High Clearance Crossmember question.

[johnny9000]

Hi, got a question about your engine crossmember. I've got a '71 K5 project that is coming back to life, 2" Tuff Country softride in the front.I want to go with cross-over steering, so I gave your shop a call and talked to Chris(?) I believe. He said I could keep my 2" lift, if I went with the crossmember. My question is: can the your high clearance crossmember work if I change to a newr 5.3l LS type engine and 4L60? Would it have to be modified to work? From what I have been able to find out, i'm going to have to change the crossmember anyway, just trying to figure out if I'm better off with a little more lift or not. Also, if I stay with 2" is it possible to use a shackle flip? More than one question I know. Thanks.

 

[Hogback Fabrication]

Our engine crossmember is built for the 73-87 trucks, we've had customers retrofit our crossember on the 67-72 trucks but it takes some work. You have to switch to the 73-87 style motor mounts as well.

Unfortunately for your truck we only make a 4" shackle flip, the brackets are so high up on the frame that it's tough to make a strong bracket with less lift.

 

[r3dd0g]

Our engine crossmember is built for the 73-87 trucks, we've had customers retrofit our crossember on the 67-72 trucks but it takes some work. You have to switch to the 73-87 style motor mounts as well.

Unfortunately for your truck we only make a 4" shackle flip, the brackets are so high up on the frame that it's tough to make a strong bracket with less lift.

I'm going to post up here because I have a '72 blazer with a 6.0 in it and I'm running a high clearance crossmember from another company (sorry ).

I tried to use the adapter plates that are readily available for LS swaps and they wouldn't work with the competition style motor mounts, there wasn't enough play in them and I ended up completely rebuilding the crossmember anyways. Your best bet for an LS style motor is to have someone fabricate you a custom engine crossmember that is designed for it. Here's a couple pictures of what I ended up with. There was very little of the original crossmember that I used (just the plates that were in the frame, but even those were modified).

 

[johnny9000]

Thanks for the clarification Chris, looks like there may be a very slightly used 2" lift going up for sale soon. Springs have just been holding up a frame and tub for several years, shocks at still in boxes. Never had one, but it seems like the shackle flip is the way to go for the rear.

R3dd0g;
Thanks for posting up pics of your crossmember, back to the drawing board (scribble pad) I go!