Hey guys, I'm trying to lay out my 63 longbed, the rear of the frame is done, but I need to take care of the front end issues. I already have 2.5 inch drop spindles, but I am hitting the crossmember/arms on the ground when I lay it out up front. Anyone know of any front end swaps that can be done on a buget of cheap that will allow me to have a higher front crossmember? Any help is greatly appreciated! I will post some pics of how its coming along later.

if you have the cash flow you can do the dropmember

or z the frame

Yea, a dropmember would be awesome, but cash is an issue here. I thought about z-ing the front end, but might not be the best idea. I was just wondering if any other otions were out there.

not to sure but maybee tubular control arms and help with the issue

What about sectioning the stock crossmember. Saw one done here, i think they sectioned 1 3/4" . It looked great and super cheap if you can cut and weld. I probably saw it in the 67-72 truck section as thats where i spend most of my time.

Jason

here's a link to a sectioned crossmember
http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/showthread.php?t=189894

There is also a sectioned crossmember in a thread started by fletch4x4. I cant seem to figure out how to link it but i search for crossmember section.
HTH
Jason

.....check the latest issue of "classic-trucks" ...and hope you win the lottery....

If you are going to go through all that cutting and welding, I would Z your frame instead of sectioning the cross member. IIRC you can only section the cross member about 1-1/8" without running into issues like tie rods hitting and stuff like that. They both have their headaches, but to me Z-ing is less of a headache and you get more drop. I Z'd my '63 frame 3" and I'm running 3" dropped spindles with bags. The frame hits the ground before any part of the front cross member does. Just my 2 cents. Check the suspension forum for more ideas.