So. i dropped off my car at my buddys house to change my oil and put my foglight on while i went to busch gardens yesterday. so when i got back today he tells me that he bounced to hard goin to fast down his path and it bent a black brace underneath my car. so i drove it home (10min away) and i have a bad rattle and sounds like something is bouncing on the left side.

i looked underneath to check what he told me about the black brace. and yes the brace is bent bad. it looks like he tried to put a jack stand underneath it or maybe he did bounce and hit it.

is there anything i can do for this.?
i really dont have the money to take it to a dealership because i need the money to move out of my apartment and into a house at the end of the month.

no more friends touching my car.

 

What black brace are you talking about? Can you take a pic? Location?

 

You're probably referring to that brace just behind the oil pan.
If so, I believe you're friend is full of **** and tried to use that as a jacking point.
How its bent will likely confirm my suspicions... is it bent up or back?

 

just took one with my phone.

 

yea your right.
thats what i thought.
anything can be done about this.?

 

Yeah... don't trust this kid with your car anymore.
A good friend would man up to his mistakes... what does that tell you...

Browse around the 'For sale' threads and look for car part-outs and buy one used.
The brace is likely tapping against the transmission.
You can try to bend it down some to give it more gap.

 

ok cool.
ill try to bend out out in a few.
if i take it off will anything fall out.?
also do you know what this brace is called.?

haha.
been so pissed ive been pacing my apartment.
thanks for your help bro.

 

Its called a transverse member.
I've taken it off before with no problems.

 

thanks man.

hopefully tackle it the next daylight.

 

Yikes yea he def used that as a jacking point. Thats rediculous. Like Jon said, just look for a part out, or in the meantime you could remove it and try to roll it back out to hold you over until you get the new part.

 

thanks guys.

got off of work tomorrow morning.
so hopefully i can try to straighten it then.

 

man i just threw one of these away, sorry man

 

I hope your not forking out the money. If you are, I dont see a lasting friendship

 

Hey man... Sounds like most of the good advice has already been said, but I did want to tell you real quick that I spotted a thread a second ago where a member was worried that he had screwed up his cradle alignment by driving around with his transverse member off for a while... https://www.rx8club.com/showthread.p...nsverse+member

So I'd say take it off to try to straighten it, but just try not to accidentally bend it to the point that it won't fit back on... You could probably ask the guy if he wound up finding out that driving with it off definitely caused the problem.

Also, if I was you, I'd probably be getting that friend to straighten it back out and buy you a new one instead of doing it yourself ha. That is, if you trust him to get within 10 feet of it...

Good luck with it, and don't worry too much. I'm sure it wont be that hard to fix up.

 

I may have mine laying around from when i upgraded. id let it go cheap. let me look around tomorrow in the pile of oem parts

 

yea.
im gonna do it myself.
hahaha.
your right i dont trust him within 10 feet of the 8 now.

about to go out there now. it seems like a nice morning.

 

just got done bending it out.
put it back on and no more vibration noise.
it was a pain to get the bolts out.

 

did you use your friends head to bend it back

 

id make him pay for a new one but thats just me. if i fucked up a friends car id expect to pay for it.

 

hahaha.
i wish i did use his head.
i just pushed on it one time and it bent almost completly straight.

im gonna buy one and put it on the tab that he owes me.
i got this guy a job.
helped him buy a jetta.
(only owes me 100 on it now.)
so tonite at work im gonna call him out on it.
i know what he makes so he will be paying me.