Replace your JK's weak stock transmission crossmember with Poison Spyder's Extreme Duty Crossmember! This ultra-beefy crossmember is constructed of two pieces of CNC laser cut, precision brake-formed 3/16" plate steel. Check out the damaged stock crossmember in the photos below. When getting high-centered on the rocks, with the entire 5,000+ pounds of a trail-ready JK resting entirely on the crossmember, it can tend to bend upward in the middle, or as we say, "Taco". The double-wall sides of the Poison Spyder Extreme Duty Crossmember put the extra strength where its needed most to prevent the Taco-effect—in the side walls of the crossmember. This specific part number is designed to fit 2012 & later JK's.
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Product Description
The 3/16" (.188" thick) top plate and bottom plate provide far superior protection against dents and bends than the stock crossmember, which is made of a piece of 1/8" (.125" thick) and 14-gauge (.083" thick) stamped sheetmetal. Incredibly, the Chrysler engineers decided to put the much thinner 14-gauge piece along the bottom, making it crumple at the mere sight of rocks. The steel used in the Poison Spyder crossmember is 33% thicker on the top plate, and 2½ times thicker on the bottom plate. And the 3/16" steel plate of the Poison Spyder Extreme Duty Crossmember has brake-formed corners all the way around—there are no welds on the box corners.
Inside the crossmember, Poison Spyder fabricators have welded in four DOM tubing spacers to provide crush-proof strength at the crossmember mounting bolt locations. These are made of .120" wall DOM tubing. Compare that to the stock crossmember, which uses stamped sheetmetal spacers.
The Poison Spyder Extreme Duty Crossmember matches the external dimensions and bolt locations of the stock crossmember. All stock skid plates that were attached to the stock crossmember attach to the Poison Spyder Extreme Duty Crossmember. Any other manufacturer's aftermarket skid plate system that attached to the stock crossmember should still attach to the Poison Spyder Extreme Duty Crossmember.
The Poison Spyder Extreme Duty Crossmember is shipped as bare steel, ready for you to paint or powder coat in the color of your choice. This part number is for year model 2012 & later JK's, both 2-door and 4-ddor, with either manual or automatic transmission.
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Image Galleries
Here is our entire collection of images for this product. We're constantly adding more photos so check back often if you don't see a shot with a specific angle or installation you are looking for. Do you own this item already? We'd love to have your photos to add to our collection. Just send the hi-res images via email to [email protected] .
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Features & Benefits
At Poison Spyder we strive to build superior features into every aspect of each product we make. Every feature has a reason for being included in the design. Here are a list of the most important of these features, along with an explanation of the benefits of each. Consider these important factors when shopping for products, and compare the competition to Poison Spyder's features and benefits!
Feature Benefit
Stock Dimensions The Poison Spyder Extreme Duty Crossmember conforms to exterior dimensions of stock crossmember so that it snugly fits into the stock mounting location. Easily installs without cutting, grinding or welding. OE equipment and aftermarket skid systems mount to the Extreme Duty Crossmember the same as the OE crossmember.
3/16" plate steel construction Fabricated from material that is 33% thicker than the OE crossmember's top portion (1/8") and over twice as thick as the OE crossmember's lower portion (14 ga., or .083").!
Double-thick side-walls The sides of the crossmember, which provide the most strength against "taco"-ing when high-centered on a rock, are double-thick 3/16" steel—that's an incredible 3/8" thick side-wall!
Fully welded entire length Unlike the OE crossmember, the top and bottom halves of the Poison Spyder Extreme Duty Crossmember are welded together with a series of continuous, full-length welds--no weak spot welds or ugly robotic stitch welds.
DOM bolt sleeves Mounting bolts pass through welded-in, .120" wall DOM sleeves to prevent them from crushing the crossmember. The OE crossmember uses weaker, stamped sheetmetal spacers.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Got a question about this product? We've tried to cover the most frequently asked ones below. You may also want to check our Master FAQ Page for more general questions about Poison Spyder, our products, ordering and shipping. Don't see an answer to your question? Ask our sales department by email at [email protected] , and we'll get back to you as soon as possible with the information you need.
