Chrome moly crossmember :)
 

Just purchased this bad boy :)

The OEM crossmember, and the 2 beams that go backwards will be gone, and this in it's place. Should clear up a lot of space under there because my downpipe is already vibrating against the stock piece. Since the beams going back will be gone, he metioned it may affect cornering stability slightly, but I don't mind as I'm not too brave when it comes to cornering anyway, and I've built this car more for straight line speed.

This is a pic from the guy who made it, it should be shipping out sometime this week. Will probably powder coat it black, and then throw it in :)

http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i1...k/pix23392.jpg

Re: Chrome moly crossmember :)
 

I too was thinking about this, as john would make me one..but I'm not sure I'd wanna do away with the two bars leading back. I'd think that's some structural support you'd be missing..

Re: Chrome moly crossmember :)
 

yum. Weight reduction time, eh?

Re: Chrome moly crossmember :)
 

Speaking of weight, you have a scale near by you can weigh the two?


I'd want something to replace the stock cross members if it were me, but I'm into corners way more than straightline. Even in a straight line I'd want something in it's place though....

Re: Chrome moly crossmember :)
 

Thats pretty cool, I'd pick one up too if I had a 1g. Can't imagine it being any worse than me taking out my front sway bar cornering wise, and like you I built my car for straights and it doesn't bother me in the slightest!

I wanna see this thing hitting mid/low tens this year!

Re: Chrome moly crossmember :)
 

I have been running with only 1 of those front/back braces for the past 4 years. But yeah I actually thought about it for a couple months before finally deciding to get it, so trust me I thought about it long and hard.

One of my biggest concerns was that I'll now have a solid front mount, so I'm concerned about added vibration. But I'm already running Prothane inserts, so hopefully it's not much worse than that. If it is, I may look at getting someone to modify it someday to accept the prothane inserts.

My main goal with it though was to lose some weight, and free up some space under there. So it'll do well at that I think.

Re: Chrome moly crossmember :)
 

I have made a few of these. I would say weight savings are around 10-15 lbs if you retained the lower front/rear braces. The ones I made had flat flanges that the stock front to back pieces would bolt up to. The part looks nice and will free up some room for sure.

~John

Re: Chrome moly crossmember :)
 

was that from that guy on tuners?

Re: Chrome moly crossmember :)
 

I got it off Paul Volk over on the Link forums. He may have them up on Tuners as well, but not sure as I don't spend a lot of time on those forums.

He said that it should be about 20lbs wieght loss since all 3 braces are no longer used.

Re: Chrome moly crossmember :)
 

damn. If I knew I would have had you make me one rather than this guy. Oh well, this looks like it's a decently built piece, and his welds look really nice although I have no clue when it comes to inspecting welds haha.

Re: Chrome moly crossmember :)
 

He sells them on tuners as well, for those of you not on link forums.

Re: Chrome moly crossmember :)
 

http://www.dsmstyle.com/photopost/data/513/P6170429.JPG


:)

I took lots of pics. It is a pretty easy install, but I'll be making a little How To article just for the fun of it anyway.

Re: Chrome moly crossmember :)
 

Looks nice, will have to check out closer.

Re: Chrome moly crossmember :)
 

Looks nice man, but I can't believe you guys delete the front-to-rear crossmembers, those stiffen up the engine bay quite a bit! Whatever works though I guess, def shaved off some weight there.

Re: Chrome moly crossmember :)
 

How much are they?

Re: Chrome moly crossmember :)
 

Around $165.

Re: Chrome moly crossmember :)
 

I want one.

Re: Chrome moly crossmember :)
 

Looks like it would make one less spot for coolant to puddle when draining the radiator, looks good man!

Re: Chrome moly crossmember :)
 

Oh yeah, well I can't believe you have a dual exhaust on a 4-banger ya ricer. :D


Out with the old (on the right) and in with the new (on the left). Wish I had a scale I could weight all the old crap to see how much weight savings there was.

http://www.mitsustyle.com/photopost/...m/P6170421.JPG


I'm also surprised nobody has mentioned my awesome O2 sensor, haha.

Re: Chrome moly crossmember :)
 

WOW dude, I have that same one on my car. LOL (really... i do)

Re: Chrome moly crossmember :)
 

Just a little Install "how-to":



Here's a crappy picture of it when I received it in the mail.
http://www.dsmstyle.com/photopost/data/513/P5290409.JPG

I decided that I wanted to give it a coat of something just to protect the metal against the elements. I grabbed some spare rattle can primer and black spray paint from my cabinet and gave it a quick couple coats of paint. Nothing professional here as it's underneath the car and fairly unseen anyway. So spray paint it was!
http://www.dsmstyle.com/photopost/data/513/P6170410.JPG

She's now ready to go on!

