Front Crossmember ?

Originally posted by TiMe_1



i Z'ed my frame an inch and lowered my motor almost and inch and i kept a stock hood. I didnt want to rebuild my control arms or that crossmember so i did the Z. It wasnt hard at all, you will probably spend more time rebuilding the control arms and crossmember than you will doin a Z.

cant u take or post some pics man? id appreciate it. either post here or pm me thanks

how much of a z is needed? 3/4?? then do i drop the bumber horns 3/4 also?i know i wont b able to keep a stock hood tho. but htats fine i think ill jus rock a hole in the hood i kinda like thta look anyway.
but if i chose to keep a stock hood then i drop the motor mounts how much?

With modding the front crossmember and raising everything that way.. that does mean the lower bag bracket would have to be recessed into the LCA like that or the upper bag bracket raised, for someone doing this after already having bagged the front, right? Still deciding what I want to do also..

Tim - still got those pics of when you Zd yours? those pics were great.

Originally posted by blazedbowtie82



This is what I tried out toay for the frotn crossmember.Don't know if that's how you did it Bobby, but I think it will work. I don't like the drossmember though, and I'm going to build something I like better tomorrow. I also don't have anough room to drop the motor as much as I want to.

that woudl work great except the control arms hang below the crossmember.

You can section the LCA mounts, take an inch out above them and reweld them, but by the time you do that, and modify the lower arm, you could have just z'd the frame. I dont remember who said it, but it really isnt that hard. Ryan (tangelotoy) did his and it took us longer to get the exhaust out of the way than it did to cut, raise and reweld. You can lower toyota motors about 3/4 inch by cutting the mounts, so if you do a 1 1/4" z you will be golden like showers. We did ryans while doing the body drop and he now lays rocker (not pinch) with a 2 1/4" traditional, instead of the 3" that everyone does to compensate for the front clip. It doesnt lay out all ghetto, with the front to back rake like toyotas without z'd frames.

Well, honestly I'm not ready to try Z'ing the frame yet. It seemed like a lot of work to me when I was thinking about it.

So, if I section the LCA mounts, do I have to raise the upper mounts, or will it be alright? Would it screw up my steering geometry to section it? I would only have to move it up about 3/4" now. If I can get my frame to lay flat, I'll only have to body drop 1 3/4" to lay rocker, and that would be great for head room.

I'm not against Z'd frames. But I don't want to try it this time. Maybe on the next truck.

Originally posted by blazedbowtie82



Well, honestly I'm not ready to try Z'ing the frame yet. It seemed like a lot of work to me when I was thinking about it.

So, if I section the LCA mounts, do I have to raise the upper mounts, or will it be alright? Would it screw up my steering geometry to section it? I would only have to move it up about 3/4" now. If I can get my frame to lay flat, I'll only have to body drop 1 3/4" to lay rocker, and that would be great for head room.

I'm not against Z'd frames. But I don't want to try it this time. Maybe on the next truck.

I understand, it just seems like more work the way you are doing it.

Yes you should raise the upper mounts as well. I know people dont, but you should.

and its just at 2" for a bodydrop. You are right about the headroom, I had one bd 3 1/4 and holy crap you couldnt get your knee under the steering wheel you had to go over.

when we did my Z the motor was out which made it easier. with the motor out the truck wouldnt lay front crossmember. we had to take the LCA's off to get it to lay.

we braced all 4 "corners" of the front clip with 1x1 tubing where we were gonna cut.







make sure you put a jack under the rest of the truck before you cut. then make your cuts on each side front and rear using the tubing as a guide.





then lower the rest of the truck the amount it takes to lay the frame rails on the ground. Keep the front clip straight. you will end up with this.







then put your gussets on and weld them up, then weld up the sides and plate them.



it was really easier than i thought it would be. If you got any questions hit me up!

Originally posted by Russ-D



Originally posted by blazedbowtie82



Well, honestly I'm not ready to try Z'ing the frame yet. It seemed like a lot of work to me when I was thinking about it.

So, if I section the LCA mounts, do I have to raise the upper mounts, or will it be alright? Would it screw up my steering geometry to section it? I would only have to move it up about 3/4" now. If I can get my frame to lay flat, I'll only have to body drop 1 3/4" to lay rocker, and that would be great for head room.

I'm not against Z'd frames. But I don't want to try it this time. Maybe on the next truck.

I understand, it just seems like more work the way you are doing it.

Yes you should raise the upper mounts as well. I know people dont, but you should.

and its just at 2" for a bodydrop. You are right about the headroom, I had one bd 3 1/4 and holy crap you couldnt get your knee under the steering wheel you had to go over.



Thank you for your input Russ. I appreciate it. I'll probably be willing to 'Z' the next one. But at this point, I think I'm going to section the crossmember, since I've already somewhat started this route. For some reason, I just feel more comfortable doing it this way.

Tim, those are great pictures. Will be very helpful next time. I'll take pictures of the way I do mine, so that there are two documentations on film.

hey seth sorry for not posting any pics but been sick for pasy 4 days. u need to cut the lower control arm mounts off in a location where 1 inch can be taken out and the mount can be rewelded with only a small gusset.

TiMe those pics are great!! thanks, made me see more of what will be goin on. good call on using the steel for a line to cut along!
now when u welded it all back up how was the steering shaft? is it a slip yoke? i have looked at it on mine but it looks liek its soem sort of metal boot covering the shaft? i assume thsi is where it will slide in and out? did u have to take any of the steering apart to z?will i have to cut it at all?
also drop the bumper mounts the same as the z? or the body drop?? my motor will be in when i z it.
so after the z exaclty how much of traditional bdrop did u do? i want to lay rocker so i guess ill have to cut off the pinch and re weld it right???