Crossmember

[chevyrestoguy]

Originally Posted by lolife99

.......... Some say a frame "Z" is the cheap alternative. But they create their own issues.

This is true. I Z'd my chassis (2" up, and moved 1" forward), and although the expenditure for materials was essentially nothing, the thing you have to be prepared for is the reality that everything that is associated with the new chassis position is going to have to be addressed.

You have to plan everything correctly and ensure you make your cuts in a very precise location, especially in the front because of the steering box location. If you go more than 1.5" on your "Z", you will have to make clearance on your driver's side upper control arm for the steering shaft. If you don't have a high-hump cab, you may have to do some cab floor mods for clearance. I have a high-hump cab, and I went up 2" on my "Z", but went down 2" on the engine/trans engine mount stands to ensure that the fan and shroud would line up, but I still had to do some mods because I had a late-model serpentine belt system. I had to go from the stock late-model 19.5" clutch fan down to an 18" fan and do a bunch of surgery on the fan shroud. I wound up sectioning 2" out of the inner fenders and reattaching the bottom lips because I wanted it to all look factory. I could have saved myself a ton of work by going with no inner fenders, an electric fan, and a new trans tunnel, but I want people to not see all of the work that was done, and just think that it was all factory.

lolife99 is right. Each way has it advantages and disadvantages. A Porterbuilt set-up is going to cost a lot more money up-front but will require less "over and above" mods on the shroud, linkages, and inner fenders to make it work. A "Z" is the exact opposite. Much less money up front, but much more labor afterwards if you want to do it right.

Believe me, I went back and forth on this for a long time. My thrifty side prevailed in the end.