Yes, I used a piece of oval tubing in the center of my exhaust, but I took the cheap way out, I squashed a piece of round pipe. It's not hard, weld a end plate on the tube, then fill it with sand, than weld another plate on the other end. Find someone with a hydraulic press, set a stop to the thickness you want, I think mine are 1 3/4".
As for ride height, my Alterk and the trans pan are about 4 1/2" from the ground.