step by step xmember

[Chevy_68]

I saw this deal with the crossmember drop i was wondering if you guys have some step by step pics other than before and after. hey fastbagged 68 i was considering the way you did it so if you could post some pics. by the way im goin with a 2inch drop.

[Captkaos]

Mine isn't NEAR when anyone elses is, and I did mine different than others also, but you can see the steps I took on my website.

http://www.captkaoscustoms.com/chopcross.html

[fastbagged68]

I can write up a step by step crossmember drop! I will try and do it and post the pics that I have soon. Hopefully within a few weeks.

[Chevy_68]

please write it up if you can and captkaos will that allow you to lay rocker i wanted to go with a 2inch is there a way i can go with a 2inch the same way you did the 1.5 also how did the motor mount

[loweredd]

Capt, quick ? for ya. What made you decide to lower the top piece and not just lower the part where the frame rides?

[loweredd]

Oh and, looks GOOD!

[1FaastC10]

Originally posted by loweredd
Capt, quick ? for ya. What made you decide to lower the top piece and not just lower the part where the frame rides?

with Chris's method, you dont have to modify engine trans mounts/angles at all. if you were just to notch the crossmember around the frame it would screw up the angles, the height, as well as a great possibility of creating engine/trans to body clearance issues. true, it looks like a bit more work, but it would be worth it in the end.

[loweredd]

Ah, I see what you mean Jeremy. I just needed some perspective. That is a bunch of pretty slick lookin pics on his site.

[Captkaos]

Originally posted by Chevy_68
please write it up if you can and captkaos will that allow you to lay rocker i wanted to go with a 2inch is there a way i can go with a 2inch the same way you did the 1.5 also how did the motor mount

Well, I don't know about laying rocker, but I do know that the bag setup I have for the truck without dropped spindles already puts the lower control arms on the ground (minus inner fenders).


There is enough room to get another half inch, but at the time I was hoping to have minimal steering issues (didn't want to notch the frame) Since then, I decided to put this in another frame that hasn't been painted yet. Plus, I am trying to get a plan for a custom crossmember.

The way I did it, nothing has to be changed motor mount wise. It still mounts the same as it did before you cut it down. I went this way becuase I didn't want to cut the motor braces at all.

Thanks for the compliments loweredd, I hope to have more stuff on there in the near future. ( I am wanting to upgrade the site a little, but it is only in the planning stages now.)

[loweredd]

You were talking about steering clearance Capt.......is your a-arm hitting the steering shaft too? That's what Im running into right now. I have my spindles coming from Bell-Tech. Hopefully they will be here tomorrow.

[fastbagged68]

I think what he means by steering issues is - when you notch the crossmember that much you will need to c-notch the frame horns so your steering will work. I am going to be running a rack in pinion so I mine mounts directly to my crossmember and hits the frame with my 2inch crossmember drop.
With my 2inch crossmember drop, turner enterprise control arms, drop spindles, and 275-45-18's my frame layed frame- the whole length! My crossmember sat about an inch off the ground. I will try and post some pics in the next couple days. My goal is to have my suburban lay rocker or within a inch or less.

When doing a 2inch drop be ready to change alot of stuff. I changed out my motor mounts, steering hookup, harmonic balancer clearance to steering, hood hinges,, tranny tunnel, it is endless. Also to get started you need to cut down your mount where the 2 links mounts. That sits below your frame.

[fastbagged68]

Here is a pic of my control arms. There is no bag in there, but I'm cutting the spring pocket up higher so it will go that low!

[loweredd]

OK, uno momento........what year are you guys refering to? Why are you going to change tranny tunnel when you're moving the crossmember higher?

[phantom dually]

Fastbagged68 correct me if I am wrong but the mounts that you and I have got from Turners will correct the engine trans height back to stock height with out mods??

[phantom dually]

Lowerred When you just notch around the frame with the turner kit you are just moving the crossmember up and at the same time your mounting bracket (factory) would sit a 1.5" off the top off the frame rail. This also brings the entire motor up with it creating the clearance issue. Fastbagged and I have purchased mounts that are made to correct this problem.

[fastbagged68]

Phantom - you are right about the motor mount. But I also did a 2inch crossmember drop so Imight have to raise my motor to clear the harmonic bal. and rack pinion. So I might have to raise my tranny up a little bit. So I got to check to see how close it will be to the tranny tunnel. Shouldn't be to hard to fix if it is hitting.

[phantom dually]

You could probably do something as easy as welding in a solid piece of plate steel to the member.

[Captkaos]

Originally posted by loweredd
You were talking about steering clearance Capt.......is your a-arm hitting the steering shaft too?

That, AND unless you flip the outer tie rods upside down, you will hit the frame horns where fastbagged68 is talking about.

This might sound a little weird reading it, but the way I did it moved only the control arms up , only bringing the lower 1" of the bottom of the crossmember with it, where the other guys are actually moving the frame down into the crossmember. The clearance issues (other than steering rod and tie rod) are not there the way I did it. Motor mount stands don't have to be cut, they bolt right back to where they came from. Turners makes new motor mounts that bolt into the original position as factory, only the actual stand is 1.5 or 2.0 shorter in accordance to the amount of drop. If he is still doing this, there won't be any tranny issues, but you most likely will have issues with the harmonic balancer since the top of the crossmember actually moved up and the motor stayed in the same place.

In a nutshell:
Turners:
Moves complete crossmember Up into the frame with the motor staying still

Captkaos:
cuts height out of the crossmember and in design only moves the control arms up.

That make sense?

Basically we are all talking about 67-87's since they all are the same suspension. Specifically mine is a 73-87.

I do have a question about the control arms on the Turner setup though. It appears that his is moving the inside control arm mount UP into the crossmember. If that is the case then the geometry of the control arms just changed, especially if the top wasn't moved the same amount. Am I missing something here?

[phantom dually]

According to Bill Turner he also compensates the way the upper arm mounts as well to make up for the bottom ones. He may also build them with that in mind and include this diffrence in the lower arm.

[phantom dually]

When you speak of Balancer issues why would this be a problem?? If the motor is still the same height from the crossmember with Turners mounts then the balancer should not be a problem. It is really hard to sit here and think about cause and effect!!

[N2TRUX]

Phantom,
If I am following this correctly, the Turner X-member with the dropped motor mount stands might create the balancer issue. I'm not sure how close the balancer is to the X-member with the stock stands.

If you remove 1.5-2" from the height of the stand for tranny & distrubitor clearance, the balancer moves 1.5-2" closer to the X-member....

[phantom dually]

Surely Turner has taken this into consideration and has clearanced the front of the moded member to compensate for this!!??

[N2TRUX]

Phantom, I would think so. He seems to have thought his kit out pretty well. I will assume he has made provisions for the balancer...

[N2TRUX]

Chris,
Is you X-member installed in anything yet? I have some question about mounting points, etc. An installed pic would help a lot...

[loweredd]

yeah, the balancer clearance is what was throwing me off too. That and someone said it makes tranny tunnel clearance problems. ????