Torque On Transmission Cross-Member?

[Mkelcy]

I’m in the process of fabricating a transmission cross-member for an Aftermarket T56 behind an LS1 in a ’67 Camaro. (FWIW, the Aftermarket T56 was intended as a replacement for the BW T5 in 3^rd gen Camaros and has certain weirditudes with respect to the cross-member mounting pad. The third party cross-member I purchased that worked with the T56 didn't give me enough clearance for the exhaust, the one that gave me enough clearance for the exhaust didn't work with the Aftermarket T56.)

Anyway, I’m using 1/8” thick steel tabs for the mounting brackets to the subframe, and 1/16” thick 1” x 1” steel tubing for part of the cross-member. The 1" x 1" tubing along the length of the car is about 5" long, the one across the car is about 8".

I go back and forth with how much torque the transmission experiences during, say, a hard launch. I want to believe that the torque produced on a launch is mostly (entirely?) controlled by the motor mounts (Energy Suspension poly) and not the trans mount and cross-member, but the over-engineer everything part of me wonders. Thoughts?



This is mid construction, so tubing openings will be sealed, my crappy welds will be cleaned up, etc.