2006 Hemi AWD Magnum

SO I was at the DMV of all places and when I pulled out of my parking space I mistakenly straddled this odd shaped parking block. My tires missed the block completely thats how I didn't notice it but when I drove away the rear cross member that is located under the back seat got caught up on the block and basically shredded it and the brackets that hold it onto the unibody. The cross member is a twisted pile of crap and it doesn't look like an overly expensive piece to replace but the brackets that were laid to waste will be a little more tricky to find much less weld back into place.

To be clear, this is the cross member that most people adjust when they replace the exhaust. Generally you need to add some spacers to the mounting lugs to get your clearance for what seems like most market exhausts. Thing is I am not sure what it does exactly, its not attached to the exhaust itself.

I realize the cross member wouldn't be there if it weren't actually needed for something but my question is what is this cross member supposed to provide?

Is the cross member there to protect from vibration or is it there to strengthen and support?

Also my Magnum is an AWD and I was wondering if the RWD units had the same cross member?

The thought would be to chuck it and not replace it. But if something is going to get tweaked I'll just suck it up and weld it all back together. It just looks to puny to be a support, it looks like a half azzed way to reduce vibration.

thanks in advance.

-Tory
San Jose CA

 

AWD in Cali ???... I am going to the dealer and i am putting my car up in the air to have a look at the Exhuast and i will look at the rear your talking about. if they are the same i will get back to you.

 

>AWD in Cali ???...

Oh yeah man. Last year in January my friends and I were driving to Kirkwood in Lake Tahoe on SR88 and we were buried in an avalanche on the highway. we were high centered in Jeep Rubicon and buried past the windows. Cal Trans had to pull us out with a snowcat after they dugout the road with an 8 foot snowblower. We didn't take the Magnum that day because there was sixteen inches of snow on the road and I didn't want to mess up the lower body work.

My Magnum is my Tahoe Cruiser and we only go up when there is over 6 inches of fresh powder to be had which means its actively dumping snow.

 

I did not know there was snow in cali. Cool. i love mine hear in Pa

 

check it out...

[IMG]local://upfiles/30541/2FF180BBC0A444F79AF31A881B6274E5.jpg[/IMG]

 

ah who needs a crossmember, mine has been in the garage for months now, cant say i noticed any difference, except that it doesn't drag on EVERYTHING

 

I almost agree about the cross member. It doesn't appear to effect the driveability or vibration dampening. I wonder if its part of a crumple zone? A known "feature" of the Magnum is that the spare tire is actually a "safety system" and in the event of a rear end collision it was specificaly placed and engineered to help absorb impact.

 

oops, so much for my "crumple zone"

[IMG]local://upfiles/13151/5D113B8047FB46B88E1770C0CB539C5F.jpg[/IMG]

 

i opted for theRWD.... In New England!!! lol!! cant wait for the first snow. I love RWD in snowy weather!!! Nothing like driver ability tests!!