Replace or weld.???

Been told my TD5 90 cross member is gonna fail MOT.(Rusty holes in it.) got two choices, either weld temp repair (£50 ish) or replace (circa £500).Question is.. Would I be putting off the inevitable if I dont have it replaced??

you can get them with extensions cheaper than that

LRO just done a feature on rear cross members they say with extensions £205

Just weld it for the mot then change it when you have time/money.

Related question - how bad a hole would be an MOT failure in a rear crossmember? I found a rotton spot in mine today. Prev owner only had it MOTd about 6 weeks ago.

td5 x members are crazy

my mate had a 2001 td5 fender and his xmember was rusting badly and when you tapped it it sounded like a biscuit tin

my old 1988 fender the xmember felt and sounded like an iron girder and had no patches on it

petit_pablo said:

Related question - how bad a hole would be an MOT failure in a rear crossmember? I found a rotton spot in mine today. Prev owner only had it MOTd about 6 weeks ago.

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A lot depends on the garage. Mine failed on the crossmember last year - had a couple of little holes in it, nothing more. I cut the rot out and patched it myself. I've seen worse condition x-members than mine pass MOTs though.

I suppose alot is down to the tester. Depends how much they know about fenders i guess.

petit_pablo said:

I suppose alot is down to the tester. Depends how much they know about fenders i guess.

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Not only that - it depends how they test it! My guy jabbed a screwdriver through. I was a bit miffed initially, but it's his job to find this stuff and I'd rather know about it and get it sorted, than wish he hadn't found it and then have the crossmember drop off when I'm towing my trailer!

instantsquid said:

Not only that - it depends how they test it! My guy jabbed a screwdriver through. I was a bit miffed initially, but it's his job to find this stuff and I'd rather know about it and get it sorted, than wish he hadn't found it and then have the crossmember drop off when I'm towing my trailer!

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Where I take my 90 they have a board on the wall that says "approved MOT tools" ( or something along those lines)

all looking very official, each tool as a description of what its use is for..
a little hammer to check for rust spots, etc...

the stories I hear of MOT testers going mental with screwdrivers and hammers, I dont think they should be allowed to do that.

[JP];1425780 said:

the stories I hear of MOT testers going mental with screwdrivers and hammers, I dont think they should be allowed to do that.

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They aren't, its criminal damage and you can take them to the small claims court

That's exactly what the guy did...took a bloody great screwdriver an punched the x/member until it went through.. Bet he could have done that on a New Rice Burner!!....Thanks for your replies, Think I will have it welded up an get it through the "Moment of Truth"..

I have welded up a few cross member and they have lasted a good few years, It just depends if all of the rot is cut out and replaced with good metal and welded on to good metal and then treated properly but if the rest of the cross member is just as bad then your just putting of the inevitable.

As for failling the mot it depends if the rust is within 300mm of the chassis or structural part or if near fitted towing equipment, Remember though it is down to thwe guys interpetation and ineviatably if he believes it is unsafe.

I was talking to my MOT man and he said a guy complained to VOSA because he failed it on a ball joint, Technically the it should have passesd as if the joint failed it wasnt going anywhere, When asked by the VOSA man he said he believed that it was un safe and would cause an accident or injury ... the VOSA man backed him up