trans crossmember relocation for 700r4

[c20pickup]

when I put in my 700r4 transmission I found I had to move the crossmember backwards in the frame. how did you guys drill your new holes for the crossmember being that it (the crossmember) sits inside the frame rails and hides the existing holes? being I cant see what im drilling into on the top of the frame frail and im not able to fit a drill inside the frame rail I don't know how I would go about making an accurate drill hole? did you guys drill yours just close enough and then ream it out? is there a way to mark the holes? or is there some measurement? some people are saying the 700r4 is only 2 inches longer than a th350, but is it exactly 2 inches? is every truck built a little different? how did you guys do your conversion? seems like a fairly easy answer to a dumb question, but I don't want to turn my frame into swiss cheese. thanks in advance

[c20pickup]

how about the x-member offered by gmcpaul? says it works for th350/400, 2004r,700r4. is it universal? how can this be if the 700r4 is two inches longer than a th350??

[leftybass209]

The original crossmember will stop you from being able to drop the pan on the trans. You'd have to notch it. That being said it will work fine. Can't you bring it to the underside of the frame to mark it? Mine was already done. The one from GMCPauls will work too.

[c20pickup]

Originally Posted by leftybass209

The original crossmember will stop you from being able to drop the pan on the trans. You'd have to notch it. That being said it will work fine. Can't you bring it to the underside of the frame to mark it? Mine was already done. The one from GMCPauls will work too.

I suppose that would work.. but I want to drill it and be confident im drilling perfectly into the existing crossmember holes. and that still doesn't solve the top frame rail issue of drilling. maybe I will just drop the 70$ and get a gmcpaul crossmemebr