Originally Posted by ToppCat Has anyone ever replaced the front and rear subframe assemblies? The ones I had on there originally were rusted to death, so I found a good set at the junkyard that I sandblasted and repainted. Everything will be new (polyurethane bushings, new ball joints, arms, etc)
Question I have is, how do I make sure it's put back on straight, not shifted to one side or another, etc. I could probably measure out things at different points, possibly mark the old position of the frames. But how do I know if the replacement ones aren't a little off? I've read that if the engine cradle isn't installed right that there could be camber issues, and I want to make sure the rear one is right to avoid things like the driveshaft and the rear end not being aligned straight. Any ideas? Thanks.
My first reaction would be to mark where old cradle was attached to the car.
But you pointed out that the replacement may not be to the original specs.
After thinking a bit, a better measurement would be to carefully measure where the rear suspension points are, so the replacement cradle will be holding the suspension in the same place, even if the replacement cradle is a little off.
And you will need an alignment of the suspension anyway...presuming that you get the cradle back in the car so the suspension points are located in the original position.