When that cross member breaks off, you will most likely lose control since this attaches to the tie rods. I guess my way of describing it... your caster will be severely out of alignment as there is nothing holding it. Replace as soon as you can.

 

If that breaks apart you'll lose all control best case you get stranded on the side of the road. Car should be parked until repaired.

 

I had the same scenario a few years ago. Parked it, and bought a decent rear subframe from a scrap yard and got it back on the road. Note the through bolts at the center, and at each hub, which hold the lateral control arms, will likely be very rusted into place and may require cutting to remove. If so, you can buy new ones for re-assy.

 

Yeah, that's dangerous. Rusted area is already splitting ALONG the frame -> to the body mount: failure is not "if", but "when".

 

Thanks, guys. You scared me into buying one. I got one where the guy painted it and everything. More money than a junkyard but I've been working so much recently I just said the hell with it and bought the best looking one. Here's what he told me?

"they come from NC. These crossmembers have 0 rust before we blast and recoat them.....Im sorry but the price is rock bottom, we usually sell these for $199.00, but we have them discounted this month. We have more than $125 in them by time they are shipped. They are not just spray painted. These are blasted and then 3 stages of powder are baked on to the frame. Our profit margin is very low on this item. Though we sell a lot of them.....
The picture is actually an older picture, we will be updating our pics soon. The picture does not do the justice on what you will actually receive....The item pictured is just 3 stages of enamel. We have upgraded our coatings to ensure the crossmembers will withstand harsh winter environments....One of our reviews from our customers even stated that we paint our frames better than the manufacturer!"

 

Well, here it is. The Ebay guy I bought it from for $180 said he sandblasted and repainted and baked the new subframe (K-frame) and that it's "better than factory." Not truel: when you scrape it against the swaybar, etc, the coating comes right off. Still, no complaints vs getting one at the junkyard. If anyone else does this job note that the extra hole you see offset to the right of center in the photo is the DRIVER'S side of the car. It can pretty much go in anyway but the "arms" are longer in one direction.

Rusted bolts, I had to grind stuff away, replace bolts, etc. I replaced the lateral links which stopped the clunking (Yay!) but took forever because they were seized on. And the front bolt of that little plate thing that holds the sway bar broke. I ended up running a 5" bolt down from under the back seat. I didn't tighten tight and locked 2 nuts at the bottom against each other.

If I did this again today it would be a 2 hour job. Due to the rust it was 12 hours!

 

Your original subframe rusted such that I'd recommend some serious internal rustproofing. I'm just in the process of doing this on our Avalons, which have good subframes but are showing rust along the peripheral seams. I had to throw away a really good Taurus at 86k because I didn't know to rustproof the Taurus subframe, so I spend more time than normal people, surveying my subframes.

Pick your favorite spray can(s) of rustproofing and spray the interior.

Mine right now is Fluid Film. It's lanolin based and for a couple of days, it smells kind of wet-sheepish, wet-dog-ish for those with no farm experience. Managed to get some on the tailpipe and was reminded of roast lamb the next time I drove the car.

I bought a kit from Amazon that includes a 2-foot long extension tube with 360-degree spray head: https://www.amazon.com/Fluid-Film-E...ndpZGdldE5hbWU9c3BfYXRmJmFjdGlvbj1jbGlja1JlZGlyZWN0JmRvTm90TG9nQ2xpY2s9dHJ1ZQ==

I'll be using the 4 drain holes to maneuver the wand around internally -- I've already sprayed Fluid Film on the exterior.

Point to watch: the extension wand goes through the spray can quickly -- in other words, it sprays a lot of rustproofing. You might need a whole can to do just the subframe. I had other spots on the Avalons that wanted attention, so I went with the 3 cans + wand kit. You can buy a wand separately for other brands of canned rustproofing, or if you have a compressor, buy a rustrproofing spray head.

Positive note: the cans are fairly high pressure, so it's nice that the thin red extension tubes actually stay in the Fluid Film cans, even when you get the extension tangled up in under-car bits and assemblies. The wand comes rolled into a tiny baggie and will have to be straightened. I used a hairdryer.

 

Holy crap. My Camrys are also Northern cars (NJ)... would I need to put the car on a lift to see the subframe?

 

You should be able to view it by just sticking your head under the rear of the vehicle. I suggest just trying to get a car wash every post blizzard at not too low below freezing temperatures.

 

Nope. Visible under the car while lying on the ground at the rear.

 

I follow this guy on YouTube. He repairs all sorts of things. Fun guy to watch. He covers the bottom of his vehicles with bar and chain oil. Check out his video.

Give his channel a sub!

 

Covering the bottom of a vehicle with used oil will help to reduce corrosion, but turning used oil (which contains carcinogens, heavy metals and so on) into an aerosol is also a very effective cancer and heavy metal delivery device to yourself (lungs, and by skin contact), and via the ground around your spray area, into your family/pets.

There are dedicated undercoating materials like Fluid Film (or BoeShield, or a few others, which are lanolin based, and remain soft), and Amsoil Heavy Duty Metal Protectant (a heavier, wax like substance which dries to a semi-rigid, non-tacky surface), or heavier still products like body wax, or Waxoyl, or others similar, which are like the factory uses in high corrosion areas of the body (bottom of the doors, around the hinges, etc.).

None of these are expensive, or difficult to apply. They all work better than used oil and all are WAY safer to you and those you love than using used oil.


Norm

 

Covering the bottom of a vehicle with used oil will help to reduce corrosion, but turning used oil (which contains carcinogens, heavy metals and so on) into an aerosol is also a very effective cancer and heavy metal delivery device to yourself (lungs, and by skin contact), and via the ground around your spray area, into your family/pets.

There are dedicated undercoating materials like Fluid Film (or BoeShield, or a few others, which are lanolin based, and remain soft), and Amsoil Heavy Duty Metal Protectant (a heavier, wax like substance which dries to a semi-rigid, non-tacky surface), or heavier still products like body wax, or Waxoyl, or others similar, which are like the factory uses in high corrosion areas of the body (bottom of the doors, around the hinges, etc.).

None of these are expensive, or difficult to apply. They all work better than used oil and all are WAY safer to you and those you love than using used oil.


Norm

I don't believe I mentioned used oil anywhere. Please reread.

 

New oil contains carcinogens too.