Review: All-Pro Off Road High Clearance Crossmember
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| http://www.4x4wire.com/toyota/reviews/crossmember |
Short Cuts |
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Written By: Shane Hook 10/2003
Edited By: Harry Wagner
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| The stock crossmember is weak and bulky. |
After tackling harder and harder trails, I realized that my stock transfer case crossmember was in sorry shape. When traversing these extreme trails, I was always hanging up on my stock crossmember; beating and bending it up. After researching my options (and realizing that I could not build my own, as I live in an apartment) I decided to pick up an All-Pro high clearance crossmember. The crossmember arrived only two days after I ordered it and was well packaged. The All-Pro crossmember comes unpainted and just begging for some color. I chose a bright red for an extra bling bling factor. The new crossmember gives about two more inches of much needed clearance under the belly of the truck. This is particularly important in longer wheelbase vehicles, like my Xtra Cab pickup, as it allows for a better brakeover angle. The cross member is conctructed out of mild steel square tubing and is fully welded for superior strength. All-Pro offers crossmembers for all 1979-1995 Toyota pickups and 4Runners with 4 cylinder motors and single or dual gear driven transfer cases.
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| A close up view of the installed crossmember. |
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| The new All-Pro crossmember offers additional protection and clearance. |
I began by securing the transmission with a jack. You will need to take the weight off the old crossmember in order to remove it. Once you have firmly supported the transmission you can take the four 12mm bolts holding the crossmember to the transfer case. Once you have removed these bolts, you will need a 17mm socket and wrench to take off the 8 bolts that hold the crossmember to the frame. Be careful when taking these off, because the crossmember will fall, and it’s heavy. With the crossmember removed it’s a good time to clean up the transfer cases if they have collected any grime from the trail.
You will need to unbolt your front drive line in order to bolt up your new crossmember, due to the design. The install process is the same as the removal process. You will be reusing your old bolts as the new crossmember does not include new bolts. First bolt the new crossmember to the frame with the 8 bolts. These bolt holes did not light up exactly with my truck so I had to hog out the holes a little. (edit, I later found out that my truck frame was a little tweaked, and i believe this was the cause of the misalignment). Then bolt the crossmember to the transfer case mount. I had some alignment problems with the transfer case mount, but it was due to a 20 year old rubber mount. Once I got a new mount, every thing lined up perfectly.
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| The improvement over the stock crossmember is obvious. |
Here is a side by side shot of the old crossmember and new one. Notice the dents and scrapes on the old crossmember, at least partially caused by its lack of ground clearance. It served its purpose, but left the transfer cases unprotected. As a result, rocks were always loosing up the drain plug, causing gear oil to leak out. Now this is a problem of the past. The new crossmember weights a few more pounds then the stock unit, but the new crossmember is a whole lot beefier.
Below are some pictures of the crossmember in action. This picture was taken on an obstacle named the Soup Bowl on the famous Rubicon trail. I dragged the crossmember over the face of the rock, leaving behind a trail of red paint. Despite the repeated beating I gave the crossmember, it never failed. In fact, expect for some minor cosmetic damage it was still as good as new after the trip. Additionally, both transfer cases were now protected and never received a scratch. If you are in the market for an aftermarket crossmember, then I would highly recommend this All-Pro unit.
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| Product testing doesn't get any better than this. |
| Contacts |
Related Links |
- All-Pro Off Road
Department 4x4Wire
541 N. Palm Ave
Hemet, CA 92543
Telephone: (909) 658-7077
Web site: All-Pro Off Road
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