I'm thinking more about the damage to the transfer case and maybe the rear driveshaft, rear end, frame if the front driveshaft goes pogo into the ground. Not to mention the driveshaft possibly coming through the floor into the cab.

All unlikely, but possible.

 

Always good to hear from people that have done it and not just speculation. I ran my last D2 without the front cross member for 6 years. 4" lift and 33's. She did a lot of serious wheeling also. I had a steel front bumper....not sure if that helped or not. I removed it because of my front driveshaft.

 

Your frame was probably completely twisted.

 

The stock 03 I just fixed with the fragged drive shaft took out the TC (wasn't even connected to anything anymore & it was just sitting on the rear TC crossmember), tailshaft on transmission was blown to bits, transmission had nothing but the bell housing left in one piece, destroyed the fuel lines, 4WD Hi/Lo cable, and of a coarse a dent in the floor the size of Texas.

All with a front crossmember in place!

 

Of course, but I'm thinking the other way around. The front end of the driveshaft goes into the ground, jamming itself, and the momentum of the truck moving forward makes the driveshaft act like a vaulting pole breaking the universal joint and sending the driveshaft through the floor that direction, into the back probably.

 

Back when I had Jeep's drive shafts exploding was actually pretty common (cheaper than a D2 front shaft....). Some guys had full body skids which prevented the shaft from dropping & boy what a nice surprise was hidden under there vs the guys without any type of skid.

Most of the D2 shafts I've seen explode at the double cardon side, so it "should" fall to the ground and then spun by the front diff, but of coarse it's going to rotate on it's way down. It's not going to lift the vehicle up like it would if the front u-joint broke as yep that'll drop and dig into the ground big time!

Sucks either way lol, but I wish I had taken pics of the diaster I worked on. It was almost as bad as a friend back in my Jeep days that flat towed his LJ, but the TC popped into gear exploding everything at 70-75MPH. He was clueless pulling it until people flagged him down to stop. The floor was almost completely blown out, both seats were hanging by just their outer bolts, transfer case was hanging by what was left of the linkage, case was blown apart, front shaft took out the oil pan, exhaust, cats, transmission was in pieces, and the rear shaft had grown down to a flat bar looking piece of steel. He damaged several vehicles behind him & his Colorado trip was over before it had even begun. It was totaled, and he never flat towed anything after that.

 

The front cross member can also be a convenient place to jack up the front of the truck. However I always feel really sketched out doing it (is it strong enough...?) and quickly move to jack stands.

the front of the frame is really high off the ground so you need a bunch of wood

 

Anyone without a front crossmember on for daily driving, needs to try bolting in on now. Odds are it'll be a pain to get the bolts lined back up. If you do get the front cross member back on, you should notice an improvement in on road cornering and handling. They really do help with flex and body roll.
I'm just thrilled that we'll be drilling out most, if not all, of the front cross member bolts on my 04 in the next few weeks. I have a seal kit for the transfer case.
Rear cross member bolts seem like they all might, might, thread out ok. Then my Disco Should be leak free!!

 

If that little wimpy bolt on brace improves handling it might as well save ya MPG as well.

If you wanna talk about a crossmember crawl under a RRC/D90/D110/D1. That sucker is 4-5 times bigger vs the D2's Home Depot looking steel.

It makes a 30min exhaust removal turn into a complete nightmare if the bolts are seized, the 10mm bolt heads are about as hard as a sponge, and disconnect one side & flex it. It will bend the thin metal around the bolt heads.

It is a support, but take that D2 thru some rocky trails and put the D2's weight on it, and I'm nearly 100% it will not be straight.

I've taken 3-4 of those things off and noticed no difference except how much quicker & easier I can work on stuff!

 

Yes, it's a pain to get off, but only from corroded bolts.
Yes, it's wimpy...but so are strut tower braces.
It does not have to be heavy duty to improve ON road handling. Which is what it's designed for.

This is basically the same argument that heavy bumpers improve frame flex. Which is 99% false also. Both ends of any span can be as rigid as you like. But without bracing throughout the span, it still flexes easily. The stronger the bracing, the more rigid it will be...to a point. The 2 small crossmembers do more in their stock location, than one twice as thick as both of them in the center.
As said, this is for on-road driving, cornering, body roll.
They work, and do what they are designed to do.
If you don't want to run them, no the truck won't collapse, and it's yours to drive however you like.
But opinions don't change facts, it is simple engineering.