Bubba I mounted my Maxxfans in my 58 at 1-1/2". I went a little overboard and welded up some 1-1/2" square aluminum tubing around the opening to give me a solid surface to fasten the assembly to. You have to cut a lot of the sleeve off the inside panel, but it seems OK. I don't recall any mention about having 2". I bought mine almost 3 years ago and installed 2 years ago. I remember reading the directions, but probably ignored the 2" minimum.
Here's a picture of the rear fan. I moved it back into the end cap, just behind the last rib. Saw no point in having it a couple feet forward in the stock location and adding a bath fan (which the 58 didn't have). It has a slight angle to follow the curve of the end cap, but its not more than 5-10 degrees. Nothing is hanging down below the square tubing except for the knob to open/close manually.
Linear Mode
