# Frame break on 2001 e825 **URL:** \ **Category:** GEM Forum\ **Created:** [October 31, 2026, 1:07am UTC](https://community.electricforum.com/t/frame-break-on-2001-e825/30840 "2026-10-31T01:07:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Pythan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ad7895/32.png) [@Pythan](https://community.electricforum.com/u/Pythan)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2026, 1:07am UTC](https://community.electricforum.com/t/frame-break-on-2001-e825/30840/1 "2026-10-31T01:07:49Z")
I was pulling the rear end to clean it up and maybe add a brace plate to the spot where it normally cracks. Whoever “welded” it prior just gobbed on the welding rod and it looked terrible.. As soon as I undid all the bolts, the two side arms with the bad welds just kinda fell off. So I took it all apart and cleaned up the metal with a grinder to get it ready to weld back together and brace. What I found was a 1/4" gap where it is supposed to connect to the rear axle bar. At least I think it is supposed to. Why is that gap there? it is equal on both sides. Anyone have any idea? Also, as it was sitting there with just the bolts holding it I lifted one side and noticed why I think they all crack. as the tire rides up over a bump on one side the bars slants and twists. It is not a lot but it would torque those welds over and over again. Anyone know about that one? ![broken plus gap](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex030/uploads/electricforum/original/3X/9/a/9a9f202fcd97efeeb194f477c747289a6ebb4770.jpeg) ---
**Author:** ![JarJarJava](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex030/user_avatar/community.electricforum.com/jarjarjava/32/15158_2.png) [@JarJarJava](https://community.electricforum.com/u/JarJarJava)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2026, 2:05am UTC](https://community.electricforum.com/t/frame-break-on-2001-e825/30840/2 "2026-10-31T02:05:19Z")
![channels4_profile](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex030/uploads/electricforum/original/3X/2/d/2dee8cebac84137aa001fad9bfef181e35f5075f.jpeg) ---
**Author:** ![AssyRequired](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex030/user_avatar/community.electricforum.com/assyrequired/32/7621_2.png) [@AssyRequired](https://community.electricforum.com/u/AssyRequired)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2026, 3:29am UTC](https://community.electricforum.com/t/frame-break-on-2001-e825/30840/3 "2026-10-31T03:29:33Z")
Yes, those bars ar normally welded, and yes, it turns the rear swing arm into a swinging gate. When there is any sort of uneven terrain the lack of articulation makes for horrible traction issues and the forces on the swing arm are enough to eventually crack those arms off. Your pics look like someone actually gave those trailing arms a bit of clearance and is using the shock bolts to locate the arm like a track bar on a 3 link rear end. I bet it works, but it is probably a little loose and quite rattly. The advantage of the fully welded swing arm is that it acts like a nice thick sway bar. It probably corners like cr@p now. ---
**Author:** ![Pythan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ad7895/32.png) [@Pythan](https://community.electricforum.com/u/Pythan)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2026, 10:48am UTC](https://community.electricforum.com/t/frame-break-on-2001-e825/30840/4 "2026-10-31T10:48:42Z")
Actually I only drove it about 2-3 miles but didn’t notice anything wonky about the cornering. The gap welding they tried was 100% broken so did no good. I just wonder if they cut the clearance then decided it sucked? From all the stuff I just read about all this I guess I will fix the gap issue and reweld them. As everyone has said, poor design. ---
**Author:** ![AssyRequired](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex030/user_avatar/community.electricforum.com/assyrequired/32/7621_2.png) [@AssyRequired](https://community.electricforum.com/u/AssyRequired)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2026, 12:05pm UTC](https://community.electricforum.com/t/frame-break-on-2001-e825/30840/5 "2026-10-31T12:05:19Z")
Rather than trying to fill the gap- To put it back to original, there was a guy that made a kit that wrapped the axle with c-channel (box tubing with one end cut off). I’m not sure if it made the assembly stronger of it simply moved the breaking point further up the trailing arm. ![welded gate trailing arm](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex030/uploads/electricforum/original/2X/7/7a9d9287e348f72f18bb50326996d55942ddd9cd.jpeg) A bit of study on where the designers went with Gen2 cars shows they saw the issues and how they addressed a fix for 05 and newer cars. A person with talents such as yours should be able to fab up a hybrid repair. My suggestion would be to keep the center arms welded as is and center mounted to the frame. This locates the swing arm in the car like a track bar. The rubber mounted pivot at the frame should be able to twist as the arm articulates. Then take the trailing arms and extend them a bit and rubber mount the ends above (or below) the axle tube on a couple of well places tabs. ![2011 rear suspension](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex030/uploads/electricforum/original/2X/e/e1f3e2bb316ce7f6e7fc13a9fe0b7fc880b8f85c.jpeg) One of the problems I see with the new design is that the shock mount pivots were turned 90 degrees from each other. This makes for bind as the shock cycles through it’s range. I guess it doesn’t really matter when you only have 2 in of travel, so they got away with it. ---