Q: What's wrong with the stock crossmember on my JK?
A: Take a look under just about any Jeep JK that gets used much off-road. Chances are you'll find that the stock crossmember is pretzeled, taco'd, and mangled. The reason is that its made out of just 1/8" (.125" thick) and 14 gauge (.083" thick) stamped sheetmetal. And incredibly, Chrysler for some reason decided to use the thinner of those two materials on the bottom surface of the crossmember. The stock crossmember is ill-suited to withstand even moderate abuse, as just about any rock, log or other trail obstacle it comes in contact with will damage it. The result is that the transmission, and the rest of the drivetrain, can be pushed upward and misaligned.
Q: Why do I need an Extreme Duty crossmember?
A: There are at least two other aftermarket crossmembers available on the market, both of which claim to be "heavy duty". But the Poison Spyder crossmember is demonstrably superior in design and strength, making it worthy of its "Extreme Duty" designation. The 2-piece overlap design of 3/16" (.188" thick) steel yields a fully boxed, full-length welded structure that is a beefy 3/16" thick on top and bottom, and an outrageous 3/8" (.375" thick) along the sides, providing unmatched strength against both denting AND bending upward ("taco"-ing). Do you really need Extreme Duty? Maybe, maybe not, but by the time you find out its too late. And for the same price or less than the competition, there's no reason to settle for the weaker design.
Q: Will the Poison Spyder crossmember work with other manufacturer's skid plates?
A: The Poison Spyder Extreme Duty Crossmember should work fine with any manufacturer's aftermarket skid plate, as long as that skid plate is designed to attach to the OE crossmember. The Poison Spyder piece matches the OE piece in exterior dimensions and bolt locations.
Q: How much does the Poison Spyder Extreme Duty Crossmember weigh?
A: The '07-'11 Extreme Duty Crossmember weighs 30.4 lbs. The 2012+ Extreme Duty Crossmember weighs 33.5 lbs. Compared to the stock crossmember, which weighs approximately 16.4 lbs. Yes its more weight, but this is where you NEED it! The PSC crossmember is almost twice the weight of stock, that means it has almost twice the amount of steel. And with the superior design, it is more than twice as strong.
Q: How do I paint/coat the inside of the Crossmember?
A: Getting a good coat of paint into every nook and cranny of the interior of the crossmember may be a challenge. Note that powder coating most likely will not provide much coverage on the inside surfaces. We've heard several good suggestions for coating the interior. First, try to use some sort of a rust-preventive coating rather than just paint. Products such as POR-15 are ideal for this. For application, you can tape up the holes and pour the coating through, or use some sort of a spray system that has a long wand. One product that combines both a suitable coating and a long applicator nozzle is Eastwood's Internal Frame Coating With Spray Nozzle . Thanks to user "jeeperjkjeeper" on JKFreaks.com for that suggestion. Finally, if you have local access to a plating shop, CAD plating would probably be the best solution.
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Competitive Comparisons
It's a crowded market with a lot of manufacturers competing to earn your business. Here we've assembled a chart with a few of the key competing products in this product category, to assist with your shopping. We've tried to make sure this information is as accurate as possible, but if you spot an inaccuracy on this chart please let us know at [email protected] .
MFG & Prod Name Base Price Material Thickness Side-Wall Thickness Fully Boxed Continuous Welds Bolt Sleeves
PSC Extreme Duty Crossmember $209.00 3/16" 3/8" (3/16" X 2) Yes Yes .120 Wall DOM
Jeep OE Crossmember $748.00 (from Jeep Dealer) 14ga bottom 1/8" top 14ga. & 1/8" (3/16" X 2) Yes No Stamped Sheetmetal
Full Traction $289.99 3/16" 3/16" No No Info N/A
OR-Fab $189.99 3/16" 3/16" Yes Yes DOM
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