Rear crossmember issue... or not?

So I threw the tub back onto my A1 to make sure the new rear crossmember and tub were square with one another and it appeared as if the new crossmember is shifted to the drivers side a couple of inches in relation to the body. After taking a few measurements, it appears that it was made this way. I was sure something was wrong until I looked through some old pictures of the Jeep before teardown and the orginal crossmember looked the same way. My CJ5 appears the same way. Has anyone else noticed this on their A1 or CJ5?

Any idea why they're like this? I always thought they would be symmetrical but never looked closely enough I guess...

 

yup, i'll make that a x4

 

I guess that's why it was hiding behind the license plate on my 5...

 

X4, exhaust on the pass side and license plate on the driver side. Funny how you don't really notice it until you start to work on it or replace it. BTDT!

 

x5 yep I was hot as $@#$ when I put mine on ,, that was untill I looked at my old one lol DOH

 

I'm still trying to get my old one off, any ideas?

 

A torch works well for the rivets. If you don't have one or are uncomfortable with that approach, you can drill a small hole in the middle of each rivet and then drill progressively larger holes. When you get it opened up enough, it'll come out with a good smack of the hammer.

Also, I did find that the K member was welded to the crossmember. I just did some light grinding to take care of that. I was really suprised at the amount of time it took to get the old one off!

Keep at it!

 

uh.....I think I'll drill