Broken Subframe.

[joey b]

Well, it appears that the car I just bought has a broken subframe rather than a broken motor mount. Not that I really car either way. Can I weld this subframe back into place? Where the rear passenger mount attaches the cradle has come off. A welder should be able to hold that up, right?

[3pt1lumina]

Same thing happened to my friend's Regal. He got one with the rack and pinion on it from a j/y for $100... it's not to terribly hard to do but it's still pretty hard to do. Welding may be the way to go if you have the tools and such.

[95oldsVan]

Hmm...with some of the problems Ive been hearing about,I would feel safer getting a complete Good Used frame cradle from the salvage yard then trying to fix the old one.I have no doubt a good welder can fix it but theres no guarantee the fatigue of the metal isnt still gonna be there someplace.

Maybe get a used cradle and have a welder reinforce stronger plates onto it in places for extra strength?

Btw is your cradle rusted a bit?Do you know what the main cause of the breakage may be?Those are important questions to ask before repairing old cradles.Just trying to offer some additional insights to the problem.

[White93z34]

might help if you post pictures, but depending it ought to be just fine if its welded back together, if the welder is somewhat compitent.

[joey b]

it just broke at the original weld. The previous owner hit a decent pothole and it fell. The subframe isn't terribly rusted. Looks to be in decent shape.

[White93z34]

just get it re welded, its not going to weaken it, if its welded good it will be just as good if not better then OE

[mihela816]

Do you mean that one of the cradle mounts broke? Welding it back up woudn't be a good idea in that case, because the subframe needs to be dropped to do quite a few repairs.

[joey b]

no, the subframe itself.

[Crazy K]

pics please!

[joey b]

it's all welded up. Holding like a champ. Much easier and cheaper than a new subframe.