Yeah, I can get one up tomorrow. Cold and dark out at the moment.

 

I thought he'd gained about 1.75 in the front, and Archer put some kind of homemade channel out back. Functional but not pretty at all.
The pics for that showed the skidplate almost level with the frame. I left that thread out because I didn't want the gods of offroading to get heartburn.

Since my rear cross member is out for refinishing, maybe I'll chalk line it and snap a photo.

The trouble with this mod for neophyte owners is that when you raise the skidplate, you expose other components. Instead of the plate being the circuit breaker per se', your gas tank, charcoal canisters (2000-up) and rear driveshaft become targets. Or your improperly installed exhaust.

Edit: Actually you can hit those other items without touching the skid plate.

 

If you are getting so berserk as to spend two hundred bucks on a crossmember though, I would think one would take the time to move, or protect, the stuff that hangs lower..... not much can be done for the driveshaft though...... Independent front and rear suspension? Portal axles??? ROCKWELLS!!!!!!

 

I guess the best way to protect the drive shaft is with driving style - don't damage it to begin with.

 

I think part of the 'experience' though is, breaking things..... If you off road your truck at all, you WILL eventually break parts. Just the way it goes. You can postpone that event to an extent, if you are careful..... but, sometimes, ya just gotta do, what ya gotta do, to get out of that stuck.

 

Tomorrow is here and soon to be gone. Waiting........

 

There ya go. The main crossmember DOES hang down a ways. Looks like with the one linked in the first post here, you could pick up an inch or so of clearance, just have to do something about the rear mount for the skidplate.

 

Definitely a fact. I've destroyed 2 radiators even with skid plates. If you take the right kind of impact, no skid plate will help you.

 

Hmmm. You could take some 2" x 3/16" flat stock and bend it in a shape similar to the back and weld to the new crossmember to bolt the stock transfer case skit to.

 

Shoulda got a better angle on the pic, but, it was dark under the truck, and the pic turned out better than I though......

But, it looks for all the world like everything is up above frame level, so, the new crossmember, and just a flat bar across the frame rails in back to mount the skid plate to, would probably be adequate to the task. The trans mount would be almighty short though.......