I need to replace (at least) my front crossmember as it's starting to get eaten away by rust. I've never done something like this before. I have access to a lift, floor jack, wrenches, ratchets, etc. Any advise for planning the project out and some common problems to avoid?

 

If it's at the point where it's being eaten away by rust, I'm guessing all the bushings are shot or on their way out, might be time to look at new struts, wheel bearings, brakes, etc. If you're going to drop the subframe there is no better time to do all that.

 

I'm still thinking this project up and looking through the tech manual. The closest I could find was "front suspension arm sub-assembly lower no 1 replacement". In this they want me to suspend the engine assembly and separate the intermediate steering shaft. But looking at the diagram it seems I could just separate the crossmember from the axle, which would seem to negate needing to separate the steering shaft. I'm uncertain about the engine though. With that crossmember out of there, it looks like the engine doesn't have anything to rest on. So just looking for clarification from others on if they've suspended the engine and separated the steering shaft for this job.

 

By the way...I thought I had replied to this earlier but for some reason it didn't post... So...bushings yes, good call. Hopefully brakes and struts are still good as I had a service on those within the last 5 years.