Thanks for the replies guys, getting more brains involved is what I love about bringing ideas here.
....I'm somewhat reluctant to hang something real low below the frame between the axles. The transmission crossmember to support the Cadillac Turbo 400 will hang down a bit, but not as far as anything that could clear the torque converter....
The Seeming low U shaped crossmember I used is really not that low. And it does clear the SAE #2 flywheel housing (about 19.5" diameter) for scale it's a 14" clutch in there.
My front axle is 10" off the floor.
With the suspension completely bottomed out the oil pan is 10.5" off the floor, and the U shaped crossmember is 10" off the floor.
I figure it's good to have something lower than the oil pan, like the front axle and the crossmember directly behind the pan.
At ride hight the oil pan and crossmember will both raise about 2-3" from those measurements, making the front axle lowest by about the same.
If you want to look for one of those crossmembers they seem to be in about every medium duty Chevy truck from the 70's and 80's. I saw a bunch at a junk yard last weekend, we even removed one for future use in an AD 2 ton similar to mine. It does need to be narrowed a couple inches, but that's not difficult.
Also figure if your engine mounts will impose any extra loads on the frame where it is somewhat unsupported?
Grigg
