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I've not found the definitive answer on this, Does the transmission's crossmember actually contribute to chassis stiffening. I am inclined to think that it does. I'm going to weld up my own transmission cross member for my T56 swap and I need to know if this piece needs to be a strong structurally linking piece or just strong enough to keep the transmission from falling down. I see designs like the Hawks, that are just bent metal plate/strap and I think they can't be adding to any chassis stiffening.
Then I see the Spohn and UMI and I think that they may be helping out to stiffen the chassis.
So what's the verdict? Is the transmission crossmember a needed chassis stiffener and the Hawks is a poor design and I need to put something together that works as a support or can I just use some simple angle iron and metal plate?
it might not add a ton of stiffness to the chassis, but it has to be stiff due to the loads from the torque arm pushing up and down on it... i can feel the flex in the stock crossmember in my car since the T5 swap this spring by how much the shifter moves up and down when i get on and off the gas- if the engine is up in it's power band and i go to WFO or let off, the shifter moves straight up and down about 1/2" or so- and that's almost all crossmember flex since i put a poly trans mount in it last year.
