Need info. Motorhome crossmember.

[Skeluhtor]

1979 chevrolet motorhome (think its a P30)

A friend of mine wanted me to check into this crossmember on his motorhome. Its currantly at his mechanics place and obviously needs a new crossmember. The mechanic said he found one used for $1800-$2000. My buddy Bob thinks the mechanic is an idiot(not because of the price just because). so he wanted me to look into the whole thing and see if I can find one cheaper.

So I did some surfing last night. I am pretty sure its a P30 or K30 or something 30. Because this thing is huge and should be really heavy duty. Bob found some aftermarket crossmembers for off roading buffs but they dont look exactly like this. They dont have the mounts for the controle arms and dont have spots for the coils to sit.

Anyone have an idea of where I can find one of these and what I should be looking for? As in other vehicles that may be compatible.

[denrep]

Originally Posted by Skeluhtor

. . .Anyone have an idea of where I can find one of these and what I should be looking for? As in other vehicles that may be compatible.

Look for:
G-van front vs "stick built" body.
8-lug vs 10-lug wheels.
Vertical steering gear vs angled gear.

Good Luck

EDIT - I just asked Alfred for his opinion:

[Sandy]

Just zooming out and looking objectively at a bigger picture, a brand new cross member for free wouldn't fix that front end. I' bet two thirds of everything associated with the whole front end are totally shot/no good. By the time you add all the parts up along with labor (if he doesn't do his own work) he'll be pretty deep $$ wise into that thing. Heck even the surface of the coil springs is gone.

[Skeluhtor]

Yeah hes going to scrap it.

[denrep]

Save the 454, and the generator.

[Skeluhtor]

He said hes willing to just give the thing away but if I can get some money he will give me %20

Good idea to save motor and generator.

[denrep]

Originally Posted by Skeluhtor

He said hes willing to just give the thing away but if I can get some money he will give me %20 . . .

We'll get Alfred to cipher that and figure out which way to go.

[MrBeast]

Man if it has that much rust in the front cross member, the rest of the frame is a lost cause, part it out and get on with life, it isn't worth messing with.

[Dualie]

I would say the chassis is DONE FOR, but a good running 454, and a turbo 400 should be worth a couple bucks.

your going to have a hard time getting rid of that thing. Those are an impound yards worst prize. without an engine and trans they really are worthless and theres more landfill material than scrap metal.

the aluminum siding, the cab and the frame are the only decent scrap. EVERYTHING else is land fill trash.

[Skeluhtor]

Yeah I have done some scrapping and realize it has to be gutted to be scrapped. One plus is once its gutted you basically have a huge box truck to fill back up with more scrap.

[duaneb55]

Looks like he drove his Chevy to the levee and left it there while the tide rolled in.

[specter]

Yep needs more than a frame.

A place I get parts as well as whole RV's cheap is http://www.copart.com/c2/copart_home_page.html