Crossmember swap out

[Juice0723]

I twisted the crossmember that is right under the transmission oil pan. Went down a steeper drop then I thought it was gonna be offroading. So rocks and such mangled the crossmember. It actually put a hole in the pan. Just from a bolt on the crossmember. I'm wondering how u swap this whole piece out. I have a 1991 explorer for parts. Mine is a 1994 Explorer. Are these parts swappable? Cause some bolts are where rivets are on the other explorer. vice versa.

Looks like u might have to cut it up to get this crossmember off? I'm not sure. It also connects to the wheels, not directly. Like that whole piece that's under the tranny pan.

Just wondering how this should be taken off and if possible swapped out with the parts truck I have. And how long it would take. Thank you.

 

[Glen4X4]

Not sure if you're speaking of the skid plate right under the transfer case, because from factory they were not riveted to the frame. But radius arm cross member was riveted to the frame and when replacing that you have to just grind or burn the rivets out to get that removed then replace those with bolts.

 

[Spdrcer34]

He is describing the Radius Arm Brackets.

They have 4 bolts in the middle, which is what hit his Transmission Pan.

They are Riveted from the factory, but they are considered a 'wear' part, due to radius arm bushing that resides IN them. They are cheap from the dealer. Something like $23 side.

To replace them, you do need to unbolt the radius arms (the long, triangular shaped arm), and cut the rivets off the frame, then UNBOLT it off the frame....It MAY be easier to do one side at a time. So you just need to unbolt the center 4 bolts, and work on it that way.

There is an entire write up here on EF on the process to replace the Radius Arm Brackets.

Ryan

 

[Glen4X4]

Yeah, it is time consuming I will add....

 

[Juice0723]

I'm gonna get a shop to do it. So how much would this cost? The whole piece is twisted. Would it be cheaper just to get the parts from ford then getting the shop to take parts off the spare parts explorer I have?

 

[Maniak]

The parts are cheap But the shop may charge you a lot more than RockAuto etc. would charge you..

As for pulling them off your other vehicle.. Once they are pulled, the vehicle won't move anymore so unless your going to pull themself I don't think having the shop use them will work..

BTW.. You can have the shop put some extra material onto the cross member. I bolted some 1/4" steel onto the cross member and used it as a skid plate. I never bent it again.

RA bracket reinforcement by maniak_az, on Flickr

Here is a shot of what I did to the bracket BEFORE I put on that skid pate.

IMG_2538 by maniak_az, on Flickr

~Mark

 

[Juice0723]

nice thanks for the pics

 

[picowheel]

radius arm cross member bent

Where can I find a new one? any help would be much apreciatted

 

[Maniak]

Where can I find a new one? any help would be much apreciatted

Rockauto has them. $37.xx for the Moog brand ones..

There is a 5% discount code in the vendor forum in the rockauto thread.

~Mark