diy crossmembers

[xc2stroke]

were in the process of restoring my dads 95 ranger. were doing from the bed back first. weve got the bed pulled off to start on the rusted frame. the three crossmembers are going to need replaced. its the not the ones that go in between the frame rails but the ones that go over top of them. what are my options for replacing those? ive been reading around and everywhere says to go to the junkyard but if mine are rusted this bad the junkyards probably will be worse. has anyone fabbed their own? how hard is it going to be? im not sure what all attaches to these?

the vehicle is a 95 ford ranger 4x4 ext cab.

 

[r1hatman]

Check LMC, lmctruck.com they might carry them, or you could see what they are supposed to look like and have a welder make you some.

 

[xc2stroke]

ill check with lmc. i didnt even think of them. ill try and get some pics up of the ones im talking about.

 

[yyc_tbird_sc]

If I remember the crossmembers you're looking at...they're straight without any bends or special touches on them. They're there to re-enforce the bed for strength. Find some 1x2 steel tube or whatever size fits, and use that. Weld or bolt on.

 

[xc2stroke]

that sounds like the ones im referring too. i cant quite remember but it seems to me liek they were flat but hooved up along the middle. ill try and get some pictures tomorrow.

lmc is a no go. we'll probably just end up fabbing up out own. is there anything special we need to know about them before we fab some up?

 

[xc2stroke]

i stole this from another guy on the forum. he had a pic of his truck without the bed on it. im talking about the two closest to the cab thats on top, and that one on the back thats slanted. all three of those are shot. i saw in the thread that i stole this pic from he used a 3x2x3/16 piece of metal for the very back one. i take it i can use that. what about the front two that lies on top of the frame. what are those for? im guessing just a flat sheet of metal would work?

 

[GMillion$]

I used 2x4x1/4" wall hss for my rear and mid x-member. I should prolly do my gas tank x-member too, but i didn't fell like f'ing with the gas tank mounting. I prolly wouldn't use sheet steel unless you give it some sort of 3d structure like the factory bits.

For the rear cut out the old one and use the rivet holes to line up the new x-member so that you plug weld there (plus seam weld everywhere else).

For the mid, cut out the old one and weld in the hss in the same orientation.

by the time you do these 2, you'll figure out how to do the gastank x-member perfect!

Make sure you only cut out one at a time and weld up the new one before cutting the other one out or else the frame rails could flex all outa wack.