355-crack in space frame-!

Car went to dealer for noise in right rear suspension. Advised of $12k repair for new sub- frame and labor. Can this frame be welded. Anyone ever hear of this ? The car is a 95 and I've owned it 9 years... no damage.

 

Do you have a picture or is it possible to take such? Is it an obvious 'crack'? I am brutally familiar underneath back there as i have rebuilt two f355s and one was violently damaged in the same area... pm me if you need help there...

sounds fishy

 

same thing happen to me

was spotted by my mechanic during a service last year

he fixed it

nice and sturdy

no problems since after some very hard cornering

say's he's seen it a couple times

didn't cost me $12k though

let me see if he'll post some pics on his website

maybe it's the same area as yours ?

either way i think it can be welded

which "dealer" is trying to rip you off by the way ? just curious

 

The rear subframe on my 308 cracked at the upper shock mounts. I welded it 4 years and 15k miles ago and there is no sign of any more problem. I think it took me about an hour including touching up the paint.

A welding shop should be able to fix it for you for under $200.

 

Charles,

my mechanic just got back with me

said he will post some pics at the bottom of his website

go here :
http://emelbon.tripod.com/eugeniosferrariservice.html

let all the pics load then go to the very bottom i guess

hope this helps.

J.G.

 

You could do the proper new sub-frame (and while the engine is out, have your Major Service done), or you could just pull the engine and have the sub-frame welded right (with supports), or you could do it on the cheap and have the sub-frame welded in the car (just remember to disconnect your engine and exhaust ECU's before that welder first hits the frame, and you should cover/protect the rest of the engine, too).

So you have a variety of options. Heck, $8 worth of JB Weld cold compound will "fix" your problem, if you're of that sort of fiscal bent.

 

Replacing the subframe for a crack is totally absurd. A proper weld will be every bit as good or better than OEM. Watch out because a subframe from Ferrari normally takes months to arrive. If he could get one in a few days it is possible that you would be buying your original one for 12K.

 

Have it welded. I repair wrecks all the time and often cut cars in half and weld on a "new half". $12k is quite the ripoff. Find a competent welder and you will be fine.

 

That sounds really cheap!!!

IF IT WAS A DAM F50!!!

Weld it. It's 80 years old frame tech, it's bloody steel, not a rocket.

 

This stuff really p!sses me off. I will rant once again. Mechanics can be a godsend if they are smart and honest, but that is the exception. Most guys are "parts changers". They won't fix anything...they just replace parts until they stumble on the problem and thus fix it.

$12k may be a fair replacement price but why not get a second opinion. Many here say just weld it and without seeing the damage I can't say, but find someone who can evaluate what you have. It's not unusual for a dealer to quote $12k to replace stuff and a real mechanic will have you on your way for a few hundred. I've fixed tons of stuff on my Lotus that an uninformed person would have spent for a new part on.

Ferraris seem especially prone to worst case scenarios by so called mechanics...get another opinion!

Ken

 

we do have a perfect frame if interested, (used) but i cant imagine why it could not be welded. body shops (properly) do this all day long. And professional coach builders.. [email protected]

 

Blame attorneys....dealers (for any make, not just Ferrari) in particular are very conservative on any fix....recommending replacement over repair all the time. There is no "down side" to recommending replacement, and minimizes their exposure to the car coming back from failure or worse. With them having to "warranty" the second time around.

And don't blame the dealership mechanics/technicians, this often comes from the service manager or above.

 

I agree. There's all of that above, plus some more...the "more" being that of all places, the *dealership* should be the one place that first advocates the perfect "Enzo would do it this way" solution.

If you want to save money, then there are non-dealership places for that sort of thing...which is as it should be. Go to the dealership and expect perfection at a price. Go elsewhere and expect to save money in exchange for a less than completely, ultimately, no-exceptions ideal of perfection.

In some cases, who knows, the 355 owner may have a salvage car (hypothetically) that he bought for $20k wrecked, repaired himself with bailing wire, duck tape, rebuilt parts, and alumiseal. So $8 worth of JB Weld to cold fuse his cracked sub-frame might be the most that he wants to spend to get back on the road running.

The other extreme is the self-made Billionaire who wants to only be in a perfect car, trivial costs like $12k for a new sub-frame be hung.

Clearly one should go to the Ferrari dealership while the other should do the repair himself at home.

 

As I understand a certain P4 frame was repaired and altered several times and there were no problems with it, at least no technical problems!

 

Christ, once again, it's STEEL. Check steel out, it's neat, you can weld it!

Infact, that's what the ferrari's sub-frame is. Welded steel.

And, if there is a design flaw (as I suspect there is) introducing cracks, it is possible to add a little metal when you weld to end-up with a SUPIOR product to a $12k-bling-dum-dum-money 'repair'.