Trans. Crossmember vs. Exhaust Clearance

Hey i was just about to head out for the trails and i was thinking about future mods to help keep the rig trail ready and safe for not only myself/ passengers but for the rig itself as well..... and it hit me, something i've been meaning to ask you guys. I don't know why toyota decided to do this just like the many other things i don't know why they decided to do what they did, but why would they make the exhaust lower than the trans./ crossmember, personally i'd rather have the crossmember hitting before my exhaust that's bolted to the motor and down the line adding stress etc... we all know what happens when an engineer designed something you don't like, you do a mod to make it more to your standards. Now have any of you done anything to protect/ cover this area? I know you can always lift and go higher but i guess i just want to be anal on this one. I've thought of bolting something to the crossmember to hit before the exhaust would, but it doesn't seem practical, nor does it make sense to take away clearance. I did a search and couldn't find anything on the topic, i also checked out undercarriage plates for our rigs but nothing is coming up more than skid plates for the front. Maybe there's aftermarket exhausts that don't do this? I just wanted to throw it out there and see what you guys have to say. And by all means if this has been covered please redirect me and i apologize for the poor searching abilities.
- JohnO