XJ Flat Belly/ X member Build. Is it possible? Let's see....

Well, thought I'd do a build on this separate from my XJ build. For those who don't know, my XJ is on about 3" of lift and 35's. I wheel my XJ in big pointy rocks that love to rip on anything they can on the bottom of my rig. I love the low stance of my heep and it works well, but it has it's drawbacks. EVERYTHING under my XJ has been taken into consideration because of it's low height. When you are this low, you rub and drag on rocks a lot. Is this a bad thing? Well, if you have the right armor and have clearanced everything that should be, then no. However, I have left one of the most important items untouched and it's way overdue for a replacement. This would obviously be my cross member. The factory X member is weak and hangs below the frame rails. At the same time, the bottom portion of the transfer case also hangs below the frame rails. This holds me up. Some how, I have yet to have exploded my transfer case. In the wheeling trips I have had this year, I have managed to turn the factory X member into an upside down U shape, which actually lifted my transfer case above the frame rails. Still, the cross member hangs too low. In this next pic, I was denied from getting to the top of this rock, even after repeatedly slamming into it trying to bounce and slide the cross member over the rock....



So, where does this leave me? It leaves me wanting a completely-flat -to-the-frame-rails-cross member, one that is strong, and wanting my transfer case completely out of the way. So first, out with the old....





To do this cross member, I got a clocking jig



and some 2x6 3/16 wall



So after doing some measuring, finding the center, and how much material should be shoved up between the frame rails, I came up with this....









Using the center point, I kinda (yes, kinda) figured where the trans mount should go. I drilled holes and got this....



And this is where I leave you hangin' til I get some more work done!