Quote: Did you mean something like this? One negative thing is that it would add a bunch of front end weight and that is what I am definitely trying to avoid
No. I wouldn't do that.
The chassis ends at the front K-member bolt. Anything forward of that is just fluff or because the motor is in the way (which it is of course).
So you do what you can to get your structure as close to the front K-member bolts as possible.
