Crossmember Complication Revisited

[txfireman110]

/forums/images/graemlins/1zhelp.gifThe crossmember to the TH400 I put in the K5 is different from the stock one /forums/images/graemlins/thinking.gif. I measured and measured again, etc, etc., and the frames are different on the K30 and the K5. The bad part of that being that the K5 frame is wider /forums/images/graemlins/doah.gif. When I asked before, some of you said that it would still bolt up (just drill new holes maybe), but it is too narrow.

I got one bolt in each side on the front of the x-member, but the back side just barely catches the frame, and there is no room for a bolt hole /forums/images/graemlins/doah.gif.

So...what are my options /forums/images/graemlins/dunno.gif, can I just weld up the unbolted side, or what do I do?????
Thanks /forums/images/graemlins/bow.gif /forums/images/graemlins/bow.gif /forums/images/graemlins/bow.gif

 

[scoutillac]

Fab one up out of tubing!!!!

 

[GRAYTEXK5]

I hate to say it, but...I'm glad to hear someone else coming across this same problem! I had a post about a month ago, I was having the exact same problem. but I kept getting the same answer...everyone said it should bolt up just fine. so I thought I must have been doing something wrong. what I finally ended up doing, was just drilling a new hole in the crossmember, in between the existing ones, where there was enough metal to put a bolt through. this puts the bolts a little closer together, so it may not distribute the weight quite as evenly, but I don't think it's enough to make that big a difference. I don't know if that's the only way, or the best way to fix it, but...it seems to work just fine.

 

[txfireman110]

**Any pics of fabbed x-members would be great!**

And ftwk5, what did you swap in?? Glad I,m not the only one who thought I was losing my marbles! /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif /forums/images/graemlins/histerical.gif also, does your new x-member sit on top, or under the frame? Mine sits on top.

Thanks

 

[GRAYTEXK5]

mine goes on the bottom of the frame. it's the stock crossmember from my K5, with a th350, but I swapped in a th400 and the extra length of it put the crossmember right where the frame starts to widen. like you said, I could get the front bolts in, but not the rear ones. I don't know if the K30 crossmember is any different, but from what everyone was telling me, they all seemed to think they were all the same. as far as yours mounting on top of the frame...I don't know if the same thing would work or not, but it seems like it would work even better that way, because the bolts would only be there to hold it in place, and it wouldn't matter so much how far apart they were because you'd still have the frame under the crossmember supporting all the weight. /forums/images/graemlins/dunno.gif