help with crossmember

[pr3pg4lyfe]

so my dumb ass took the 2 bolts off the drivers side crossmember and the bolts for the motor mounts to get the exhaust in(ebay). so anyway i get everything back together except the crossmember. i try to get the bolts in the get half way in smooth then it just keeps turning. so i took it out used a punch to aline the holes tried again same thing. keeps turning once it gets half way in. so i figured get it half way in use a rubber mallet hit it a cupple times and try again. so thats what i did when i hit it with the mallet after being half way in it slid all the way in when i hit it with the mallet.

question is what do i do now?? the driverside crossmember just hangs there.

[HATCHing]

I hope you did not damage the threads inside the hole yet.
Pull the two bolts out and see what it look like... if the thread on the two bolts is still good then try putting it back on by hand then tighten to torque spec by tool.

[pr3pg4lyfe]

i tried that but the bolt gets in about half way and then it just keeps spinning. then when i used the mallet on it it went all the way in.

[HATCHing]

i tried that but the bolt gets in about half way and then it just keeps spinning. then when i used the mallet on it it went all the way in.

Did you make sure it went in the hole... I mean did it catch on the thread in the car frame? The cross member is a big piece but the long bolts should go straight thru to the frame of the car.

[Tishock]

Loosen the passenger bolts to allow a little bit of play and loosen or unbolt the motor mount bolt. The front beam may not be sitting flush to the frame to allow the bolts to engage the threads.

If this still doesnt work, then you may have stripped the threads on the frame.

[pr3pg4lyfe]

yea it went thru the crossmember then it stoped half way. then i turned it by hand nd it kept turning. then i tryed using the ratchet it kept turning that when i hit it with the mallet nd it went all the way thru. the bolt head was at the crossmember. then the bolt still rotated freely

[pr3pg4lyfe]

does this mean I'm fucked now? :/ how can I fix this??

[pr3pg4lyfe]

does this mean I'm fucked now? :/ how can I fix this??

[GreenMadness]

^ with out us seeing it we cant confirm that,

but assuming so, you may be in some trouble. the problem being that the cross member is under load especially with the car on jacks, you sould remove all the bolts in a cross type pattern to eliminate one sides bolts from having force on the threads as you loosen them.

when putting it back on you will need to use punches or some other alignment tool to massage the crossmember into place, as it wont go easy, so by only taking off one side then trying to bolt it back on by using the bolt threads as alignment pins you could have easily striped the threads.

its highly uncommon but you could have stripped the bolt, by maybe trying to thread into the sheet metal of the car rather than the nut, if that is the case inspect the bolt if any threads are smashed replace bolt, again this is highly unlikely, as honda uses hard bolts.

like others mentioned pull the crossmember and inspect the bolt holes with light and see if the threads look damaged, if not too bad, you may be able to get a tap at a local hardware store, or mcmastercarr and try to chase the thread, followed by some loctite.
and hope you have more tools and knowledge at your side the next time you remove the cross member(cutting into frame, removing nut and welding new one in, then patching frame)

on the same note as above, the threads may be fine and the weld holding the nut could have broke, especially if it took alot of force to thread the bolt or out, that takes you right to cutting and welding, so lets hope thats not the case... that will typically happen during removal not installation, as a rusty bolt puts enough torque into the nut to snap the welds

[dannyd]

I know what's going on here..... the nuts welds are gone, these nuts are welded on both crossmembers front and rear, and the worst part is that they are inside the crossmember. The bolts are just gonna keep spinning.

You'll be better off going to the junkyard and getting another one.

[kellogg_racing_]

He said he checked the bolts, they're fine. The receiving threads are stripped. If goes half way, then turns by hand, then when he forced it through it still turned freely: nut welds off. Disagree with junkyard. I recently had to replace my bent crossmember. Look in the yellow pages for a used auto parts dealer. They take the part off the donor car for you, still sell it for cheap (i got my $750 Honda Dealer quoted subframe for $100) and most have a 30 day warranty if you get it home and it doesn't line up or is bent. Think this would be your best route.

[dannyd]

He said he checked the bolts, they're fine. The receiving threads are stripped. If goes half way, then turns by hand, then when he forced it through it still turned freely: nut welds off. Disagree with junkyard. I recently had to replace my bent crossmember. Look in the yellow pages for a used auto parts dealer. They take the part off the donor car for you, still sell it for cheap (i got my $750 Honda Dealer quoted subframe for $100) and most have a 30 day warranty if you get it home and it doesn't line up or is bent. Think this would be your best route.

Why not the junkyard??? My friend paid about $25 for the part...... like I said the nuts are in place but the welds are gone due to vibration and using impact gun on them.....

[pr3pg4lyfe]

Why not the junkyard??? My friend paid about $25 for the part...... like I said the nuts are in place but the welds are gone due to vibration and using impact gun on them.....

didnt use power tools i used hand tools since im in my backyard. i used a breakerbar and ratchet and some wrenches. ill check on my next day off. thanks guys

[kellogg_racing_]

Why not the junkyard??? My friend paid about $25 for the part...... like I said the nuts are in place but the welds are gone due to vibration and using impact gun on them.....

Because if it's bent you're stuck with a part, then you gotta go spend a whole day finding another donor car and pulling the subframe off. And you still lost $25 and still have no guarantee the next one will be straight.

[pr3pg4lyfe]

bump cuz i still have this problem.