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Cab alignment

Plowdoggy

Plowdoggy

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Monterey, Ca
I noticed that the hood alignment is off where it rubs slightly with the left fender when shut. I also noticed that the gap between the rear of the cab and the bed is also slightly off. Also the foot starter is not exactly centered up with the cab hole. This leads me to believe that the cab is slightly twisted. How hard is it to loosen the cab mounts and adjust the cab to bring it back into alignment? Is this something a body shop should do or can I make a backyard repair? The amount of adjustment is very small in order to get a consistant gap between the hood and the fenders. Seems relatively simple but I don't want to risk making things worse or wind up chasing my tail in frustration. Body aligments are tricky business. Any advise?
Thanks
 

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Plowdoggy

Someone will get on here and tell you how to do this the easy way. I did it in the garage over a couple of weekends. Put the cab on then the front end sheet iron and then cussed because I over tighten bolts and couldn't move things around. You can move the cab but you may have to move the front end sheet iron too. Besides where's the fun in taking it to someone else? BTW... I'd be lucky to get 5 of the 100 points from a blind judge at the car show.

Papy
 
I have not done anything yet. Still exploring the options. I have not examined the rubber mounts so I guess that's next. I have visions of taking the the front sheet iron apart but I don't know if I'm up for it.
 
You should change all the rubber under the cab. Then remove the front fenders off the cab and also separate the from the inner fender wells to replace the rubber on the inner fender wells to the fenders . Then make sure the radiator mounts are good. All these led to misalignment. Also keep track of where and how many shims that came off the top of the back cab mounts so you can put the back as they will affect door operation.
 
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Which way is the gap between the bed and the cab? Is it open at the top or closed at top and open at the bottom? the whole process of aligning everything is net hard just time consuming.
 
You didn't mention what year the truck is so there are a couple of rear mount options. The front two bolts are 1/2" in oversize holes so some shifting about is possible. If nothing else you can drop down to 7/16 and get more wiggle room. The rear mounts changed between 47 and 55.1 so different approaches are used. Holes can be elongated in the center or outside mount plates but if the "shackle" type in the rear then shims are needed to shift the cab one way or other. It's not anything that you can't do in a home shop.
 
It's a 1953. The cab seems to be rotated counter clock wise just slightly causing the the cab to be closer to the bed on the drivers side. Its like I want to just twist the cab on the clockwise position just a little bit to square it up. I think it may be more involved. I'm going to install a front disk kit maybe I will remove the fenders and fiddle with it then.
 
Have fun

I used the front disc conversion kit from Speedway and could not be happier with the results and especially the price as well.

Good luck with getting your hood alignment better than what you already have. It's a bitch. Also, my cab alignment gave me fits too. You must remember that these trucks were not well aligned when they came out of the factory. Perfection was the exception, not the rule.

Andy
 
Bed Mounts

I have not checked the bed mounts but I don't think it has much to do with the hood not aligning with the front fenders. Bad weather has hampered my ability to give everything a good look.
 
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