I am not just a lazy :clown: , the body is off of my truck right now because I am in the process of putting an Xtra Cab cab on my SWB frame. Well... while the cab is off I want to make a few changes. I am going to chuck the horsecollar crossmember and fabricate a new x-member, but I am wondering how much clearance there normally is between the crossmember and the frame. I need to know how much higher I can go before contacting the cab.

cut it out and build a new one AFTER you install the body.

I left the old one there. I added a 1" body lift (moved mounts up) and had to slightly hit the sheetmetal up to get it to go.

Just wait til you got the body on then contour the new X-Member to the body.

Thanks for the advice Benny. I -could- wait until the body is back on, but then it will be a bigger PITA to weld in the crossmember, that is why I would rather do it now. I actually have a 1" body lift on the truck and will be raising the drivetrain an inch, but I just need baseline measurements to go off when building the new crossmember.

The original one follows the body contour pretty closely, I'd say 3/4" or so. I'll look under my 4Runner tomorrow and see for sure.

Thanks Drew I appreciate it.

I'd check on my 4runner, but I cut the top out of the collar and havent yet got around to fab'n a brace to go back in yet..... Does it "really" need the X-member there anyways??

Harry, do you have a crawler box? If not you won't need to modify the horse collar for a 1" drivetrain lift.

You could just cut the center of it out and put in a higher piece, would be easier than fabbing the whole thing.

What year? My 80 has the bed off and the cab on right now, I can get a pic if that would help. It is a reg cab, though.

The frame is an 86 SWB and the cab is an 87 Xtra Cab. I will be running dual cases with a CV joint in the back so I think that I will need to make some changes to the horsecollar crossmember anyway. I relocated my gas tank to it doesn't need to mount to the crossmember anymore, so I figure it will just be easier to make another one out of 2x2 box tubing. Just need to know how high up I can go without contacting the body.

Well hell, if your gas tank is gone why not just move the crossmember further back on the frame? Say 6" or so, to match the 2nd crawl box. Further back you go the farther it will be from the driveshaft. That's how I plan on doing mine anyway.

That is a good idea Drew. I might just cut it out for now and put it on after I get the cab back on and driveshafts in.

Originally posted by Dirty Harry
That is a good idea Drew. I might just cut it out for now and put it on after I get the cab back on and driveshafts in.

Gee, :rolleyes: Thats a wonderful idea... :flipoff2:

Harry,

When I put my extra cab on the SWB frame it "JUST" contacted the body with a 1" body lift. Would work out well if you located it front or back a few inches. It contacted on the seam that you can kinda make out on the picture.

http://www.4x4wire.com/4x4/toyota/tech/supra/part2/supra2_16.jpg

Thanks Andy, a picture is worth a thousand words! I am going to use a cutoff wheel and take it out tomorrow and once I get the motor mount spacers from Roger I will figure where I can put it back in.