4x4 LS cross member

[JJH Jimmy]

Not the greatest pictures but here are a couple more.

[First c10]

Jimmy they look good. I am not sure I could make them look that good with the tools and equipment I have access to. Was it 100% fabricated? How did you bend the tubing?

[JJH Jimmy]

Originally Posted by First c10

Jimmy they look good. I am not sure I could make them look that good with the tools and equipment I have access to. Was it 100% fabricated? How did you bend the tubing?

It is 100% fabricated. I used 2" schedule 80 pipe and two 90 weld fittings. I mitered the fittings to about 60* and welded it up. I then smoothed the welds down, blasted and painted it. For the mount point i took a small piece of 2" DOM tubing and welded it inside the 2" pipe and found a poly bushing to go inside the DOM.

[First c10]

WOW they look great!!! I have a $20 bill with your name on it if you can send me one???

ok so where can I find the pre-bent 90's??? because that is probably the hardest part to locate i would think as the rest of the metal you can get from the local metal/welding shop.

Looks great Jimmy!

[JJH Jimmy]

Originally Posted by First c10

WOW they look great!!! I have a $20 bill with your name on it if you can send me one???

ok so where can I find the pre-bent 90's??? because that is probably the hardest part to locate i would think as the rest of the metal you can get from the local metal/welding shop.

Looks great Jimmy!

You can get the 90's at any pipe supply house. Tell them you want 2" carbon steel butt weld 90's. They are probably not $10.00 a piece.

[First c10]

Jimmy that is something I may try. Even if I can't make it work I will be out little money and some time.

Has anyone tried this? It's not for an LS but was wondering if it would be close.

Diy4x crossmember......not for LS

[DWilbur]

Looking at Jimmy's pictures his engine sits higher than mine with the Dirty Dingo mount. should make header selection easier.

[First c10]

Will that help out with the A/C compressor in the stock location or hurt?

[GMC-YA68]

Hmmmm. It is higher. I wonder how high? That would keep someone from putting a lift on to get the clearance. (Thinking out loud)

[DWilbur]

Originally Posted by First c10

Will that help out with the A/C compressor in the stock location or hurt?

The stock LS AC compressor will not work with the older AC system. It is a 2 speed pump. you will have to change it out to work. vintage air has the compressor and brackets needed. Guessing his engine sits about 1.5" higher than mine. I noticed that Ruff Stuff Specialties has an LS engine mount.

[Nitis]

Well I was talking to a guy yesterday who swears he knows of a 72 k20 LS swap that didn't have a crossmember done I'm trying to put my hands on it to see

One would assume if it does sit higher some how the bit could work but what are the downfalls?

[JJH Jimmy]

Originally Posted by DWilbur

Looking at Jimmy's pictures his engine sits higher than mine with the Dirty Dingo mount. should make header selection easier.

The elevation of my engine was determined by the transfer case elevation and 5 degrees of pitch. I have Trail blazer SS manifolds and the flange just clears the frame on the passenger side.

Originally Posted by First c10

Will that help out with the A/C compressor in the stock location or hurt?

There is no way the stock compressor would work with my set up. The cross member is in the way and I am sure it would still be into the frame.

[First c10]

Originally Posted by DWilbur

The stock LS AC compressor will not work with the older AC system. It is a 2 speed pump. you will have to change it out to work. vintage air has the compressor and brackets needed. Guessing his engine sits about 1.5" higher than mine. I noticed that Ruff Stuff Specialties has an LS engine mount.

Hey DW, in my 70 with a 2011 5.3 I cleaned the original Denso compressor that came with the motor flushed it out change the oil etc. and connected it to the R12 system and it works great.

[First c10]

Originally Posted by Nitis

Well I was talking to a guy yesterday who swears he knows of a 72 k20 LS swap that didn't have a crossmember done I'm trying to put my hands on it to see

One would assume if it does sit higher some how the bit could work but what are the downfalls?

I was thinking that it could be done but you would have to raise the motor so the pan would not hit the crossmember. Or cut the pan possibly

[Nitis]

I am not a mechanic so this may sound dumb

Raising the engine would require the transmission to be raised as well so is there enough clearance for that?