**Author:** ![Pythan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ad7895/32.png) [@Pythan](https://community.electricforum.com/u/Pythan)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2026, 12:23pm UTC](https://community.electricforum.com/t/frame-break-on-2001-e825/30840/6 "2026-10-31T12:23:16Z")
I looked at some of the other posts after I had already posted mine.. I saw his fix and I liked it. I had a couple of thoughts.. first was, I am doing parades and not buzzing around the town like most do. Second thought was to make a U shaped bracket with the open end around the axle bar. The U would be open enough to allow for something like 1/2" thick hard rubber spacers top and bottom. that would allow flexing and maintain rigidity.. At least it sounds right.. the hard part is finding the rubber I would need. I think this is something akin to your suggestion. In the end, I wonder if I need all that or should I just do the solid welds? I noticed the axle bar is 1 1/2" and the swing arms are 1 1/4" so there is 1/8" gap top and bottom if I were to use something flat to weld them together.. I know on the train I removed the shocks and made it rigid so I will never have that issue.. but these cartoon cars need suspension. ---
**Author:** ![JarJarJava](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex030/user_avatar/community.electricforum.com/jarjarjava/32/15158_2.png) [@JarJarJava](https://community.electricforum.com/u/JarJarJava)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2026, 3:55pm UTC](https://community.electricforum.com/t/frame-break-on-2001-e825/30840/7 "2026-10-31T15:55:30Z")
> [@Pythan](#): > > In the end, I wonder if I need all that or should I just do the solid welds? This is probably the case. You know what they say, can only polish a turd so much, at which point you end up with a shiny turd. While the 00-04 gems ride a bit rough, they aren’t unbearable. I always felt that they tended to ride a bit better when they have some extra weight - at least the longback “truck” model did, but for 00-04 the longbacks had a different rear suspension design. You could also just airing down the tires by 5-7 psi. Suspension seats may be a lot of work and likely cost prohibitive unless you found a deal on them and there was an off the shelf seat cover that would give you the colors you wanted allowing you to buy the seats rather than the high price of custom covers from KM. I have read where people have put adjustable air shocks in Ford Thinks, but I’m not sure if I’ve read about this for GEMs. Grant @grantwest is a bit of a wizard with the GEM suspensions. I recall that a long time ago he had a 4 seater from the 00-04 years that he did some pretty trick stuff to. > [@Pythan](#): > > Second thought was to make a U shaped bracket with the open end around the axle bar. The U would be open enough to allow for something like 1/2" thick hard rubber spacers top and bottom. that would allow flexing and maintain rigidity.. At least it sounds right.. the hard part is finding the rubber I would need. I would say talk to the guys at Capitol Rubber in Sac about material options here butt I think that using insert pieces from a Polyurethane sheet may be your best bet for this. Hardness, maybe 70A or 80 A to start and go up or down from there - but that’s just a SWAG. ---
**Author:** ![grantwest](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex030/user_avatar/community.electricforum.com/grantwest/32/15_2.png) [@grantwest](https://community.electricforum.com/u/grantwest)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2026, 5:07pm UTC](https://community.electricforum.com/t/frame-break-on-2001-e825/30840/8 "2026-10-31T17:07:49Z")
Sorry I didn’t take the time to read all the posts. But the rear swing are on the Cars is a Bad Design from the factory it’s only a matter of time b4 they all crack. Adding brackets and gusset to strengthen it will work for the moment. What causes them to break is when the car articulates side to side. It twists and that’s what stress’s that aera. If you’re simply using the car for parades, I don’t think it’s gonna be an issue after you reinforced the rear. Try & avoid twisting the car (example Turing up or down into a steep driveway) making the front shocks softer helped the car twist as well. Bottom line I think your mods will be fine for your project. Man I’m so glad I don’t play with the older cars anymore they are a bad design that all you do is try and fix what mess ups the factory did. Disclaimer in their stock form the cars work ok. It’s when you start trying to make them better is where the needle comes off the record. (I threw in this photo of my car to just show how stiff) the sway bars make my car, this is kinda what happens to the rear of the older cars when you (twist them) ![71901842034__0E229940-C721-4871-976A-05ECC9BF0A6B](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex030/uploads/electricforum/original/3X/5/4/5462eeedfd7ecc00ad919d01fe321a60bbe95851.jpeg) ---
**Author:** ![Pythan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ad7895/32.png) [@Pythan](https://community.electricforum.com/u/Pythan)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2026, 5:57pm UTC](https://community.electricforum.com/t/frame-break-on-2001-e825/30840/9 "2026-10-31T17:57:24Z")
WOW! that’s crazy.. I figured out the twist issue and everyone is confirming what I found because they found it long ago… LOL I do think for the parades it will be ok if I just fix what I have… ---
**Author:** ![grantwest](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex030/user_avatar/community.electricforum.com/grantwest/32/15_2.png) [@grantwest](https://community.electricforum.com/u/grantwest)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2026, 6:49pm UTC](https://community.electricforum.com/t/frame-break-on-2001-e825/30840/10 "2026-10-31T18:49:29Z")
I agree not transitioning from flat (the street) up or down into a steep driveway avoids the twist. So you won’t have to worry.