the engine mount to bolt through the engine was a huge hassle for me, but I got it with a bigass screwdriver, pulled it into line and slid the bolt through.

Once you get that work on the outer bolts, getting them started going back and forth, from side to side. You have to do get the sway bar up there as well since it's bushing support braces are part of what holds the x-member's corners up.

At this point get the c-arms back in place, connect them to the ball joints, put your axles back in the spindle, get the spindles connected to the struts, etc etc depending on how far you went.

Now tighten everything to spec. Put the car on it's wheels and recheck every bolt. This will be tough but it's important. 'Missing' a bolt or nit tightening it enough can cause you to loose bolts as you drive. They are replaceable but not something that's fun to deal with. BLUE THREADLOCKER is a nice addition to any bolt you put back in and helps keep anything from coming loose.

Test drive the car for a bit to ensure you don't have to redo anything or replace any more parts. Be careful not to over torque anything, especially bolts that run through the chassis. Retapping those is not something you want to deal with. Once you are confident, take it for an alignment and hope you are done fixing for a bit

Tip: Many shops guarantee their alignments for 3000 miles or so. If you redo anything to do with the suspension, just don't tell them and bring it back with a mysterious 'out of alignment' complaint.

lol, it's a little late, but thanks for the info anyway.
i was up working on it till around 8p.m., and somehow, everything goes a little bit better the next day. i got everything hooked back up except for two of the main crossmember bolts. i ended up having to buy new bolts and to have a shop retap the anchor points on the chassis because i got frustrated and messed them up. i actually drove it around without those two bolts screwed in for about two weeks before i got the money to fix them.

it's all good now though. the lame thing about the whole experience, is that the new mount didn't even fit right (not oem), and i had to put the old one back in.

[Shuttlepod One]

Oops, I neglected to check the date of your post. I got my mounts form the local O'Rielly and all fit perfect. Very inexpensive as well.

[hokeymcf]

Originally Posted by Shuttlepod One

Oops, I neglected to check the date of your post. I got my mounts form the local O'Rielly and all fit perfect. Very inexpensive as well.

lucky. i got mine from rockauto. how long have you had yours? have they held up well?

[Shuttlepod One]

I've had mine since July of 2011. They are holding up great. I never use RockAuto. Their website design is pure hell, as well as their parts drill down. I prefer www.1aauto.com for online purchases. For local parts I bounce between the Autozone (brakes, cleaners, fluids, batteries), O'Rielly (everything else), and NAPA (anything I can't find at the other two stores, mainly don't shop their due to higher prices).

[hokeymcf]

Originally Posted by Shuttlepod One

I've had mine since July of 2011. They are holding up great. I never use RockAuto. Their website design is pure hell, as well as their parts drill down. I prefer www.1aauto.com for online purchases. For local parts I bounce between the Autozone (brakes, cleaners, fluids, batteries), O'Rielly (everything else), and NAPA (anything I can't find at the other two stores, mainly don't shop their due to higher prices).

thanks, i'll keep those places in mind.