Was wondering if any of you good folks,:hail: could point me in the direction of articles or threads that may cover the replacement of the K-member in my 91 RS. Just figured out that it was bent when i was installing new lca bushings and lowering springs. Any help would be greatly appreciated.:rockon:

 

Don't know of any threads, but it's actually quite easy. Put the car up on jack stands, you'll need several sets; I'd suggest first putting some under the K-member itself, then removing the springs (you can probably find some discussion about that), then support the motor from above with a chain hoist or cherry-picker or something, remove the motor mount thru-bolts, and raise it up an inch or so; jack the car up slightly and support it with a set of jack stands under the "frame" part of the unibody, like right behind the wheel wells at the jack points; remove all the brake lines and their hardware; then from there it's just 6 bolts to take the K-member off of the body.

Now would be a great time to put new motor mounts, control arm bushings, ball joints, steering linkage, brakes, struts, & springs on it; you will have to remove every one of those parts at least partialy to do the K-member, so just do it all at once.

 

sounds like alot of work!!

did you already get another k-member, if not you could try thirdgen resource or hawks thirdgen parts for one...

 

I just had my control arms out getting new bushings and ball joints pressed in and noticed that the k-member was bent. I have all the new parts and pieces for the front end, was just wondering about any "shortcuts" or "don't forget to do this" steps involved. Thanks for the info. Sounds pretty straight forward.

 

It does not look too difficult, but I was just trying to get a little insight from some poeple who may have done this b-4. I don't have the k-member yet, but i know of 3 wrecking yard 3rd gen camaros are, so the k- member should not be too difficult to locate.

 

I bought this car as a wreck. The guy that owned it, ran off the road and hooked a culvert with the left front tire or control arm. I bought the car to have a new project. Always wanted a 3rd gen camaro/firebird, just now getting one. I have been pouring money into the car trying to rebuild it from front to back and from the ground up. I removed the a-arms to get new bvushings and ball joints pressed in and to replace the spindle that was bent, from the afore mentioned incident, that is when i realized that the k-member was bent. I still think the $900 i gave for it is a pretty good deal. It has a rebuilt motor in it. Not sure if it is the original 305, but i think it probably is, just rebuilt. Hopefully i can get this k-member replaced and put it on the ground and see if the darn thing will run. Thanks for the help guys. Will post any developments and will appreciate any guidance you may provide.:hail: :rockon:

 

After reading the posts, I suspect I have a bent K-member, yet my '88 IROC drives straight.

What part of the K-member was bent? Is it obvious? Or does it only show up during a suspension rebuild?

I suspect my K-member is bent because my passenger side door hits the rocker panel ground effect and the door gap is obviously too close. Also, the right front fender lip is 1/2" higher than the left front fender lip. It's not noticeable, but I notice it and it drives me nuts.

If I were to lower my car one side would look better than the other.

 

The way I noticed mine was bent was when I started installing the new a-arm, to replace the one i thought was bent, and it lined up exactly as the old one did. I started looking at the mounting points of the a-arm and they pointed straight out, instead of pointing forward. That is when I knew I had a bent k-member. You would be able to spot it with all of the suspension components. Just look at the mounting points of the a-arm.