Rusted rear crossmember

[WoodsWagon]

The rear crossmember that holds the lower links and the diff is absolutely gone on my dad's 95 legacy wagon. We noticed when the bracket holding the muffler rusted off the crossmember, put extra stress on the exhaust pipe, and it fell down under the car. I can punch a screwdriver through it lots of places, and everwhere else an awl and hammer goes through distressingly easy. There's 1" square holes throught it. The rest of the car is rust free.

 

Anyone else notice this happening to their car?

 

It's going to be a PITA to replace this crossmember. We half-@ssed the exhaust back together and bolted a custom bracket to the rust to hold the muffler up.

[86subaru]

yes , i replaced the crossmember , infact both sides were rusted bolts were rusted bady , alot of work +parts were put into it,

[frag]

yes , i replaced the crossmember , infact both sides were rusted bolts were rusted bady , alot of work +parts were put into it,

 

Maybe I'm looking at doing the same with my car in a year or two. Could you give more details? How easy is it to bolt the new crossmember to the body. Are the original threaded holes still usable? What did you have to take off?

Thanks in advance.

[subie94]

great...now i'm gonna have to go check mine out tomorrow..

 

(but if i remember correctly,my gt is opposite...body is rustin and underneath is fine..)

[WoodsWagon]

I got another crossmember from the J/Y, $10. My dad sandblasted and painted it up, industrial orange. Only thing is it had the differential bushings burned out of it. Anyone know where to find replacements for those?

[porcupine73]

I noticed this recall for rear subframe corrosion, but it's only for 00-02MY Legacy and Outback:

NUMBER: WWM-96

 

DATE: July 2003

APPLICABILITY:

2000-2002MY Subaru Legacy and Outback Vehicles

 

SUBJECT:

Rear Suspension Sub-frame Corrosion

 

INTRODUCTION

 

Subaru of America, Inc. (SOA) has determined that affected vehicles, listed below, may have been manufactured with improperly applied paint to the rear suspension sub-frame. If an affected vehicle is operated for an extensive period in a "salt-belt" area (see list of states below that use large amounts of salt on the roads in the winter), continued exposure to the salt could cause the rear sub-frame to rust-out and possibly break. If the rear sub-frame were to rust-out and break, control of the vehicle could be affected.

 

This recall will involve cleaning and applying rust proofing material at the affected area.

 

My favorite part:

Any Authorized Subaru Dealer failing to perform the applicable service procedures defined in this bulletin to correct all affected vehicles in their inventory (new, used, demo) prior to the vehicle being placed in service may be subject to civil penalties of up to $5,000 per violation (i.e., for each vehicle), as provided in 49 USC sub-section 30165(a) of the Safety Act, and will also be in breach of the Subaru Dealer Agreement.

[nipper]

I noticed this recall for rear subframe corrosion, but it's only for 00-02MY Legacy and Outback:

 

 

My favorite part:

 

i guesss thats there way of saying its important....

 

nipper

[subyfreak]

I thought I was the only one with this problem. But this problem let me buy my 92 Legacy for $150.00. Not that difficult to swap out the rusty for a solid crossmember either.

[powderhound]

95? That was just GM pre testing parts they could issue a tsb for later. I loved that tsb. It was just for the salt belts...SOA was like oops I guess people actually drive these things where they might rust...duh...maybe we shouldn't cheap out on a CROSSMEMBER.

[WoodsWagon]

My dad ended up casting urethane into the crossmember with machined cores to replace the burned out diff bushings. Pulled the old one, and installed the new one. Undercoated it to try and stop it from rusting again. Nice to have a strong rear suspension again, now we can get back to overloading the car on a regular basis.

[WoodsWagon]

Oh yeah, I forgot... When I took the crossmember off, there was a hole rusted through the body's framerail. Got to mig weld a patch in. First time mig'ing, and I did pretty good.