I worked today at installing the Crown Victoria suspension crossmember in the pickup. The plan is to run the bolts through from the bottom to 3/4" bar stock on top of the frame rail. The factory system on the Crown Victoria wasn't quite this stout, but it's ok to overbuild a little. I may also box the frame around the crossmember to give it a little more support since it's the attaching point for the engine and the whole of the front suspension. There are also crush tubes around the bolts. My Dad is a machinist, so he made the parts for me out of some steel I bought at Metal By The Foot. I told him the wrong size on the rear crush tubes, so I'll have to take them back up to the shop and face a little off of them to get them to slide easily under the rails.
After this crossmember was installed, the frame became so much more rigid. I need to fabricate a mount for the trailing section of the lower control arms and apparently I've lost one of the nuts that holds screws onto the bolts on top of the crossmember.
