lets see some OD trans cross members for lowered trucks

[63frankintruck]

Looking for idea's for a trans crossmember that work well with lowered trucks.
Sooooooooo, anyone have any pics or suggestions for a 63 w/ Auto OD that has been lowered? Also want to run headers and duals
Thanks all!

[vin63]

I fabricated a tubular crossmember for my 4L80E...

[padresag]

Originally Posted by 63frankintruck

Looking for idea's for a trans crossmember that work well with lowered trucks.
Sooooooooo, anyone have any pics or suggestions for a 63 w/ Auto OD that has been lowered? Also want to run headers and duals
Thanks all!

why are you concerned about that c/member for a lowered truck. in stock form (a/t c/member) it is mounted above the bottom of the frame
ron

[vin63]

I think the OP is concerned about the exhaust routing in relation to an OD transmission case. I originally wanted to run my exhaust to the inside of the frame, but the only way to keep my exhaust from hanging below the bottom of the frame rails was to route it to the outside.

[63frankintruck]

Originally Posted by vin63

I think the OP is concerned about the exhaust routing in relation to an OD transmission case.

Yes, that is correct

[padresag]

how about fabbing a c/member that goes across the of the tailstock top. install a drop down u member that will go under the mount area and mount it that and so the the u will bolt up to the c/member. that way you could run your exhaust under it with out any interference and also not have to go thru anything until that next xmember back and then the exhaust can go thru it
there is a multitude of ways there if you want to fabricate something and leave the exhaust so that it can be removed at some point if required with the least amount od connections
ron

[63frankintruck]

Originally Posted by padresag

how about fabbing a c/member that goes across the of the tailstock top. install a drop down u member that will go under the mount area and mount it that and so the the u will bolt up to the c/member. that way you could run your exhaust under it with out any interference and also not have to go thru anything until that next xmember back and then the exhaust can go thru it
there is a multitude of ways there if you want to fabricate something and leave the exhaust so that it can be removed at some point if required with the least amount od connections
ron

awesome idea! think I may try that when I'm closer to install.
One question- how do you know what angle to run on the trans, when fabbing your own cross member?
Thanks again for all responses

[padresag]

Originally Posted by 63frankintruck

awesome idea! think I may try that when I'm closer to install.
One question- how do you know what angle to run on the trans, when fabbing your own cross member?
Thanks again for all responses

here is a picture of a stock 66 a/trans c/member. the top of the c/member where the rubber insulator sits(rear trans mount) is exactly 3/4" above the the top of the bottom lip of the frame comes out.

the c/member is upside down. I put it up to the edge of a sidewalk to show how much the ends came up

ron

[padresag]

the base of the carb should be level which would put the c/shaft and thruline of trans a about a 3 degree slope which in turn relates in a parallel line with the pinion shaft of about 1 1/2 degrees. the problem that you may have is with your d/shaft depending on how low you are going to be when in motion and that hole that it is going thru in that c/member. and the reverse angle on your ujoints. other people have overcome this problem, so someone will say something about it
I may have been thinking about x member cars
ron

[63frankintruck]

Originally Posted by padresag

the base of the carb should be level which would put the c/shaft and thruline of trans a about a 3 degree slope which in turn relates in a parallel line with the pinion shaft of about 1 1/2 degrees.
ron

Interesting, after spending many hours setting up the drive angle on my TKO in my Chevelle, I would have been time and money ahead if I had know just to put the carb base of intake level.

[padresag]

a lot of times you can google. I just googled, "crankshaft angle sitting in vehicle" and this page showed up
http://www.hotrodders.com/scratch-bu...ssion_Mounting

regarding pinion and it may deal with it on the same page, I should have said within 1 1/2 degrees, so it should be parallel to the s/shaft. the plane should be parallel( if you extend those lines
ron

[Captainfab]

Theoretically the carb pad should be level, but the most important thing is that the trans output shaft and the pinion are parallel within 1 to 1.5 degrees. In achieving that parallel configuration, sometimes the carb pad is down to the rear a little.

[padresag]

the pinion angle can also be adjusted
ron

[BR3W CITY]

I'm actually looking to do this mod in my summer projects list as well. I've got the stock xmember slid in position for my lq4/4l80e, but when I built the new larger diameter exhaust on the lowered stance, I lose undercarriage clearance to that damn xmember.

The "over the top" xmember is a tempting idea. It'll take a few minutes longer to fab than just a straight tube across, but plenty doable and good for that extra 1-1.5" of clearance.

[The Rocknrod]

I'm using a POL trans X-member for the trans and the rear trailing arms. I plan on running my exhaust above the trans X-member through the trailing arm X-member. When I put the body on there is plenty of room to do that.