[rbaughman]

i have installed a chevy 350 in my mazda b2200 truck with a th350 trans and a chevy drive shaft i have also lowered my truck 3 inches in the front and rear
when i installed my drive shaft i ran in to some trouble
there is a crossmember just behind the truck cab and my dive shaft in hitting the cross member can i cut out this crossmember or is there anything else i can do to get the drive shaft off of the cross member or the crossmember off of the drive shaft?

[Nightfire]

Hm....I know little about cars but I definitely would NOT cut out the whole crossmember, unless you're replacing it with another one that clears. I would just make a notch in it big enough to clear the driveshaft. This may weaken your crossmember but it wont be as weak as with no crossmember at all. The crossmember is probably designed for structural integrity and strenght so I wouldnt get rid of it.




Mike

[strikingthematch]

One thing you could do is as Mike said is notch it out. Then for extra safety (always a good thing) take two plates of steel notched the same way and have about 5 inches on either side of the notch and weld it in there. That way it takes stress away from the notch and should make the piece just as strong.

Chris

[rbaughman]

what if i cut the crossmember off and then flipped it up side down and welded it back on?

[stea]

you could cut the cross member then weld in a drive shaft loop if there is room.

[tm454]

to see if you still have the 2deg near leval plus or minus you require with the drive shaft installed??


Tazz


Rat Rods Rule!

[rbaughman]

let me check the deg on my shaft tonight and ill get back with ya tomarrow