question on pulling engine & tranny

[rret]

did a search - did not find an answer to:

on a '91 festy i am pulling the engine & tranny as a unit.
the official ford manual says to remove the engine/tranny cradle (i.e. "crossmember") - do i really need to do that?
can't i just undo the engine mount bolts, lift the engine/tranny and leave the cradle in place?

(i'd rather not remove the cradle, as the front 2 bolts are pretty rusted.)

[No Pstns]

Thats what I did. I had the same problem with the bolts being rusted on the radiator support and 2 rear bolts. The nuts that are welded in the floor board broke loose and had to cut a hole in the drivers side floor pan. You should fix the radiator support due to it being a weak point.

[econoaddict]

I just did 2 swaps and did not remove the cradle on either.

[ejp2fast]

if you LIFT the engine/tranny, then the crossmember doesn't need to come out...
if you DROP it out, you obviously do.