Crossmember Drop
 

I started my crossmember build up last night. I was going to do a 1.5" drop but debating if I want to do 2inch. I am running bill Turner Control Arms. I want to lay frame on 20's. Just checking if anyone knows for sure. I know BillTurner sells 1.25" I am not worried about the steering issue since I am going to run a rack instead of a steering box. What would you guys do?

If you want it to lay, go with the 2"!!
That's about the differance from the frame to the crossmember hight..

Cut the bottom of the crossmember out and put in a plate. I will see if I have any pics of it. I sent my member back to bill turner to be set up for his a arms manual rack and the lower plate. Bill says this will let it lay lower in the front.

member pics
 

member plate??

maybe this one??
 

One more try!!

There it is. In my opinion you can see the diffrence in the two plates. Factory one is ugly also!

Hey FastBagged, exactly where in CA are you at? Near Modesto at all?

Phantom Dually - did that last night. Well I went with a 2 inch crossmember drop! I am going to call up Bill and see whats up wiith his rack pinion. He was checking into a van steering box for me last time I talked to him. I will have pictures hopefully in the next week!
Tim Speed - I'm bout an hour north of modesto- I think! I'm by Pleasanton.

The rack and pinion deal is really easy from what I gather. I got the only crossmember in the world it seems that Bill chose to send me and did not notice that the from Ublots that hold in the factory lower arms were wider than 95% of trucks out there. Because of the u bolt prob I sent the whole thing back to him to make the a arms I got from him and the other parts fit. While he had it he talked me into the rack and pinion setup. I am going with the manual setup from flaming river for the 74-78 mustang II. Bill is a great guy and stands by his work. They can get to be a little slow but thats LIFE!!!! I think the rack and pinion mounting is like two tabs welded to the member and thats it?

Just bought my power rack pinion, motor mounts, panhard bar, trailing arm mounts, and lowering blocks- got to get ass in gear with this thing- Had to vent

Phantom or Fastbagged, please post some pics of the crossmembers and the rack installed if possible.

Mine it yet to be completed. It takes forever to get parts from California to ky!!

I installed my crossmember this weekend. I did a 2inch notch in it instead of the 1.25" it lays the whole frame out on 275-45-18- without the suspension bottomed out. I still need to do the the monster nothc on the rear. I will get pictures up tommorrow!

I was wondering if turner enterprises have a web site if they do can someone post it? Thanks

Try www.turnerrodsntrucks.com The site is not to informative. They also run ads in streetrucks and sport truck every other month.

Pics would be good as I forgot what mine looked like??

No rush on the pics . . .... just whenever convenient.

Here are some pics- This setup is just for a jig till it goes into my suburban. It has no bag in it but it will end up that low once I cut down my bag mounts! I'm running cups for the front with Air lift extreme 2b7's. I'm waiting for my rack to come in and all the rest of my Sh!t to come in.

another

last one, any questions?

Lookin' good!

A couple questions.......

Have you adressed the motor mount issues? Will there be oil pan clearance since you went the extra 1/2" on the notch? I have my engine mounted in the 6-cyl position and I shortened my engine stands about 3/4" (for trans to cab clearance) and I only have approx. 1/4" clearance between the pan and the cross member (with the cross member at stock height (no notch).

Also, that upper ball joint angle in relation to the top of the spindle looks pretty severe with the suspension bottomed out. Is the ball joint stud in contact with the "ball" part of the joint when it's that low?

Also, is the cross member sitting on the ground in the second picture, or is that an illusion? So when the frame is on the ground, is the cross member on the ground?

Well my motor mount situation I'm not to worried about. I bought the mounts from Bill Turner and plan on running the tall solid motor mounts. Or if those dont work I might build a taller set. When I get to the motor setup is when I will incounter this problem. I dont see a problem with my engine being to close to the firewall or the tranny be too close to the hump. Now the oil pan on the ground part- when the whole frame is laid out my crossmember sits about 2inchs off the ground. The frame bottoms out before the front end fully compresses.
The ball joint should be fine once it is aligned correctly. Those control arms are way off right now and that tire is flat so it doesnt want to move with the suspension- if that makes sense. I dont plan on driving it that low so it should be ok - I hope!
Like i said before the the crossmember is off the ground when the frame is laid out.

How exactly do the a-arm legs mount? Obviously there's a bolt through the bushing, but what does it thread into? Or, is it captured on the other side w/a nut?

I noticed in one of the first pics that the new a-arm mounts were held in place w/what look like the factory u-bolts. Did you trim the extra threads off after everything was tightend up or was it necessary?

Once again, thanks for the pics! Please post more once you get the rack.

Scot

the arms are mounted with a round tube that is gusset all the way through. It been threaded about 1.5" inches down. The mounts mount to the factory arm mounts but I decided to weld them in place for a cleaner look.

Ok, just want to make sure I'm clear so bear w/me. There is a tube running completely through the crossmember? The tube ends are welded where they extend past the crossmember & are threaded approx a couple of inches for the a-arm to bolt to?

It looked like the u-bolts from the factory set-up were shaved. Nice touch IMO.