I was working on an 01 pathfinder the other day and notice it had completely boxed in lower control arms... I know that mine isn't on my ranger and thought that nissan had a really good idea there... If I welded a solid piece of steel in there it would not only add strength but also serve as a skid... The way the control arms are designed... you can basically wedge yourself on a rock and not be able to get off because of the design of the control arm....

Let me know if this has been done before or if you have any input on this topic for that matter lol

 

it has been done.
if you box it in, dont just plate the opening, weld in supports in the middle that connect the sides, and top and bottom. similar to the guy on here who built his own lower control arms.

 

Oh... I thought I was onto something new lol Alright... I may do it... I may not... I'll post pics if I do. Thanks