And typically from what I have seen or recall its actually the block that's too wide for the existing crossmember oil pans aren't a hindrance. But replacemnt crossmembers then get in the way of the front punkin not the oil pan

[GMC-YA68]

Originally Posted by Nitis

I am not a mechanic so this may sound dumb

Raising the engine would require the transmission to be raised as well so is there enough clearance for that?

And typically from what I have seen or recall its actually the block that's too wide for the existing crossmember oil pans aren't a hindrance. But replacemnt crossmembers then get in the way of the front punkin not the oil pan

No that sounds right. What I was getting at is that if the engine sits 1.5/2" higher than a DD or PacFab mount then it would deter from people adding a 2" lift to clear the pumpkin. This all of course would be great in a perfect world if the tranny and tcase would still fit. Obviously JH's did....

[Nitis]

So educate the idiot.

A. Is it feasible for say a stock th350 or 4l60e to sit that high

B. how would one accomplish this?

I am intrigued

[First c10]

Nitis I would agree with what you said. I have seen the crossmembers hit the block or the oil pan depending on how far forward or back the motor was.

[Nitis]

Ok let's back up a tick

For the sake of argument lets just say one could raise the engine 2" with the stock crossmember this would eliminate the need for a lift.

Is that in anyway shape or form possible and is it enough for the block to clear the stock crossmember?

The reason for lifts is the crossmember a installed to accommodate the LS engine. Jimmy built a new crossmember

[GMC-YA68]

Originally Posted by Nitis

Ok let's back up a tick

For the sake of argument lets just say one could raise the engine 2" with the stock crossmember this would eliminate the need for a lift.

Is that in anyway shape or form possible and is it enough for the block to clear the stock crossmember?

The reason for lifts is the crossmember a installed to accommodate the LS engine. Jimmy built a new crossmember

Anxiously awaiting a detailed response!

[Nitis]

I know there are pictures showing an LS hitting a stock crossmember. So how high does it need to be to clear and is there enough room for the transmission to be moved that far.

I find it tough to believe no one has executed this if its possible by now and also leads me to believe it's also why more than one outfit is producing a specific crossmember for these trucks.

Yes I'm skeptical yet optimistic

[DWilbur]

Originally Posted by First c10

Hey DW, in my 70 with a 2011 5.3 I cleaned the original Denso compressor that came with the motor flushed it out change the oil etc. and connected it to the R12 system and it works great.

Vintage Air said they will work for a while but the pressure they make will cause leaks in an older system that is normally lower pressure. the compressor does fit with the DD mount but hooking up the lines is the issue do to the truck mounting brackets for the compressor. The brackets from a car Camero or Vet might work.

[71chevystep4x4]

I used my stock crossmember, but had to modify it of course. The passenger side is the one that the pan hit, so I cut out the rounded elbow, and squared it up so it would clear. Now, where the biggest modification took place was at the mount perches. The LS adapter plates were so thick, so it was too wide to fall into the cradle far enough to line up the mount holes, plus it was too narrow. What I did was cut out the bottoms of the perches so they'd clear the pan, then I had to elongate the holes a great deal in order to slide the perches down far enough till the mount holes lined up. As well as remove a few pointless tabs from the side of the oil pan, and one from the block. It's a tight fit, but I wasn't about to spend $450 on an alternative.

[71chevystep4x4]

CORRECTION: Slid the perches UP to widen the cradle, and I cut a bit off the top lip so they'd go further, otherwise they stop at the inside of the frame. The holes weren't elongated in the picture yet.

[First c10]

Originally Posted by DWilbur

Vintage Air said they will work for a while but the pressure they make will cause leaks in an older system that is normally lower pressure. the compressor does fit with the DD mount but hooking up the lines is the issue do to the truck mounting brackets for the compressor. The brackets from a car Camero or Vet might work.

Hey D, that does make sense if I were running R134a. The pressures are considerably higher then on old R12 system. I am not sure about the two speed compressors. I just took the two wires from the stock AC system and plugged it into the 2011 compressor of coarse I have a bottle of R 12 hidden away so I was able to do this. I did have to install a trinary switch to turn on the cooling fans and shut the compressor off if the pressure is too high.

Okay back to the crossmember

I want to thank everyone that has chimed in regarding this crossmember issue. When I started this thread I could not find this information in one spot. I am going to attempt to build or modify the stock crossmember and keep the AC compressor in the stock location. I figure if I can keep the stock compressor in the stock location on my C 10 why not the K 10.