Gen 1 Rear Frame Crossmember

[R3df1sh]

Hey!
one of my rear crossmembers gave out today. (the one the rear shocks mount onto) wondering if any of you have dealt with this. It broke where it connects to the drivers side. every time i hit a bump the shock bounces off the undercarriage. I've been watching this for sometime, but figured id have at least 6 more months before it gave out. A surprise pothole proved me wrong.

Anyways...

I've got two questions for you. First, I've been trying to determine how to jerry rig it to get me by for now. Thinking maybe bracing it by sandwiching a 4x4 or something between the broken cross member and the body and strapping it on. it would likely still bounce off the undercarriage though, still trying to work out a more ideal approach, maybe you have some ideas?

My next question is have any of you had any luck sourcing this part? I've repaired this same issue on a couple gmc farm trucks using a local dude that had an inventory of custom made frame parts. Using that i was able to weld the frames back into solid shape. I've reached out to him about potentially putting one of these together for me. But, I'm concerned that because this is outside his normal inventory, and its not a commonly sought part he may not be interested in producing one.

Have any of you had any luck sourcing frame parts like this?

 

[BKennedy]

You can replace that cross member by welding a piece of tube across the span with a couple shock mount tabs. That would be your cheapest option. I don't think you could source a replacement. Mine cracked many years ago, and I replaced it with this (this is the third or fourth version).

First version was a piece of square tube welded inside the frame with holes drilled through it for shock bolts. Lasted at least a decade before it bent. This latest one has gussets to keep the frame from flexing and cracking the tube, which it does when off roaded a bunch.

 

[R3df1sh]

You can replace that cross member by welding a piece of tube across the span with a couple shock mount tabs. That would be your cheapest option. I don't think you could source a replacement. Mine cracked many years ago, and I replaced it with this (this is the third or fourth version).
View attachment 342120
First version was a piece of square tube welded inside the frame with holes drilled through it for shock bolts. Lasted at least a decade before it bent. This latest one has gussets to keep the frame from flexing and cracking the tube, which it does when off roaded a bunch.

This is brilliant! This gives me so much more to go on than I was already working with. Thanks for the inspiration, seems I've got some work to do.

 

[BKennedy]

You can see in the picture the remains of the 2x2 tubing that I used as the start of the new cross member. The tubing is 1/4" wall DOM, but you will probably not need that if you are using the Explorer for primarily highway use.

If you are not a avid off roader and just need a cross member you can slap a piece of scrap 2x2 square tubing in between the frame rails and weld it in place, drill a few holes for shock mounts. You should sleeve the holes, but a single sheer mount is fine for a highway car. You should be able to remove the upper mount adaptors and run a 1/2" bolt sleeve through the shock eyelet. Offset the cross member enough so the shocks line up on one side or the other if you are not going to weld mounts onto it. I also saw a cross member that was notched so that the shocks bolted into the inside of 2x2 square tube, but I thought it would weaken the cross member too much.