The install is pretty simple and straight forward, but I took some pics of the install anyway.

There are 3 beams that have to come off. First remove the 2 front to back ones. You'll need a 17mm and a 14mm wrench for the bolts:
http://www.mitsustyle.com/photopost/...m/P6170414.JPG


Next you want to support the engine somehow so that it doesn't drop when you remove the 3rd beam which is attached to the front motor mount. Here's my professional grade motor holder upper :) :
http://www.mitsustyle.com/photopost/...m/P6170415.JPG


Next, remove the 2 17mm bolts that hold that crossmember to the chassis. Keep in mind when you do this, the motor may drop slightly, which is why we put some sort of support under it in the step above:
http://www.mitsustyle.com/photopost/...m/P6170420.JPG
http://www.mitsustyle.com/photopost/...m/P6170419.JPG


Next you will remove the 14mm nut & bolt from the front motor mount:
http://www.mitsustyle.com/photopost/...m/P6170416.JPG


You've now removed the 3 stock beams. Here you can see, out with the old (on the right) and in with the (new on the left)!!! :) Should save a little bit of weight!
http://www.mitsustyle.com/photopost/...m/P6170421.JPG


Install of the new beam is pretty much the opposite as the removal of that last crossmember you just took off. I simply held it up, used a mallet to knock the new solid front motor mount up into the bracket, and then stick the bolt through the front motor mount just to hold the new crossmember in place:
http://www.mitsustyle.com/photopost/...m/P6170422.JPG
http://www.mitsustyle.com/photopost/...m/P6170425.JPG
http://www.mitsustyle.com/photopost/...m/P6170426.JPG


Next, install the two 17mm nuts on the ends. Then install the nut on the front motor mount bolt and tighten everything up, torqued to spec (with an impact gun if you're like me :) )
http://www.mitsustyle.com/photopost/...m/P6170429.JPG


And you're done. Here's some pics of the clearance I have under there now. Downpipe is nowhere near the crossmember, and everything is just much more open now, which should make working on things a whole lot easier. Pretty much exactly what I was hoping for.

http://www.mitsustyle.com/photopost/...m/P6170439.JPG
http://www.mitsustyle.com/photopost/...m/P6170433.JPG
(pay no attention to the O2 sensor, I run constant open loop and it's just plugging the hole)
http://www.mitsustyle.com/photopost/...m/P6170440.JPG
http://www.mitsustyle.com/photopost/...m/P6170429.JPG
http://www.mitsustyle.com/photopost/...m/P6170437.JPG
http://www.mitsustyle.com/photopost/...m/P6170432.JPG
http://www.mitsustyle.com/photopost/...m/P6170435.JPG

Re: Chrome moly crossmember :)
 

Looks good mang!

Re: Chrome moly crossmember :)
 

I've got a handful of o2 sensor caps if you want one brandon. Might save you a few ounces :)

Looks good man!

Re: Chrome moly crossmember :)
 

Looks good, I might just have to make one of those myself. I have seen other cars using one of these with two other tubular bars replacing the stock front to back braces, held on with aircraft quick release pins. I might go that route since I'm getting back into handling.

Re: Chrome moly crossmember :)
 

Well if you need to borrow mine at all to help you make your own, let me know. I could probably remove it this winter or something and let you borrow it for a couple weeks or whatever.

Re: Chrome moly crossmember :)
 

Lookin clean under there!

Re: Chrome moly crossmember :)
 

Looks really good, Brandon!

I would really like to do this as well but I am concerned (ignorant) of the effects of running without the two front to rear cross members. Has anybody every experienced issues on a street car such as extra twist or stress in the front end by removing these?

Re: Chrome moly crossmember :)
 

It will for sure loosen up the front end of the car, especially if you get in an accident!

Re: Chrome moly crossmember :)
 

Why not make 2 more braces that connect to the stock locations with the same type of piping?

Re: Chrome moly crossmember :)
 

Shane took my 02 out of the equation a long time ago

Re: Chrome moly crossmember :)
 

Someday I might. But this is how he is making them right now. Maybe someday in the future I'll have John make some. But really I'd rather someone just buy this thing :)


As for an accident, yeah if I hit someone good it'll be over. I doubt my JMF aluminum bumper brace thing that replaced the front steel bumper doesn't help either. It's OK I still got airbags, or wait...