So awhile ago bolts on my steering box snapped off damaging the framein the processes. Right were the box meets the frame is a small crack running up the frame. My question is if I get it welded up is there a chance it can crack again. Would adding a thicker plate of steel help it. Also was thinking of doing the rack and pinion swap with the k member but no funds for that atm. Any suggestions would help

 

i think that's one of the problems that the wander (wonder?) bar that they put in the IROCs was supposed to prevent.

 

That's a pretty common wear-out thing on these cars.


Yes you can repair it that way. Yes it can crack again but if you think your repair through carefully you can minimize the possibility. Yes a "wonder bar" will help prevent it in the future. It does that, besides just going up under everything on the front of the car and pushing it up, to make the headlights look bigger.

 

Had the steering box off recently to find that mine had cracks beginning to form. Trying to decide whether to have the crack ends drilled to relieve it and then welded up, have it reinforced with a plate, or have the section replaced entirely. I vaguely remember STG/ Vetruck advising against the plate idea in an old thread due to it altering steering geometry, but I am unable to find that post again. Also, what would be the preferable way to prevent corrosion? A reputable local body shop gave me a quote and mentioned using undercoating after welding it up. I asked why not a good primer or epoxy, and they seemed convinced that undercoating is the way to go unless I want to shell out and have it matched (not much of a point, car's about a 6-7/10 and it's hard to see down there anyway)

I obviously don't want to break the bank on this, but I'm never selling the car so I want it done right. Car had the K-member triangle braces from the factory AFAIK and has had a UMI Wonder Bar for the past 30k miles, I don't want this to happen again though, so advice on repair and prevention is appreciated. Any input from people who have done the repair in the past about what they did and how it's held would be great.

Pics...

 

I was also thinking off the plate route and was thinking about the geometry part also. My solution was to use something like an 1/8" plate steel making sort of a 'u'shaped drill holes for the bolts and slipping it in there. Don't see how 1/8" Of an inch would cause big problems, but then again I'm not a pro. The only solution I can think off would be to shave of the 1/8" of the steering box . From what I can recall it pretty beefy there. Might be wrong.

 

it may or may not screw up the steering geometry: these cars were so poorly built that they put slotted holes in the wander (wonder??) bar to allow them to be installed on the cars as they rolled down the line when they were brand new freshly welded shells.. 30+ years of driving and abuse could only have made it worse... the slots in the bars allow more than 1/8" of variance..

measure your car and compare it to the factory specs- i have a spec sheet somewhere that i found online that has every body measurement on it... never know, adding a 1/8" plate behind the steering box might bring your car back into spec..