Cross member is in! It came out great. A little more work than anticipated.... but ain't it always.
I used a Front Range Off-Road Tacoma t-case cross member.
Mounting to every bolt along the case. this leaves a big advantage for how high you can tuck everything up in there and cover it with the skid plates because the cross member does not go below the t-case.
If you haven't seen one they are pretty unique and look like this.
Well the taco and the 4runner share the t-case and this bolted right on but the body of the 4runner comes down really low on the right side so I had to cut the cross member up a bit to contour to the body better.
Other than that the width was perfect. Everything is just fitted much tighter under the 4runner.
Now just gotta clean up and paint.
And a random photo of things to come.
I started tubing the firewall back to the body mount and covered the new metal/welds in seam sealer. Once I finish the fender wells in bed liner it will look like nothing happened.
Funny I used to think my rock sliders were a little short.... now they seem just right.
One thing I've learned is that a body lift (larger the easier) would have made this whole process way wayyyy easier... I've really wanted to refrain from using one since I started this build and that stubbornness resulted in a lot of extra work... but in the end I'm happy as can be. If you are considering triple sticks or using this cross member a body lift of an inch or more would save you a lot of work.
out:
