Busted Chassis Part. What Is It Called?

DuderMcMerican · Oct 2, 2016

Friends,

Today i noticed that my rear brake line was hanging low and lazy near my left rear tire. "No biggie," i thought, "i'll just pop a new ziptie around it." It's happened before, and zipties were my "temporary" solution.

So i lay down beside it today and see that i have a problem, and it's not a ziptie fix. It seems that i have a chassis part that has buckled and partially split. No idea what the part is called, but pics are attached.

It looks like something that shouldn't be a an expensive or difficult problem to address, yes? I hope..

Any intel on what that part is called and whether or not i'm correct to assume it's a "no biggie" repair?

Thanks!

Edit: Sorry about the pisspoor photography. If it's not clear which part i'm talkin about, it's the gray piece with the bolt and hole through which my brakeline ziptie runs (2nd pic). It's partially split on one side of the hole and the piece is buckled down.

a91what · Oct 2, 2016

Need better pictures, preferably angled correctly.

Looks like lower torque box?

DuderMcMerican · Oct 2, 2016

a91what said:
Need better pictures, preferably angled correctly.

Looks like lower torque box?

Okay--thanks for the feedback. I'll go outside and try to snap some better ones after i help wife clean up some broken glass.

5.0Droptop · Oct 2, 2016

It looks like a bolt fell out or broke.

Mustang5L5 · Oct 2, 2016

E brake cable. That's the bracket that bolts it to the chassis. You can see where it fits in the second pic, looks like the bolt broke or fell off

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

JD1964 · Oct 2, 2016

Looks like the bottom of the tq box is boogered up a little from improper jacking. It's probably, or maybe ok. Many are like this. Ebrake cable just needs to be connected back up.

DuderMcMerican · Oct 2, 2016

Thanks for the replies, guys!

Yes, the ebrake cable keeper has been jacked up since i got the car, so i have had it ziptied through a manufactured hole in the part in question. I think it *might* be the lower torque box, as a91 and John suggested. Just googled that and looks to be the right vicinity. Also saw a post or two where others talked about lower TB "tearing away" because of repeated torque via 4k+ rpm starts. That could make sense.. I dont race and try to avoid beatin it with high torque starts as it's mostly a city driver (altho my patience is often tested in Northern VA traffic.. Sometime the rage gets the best of me). But i know for a fact that bozo PO beat it regularly because he's my parents neighbor and they said he'd always be tryin to smoke em and raise hell just pullin out the driveway .

Anyway, i attached a couple more pics, but im havin heck of a time gettin a good angle w/out jackin it up. I hope these are better. First is view from rear, second is closeup from under/side.

How does one go about fixin it? What's worse case scenario for this part? I assume drivin is outta the question until it is fixed?

JD1964 · Oct 2, 2016

You have a blown rear shock. See how the oil has leaked out?

90sickfox · Oct 2, 2016

That's not a tork box...you zip tied it to the lower control arm....that thing moves every time you hit a bump. That's just a bracket hanging. Put a bolt in it.

JD1964 · Oct 2, 2016

90sickfox said:
That's not a tork box...you zip tied it to the lower control arm....that thing moves every time you hit a bump. That's just a bracket hanging. Put a bolt in it.

I agree, put the proper fastener on it. But, the zip tie in the pic is not on the control arm. Its on the frame metal that surrounds the tq box.

90sickfox · Oct 2, 2016

John Dirks Jr said:
I agree, put the proper fastener on it. But, the zip tie in the pic is not on the control arm. Its on the frame metal that surrounds the tq box.

The first pic shows like three zip ties on the control arm....next picture shows one through the torque box.

JD1964 · Oct 2, 2016

OP,

TQ box issues usually happen when people run slicks. Spinning wheels and laying down rubber with street tires wont really hurt them. It's hard launches with really sticky tires that over stresses them. Your pics still dont show a full view of the tq box. You would need to get the car up off the ground and take a pic shooting upward. So far, all I see is the bent metal from improper jacking. It doesn't look bad enough to cause problems.

JD1964 · Oct 2, 2016

90sickfox said:
The first pic shows like three zip ties on the control arm....next picture shows one through the torque box.

I missed that. I stand corrected.

DuderMcMerican · Oct 2, 2016

Wow--all great info! Can't thank y'all enough.

Yeah come to mention it, i think i remember noticing that (what i now know is) the tq box was f'd up last year when i was under for first time to intall tailpipes... no clue why PO didn't have tailpipes, but i digress. Glad to know that it's not too far gone to require an overhaul.

Makes sense re the shock being blown. Guess that explains why the tq box and the currently-tq-box-anchored ebrake line are saggin as they are. Will be sure to replace both shocks and invest in proper hardware for the brake line keeper asap.

Davedacarpainter · Oct 3, 2016

Get a good picture of the torque box (that's just the bracket the lower control arm bolts to on the chassis). Just lay your camera on the ground directly below it and take a picture. It doesn't look real bad from what i see in the picture though.

The Zip ties need to go. It's an easy fix.

DuderMcMerican · Oct 3, 2016

Davedacarpainter said:
Get a good picture of the torque box (that's just the bracket the lower control arm bolts to on the chassis). Just lay your camera on the ground directly below it and take a picture. It doesn't look real bad from what i see in the picture though.

The Zip ties need to go. It's an easy fix.

Thanks for the tip, David. I'll see if i can get a good pic that way.

Will def take care of the brake line hardware. Ima go on rockauto right now to see if i can order that + the new shocks.

Mustang5L5 · Oct 3, 2016

It doesn't look too Fubar. Just looks like someone put the jack in the wrong spot

mikestang63 · Oct 3, 2016

meh.. i've seen worse.. time for the BFH and a welder...

Busted Chassis Part. What Is It Called?

DuderMcMerican

Active Member

Attachments

a91what

SendMeUrDataLog

DuderMcMerican

Active Member

5.0Droptop

...all those nights we shared, and you're a dude??

Mustang5L5

That is…until I whipped out my Bissell

JD1964

there is enough sticking out to grab on to

DuderMcMerican

Active Member

Attachments

JD1964

there is enough sticking out to grab on to

90sickfox

Wasn't a pretty sight...and I've got big hands

JD1964

there is enough sticking out to grab on to

90sickfox

Wasn't a pretty sight...and I've got big hands

JD1964

there is enough sticking out to grab on to

JD1964

there is enough sticking out to grab on to

DuderMcMerican

Active Member

Davedacarpainter

Chicks can make things hard if they’re inspired...

DuderMcMerican

Active Member

Mustang5L5

That is…until I whipped out my Bissell

mikestang63

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