Engine Crossmember

[Mattt123]

So my brother was flying down the freeway in his 1977 spider. He exited, onto the frontage road and pulled into a convenience store parking lot. About the time he was reaching for the key to shut it off, the cross member that supports the engine gave way and collapsed. Just broke in two. After he figured out what had happened he said a quick thank you prayer that it hadn't
happened a moment or two sooner when he was doing 70 down the highway.
Has anyone else experienced this or heard about it? Someone told him that at some point Fiat was buying steel from the soviets
and that the quality was very poor. Is this any issue related to certain model years, or was this just a fluke.
Should we all be inspecting our cross members? Any info is much appreciated.
Thanks

[azruss]

If you have a chance, post pictures of the damaged part. The way it broke can offer a lot of clues

[So Cal Mark]

it's mostly been the aftermarket replacements that broke

[vandor]

The crossmembers are a weak point in Spiders, even the originals, not just the current replacements. I've seen the original ones crack and also seen the spot welds separate, where the upper and lower parts meet.
I've had to replace studs on crossmembers a few times, and to do this a part has to be cut and bent out of the way. I was surprised how easily this is accomplished!
I seamwelded and reinforced my crossmember, and also installed braces from it's bottom to the box section behind it.

What we have to remember is that no car was designed to last 40 years! At that age a lot more components have to be inspected than on a 10 year old car. I have an 42 yo Mercedes that model is known for the lower a-arms cracking and eventually breaking. Not fun.

[Nanonevol]

I purchased a '77 recently with a repaired welded cross-member.

[Nanonevol]

it's mostly been the aftermarket replacements that broke

If an aftermarket replacement was put in, doesn't that mean the original one must have broken first?

[spiderrey]

I saw someone selling a brace for the cross member a while ago.It went from the a arm bolt to the boxed part of the body directly to the rear.

[So Cal Mark]

I've only seen the aftermarket K members break in half. The originals certainly have failures with the a-arm mounting bolts but I haven't seen an original break in half

[Mattt123]

Sounds like it is worth having it reinforced at some point.
I will see if he can send me a picture.

Thanks for the input.