The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Paint and Body Shop Cab Dolly

Bolters-

I'm getting ready to replace the soft rear cab corners in my 1951 3100 during a rebuild. In the Tech Tips Section there's a nice pattern for a metal cab dolly, but I was thinking lower tech and lower cost. I thought I had seen a pattern for a 4 caster model from 2x4's, but it didn't turn up on a search.

What do y'all use for cab support during body work? I've seen shop pictures with the cab on old tires, but hope to get some wheels under there. I assume I can roll the cab onto the firewall while doing the rear corners.

Please pass on your wealth of experience- :p

If you have the cab off I place a sheet of plywood on the shop floor and flip the cab on the firewall to do the cab corners. A word of caution: All work like floor pans cowel sections should be done ON THE FRAME allway checking fit especialy the doors. After this work is done the cab can be removed. 2x4's would be ok for a dolly a little red wagon would work depending on what you want to do. good luck RAy

51: Have 59 cab sitting on home made dolly. Materials= 4 cast iron rollers found they turn 360 degres, 1 4x4 cut to 48" , 2 2x4's cut 59" bolt casters to 4x4's nail and square 2x4's to end of 4x4's sit perfect under cab. Easy to roll and work on everything but very bottom will cross that bridge when I get there. popcorn The Truth is Out There (IT WORKS)

Metal Man - good advice - I have a burb that someone did a lot of floor work / cowl work on in front of me while it was sitting on an S10 frame - the doors no longer fit very well and I am going to have to cut out some of the previous work and probably use a porta power to pull things around to where they need to be.

I have done this on totaled cars I have bought and used for drivers - didn't expect to see this with an AD truck - but after inspection of the work, it is easy to see why it happened, they removed entire sections of the floorpan and cowls and when it was put back together, the floor / bottom forward part of the cab is about 3/8 of an inch to the left - screws up the lower hinge locations of both doors and the floorpan/toeboard area where it mates with the inner cowls looks terrible. :o

MetalMan,
Got a quick question on this topic though I am a long way from applying any answer. My cab floor and toeboard are in very sad shape; tears, half-assed repairs with fiberglass, etc. Additionally both front cab mounts were rusted and one side had torn up through the floor (cab tilted quite nicely, thank you ). Cab was taken off of the frame along with everything else and is now sitting on a cab dolly that I built. My plan, when I get to that point, was to put the doors back in the cab while still on the dolly and use wedges, spacers, whatever to align the doors. I was then going to roll the cab onto it's back and then replace the floor and toeboard. What do you think? Would you recommend a different approach? Thanks for any advice you can give me.

I built a dolly out of 2 x 4s and swivel casters, doubt it cost more than $20, but worked great.
Jeff, I am not sure your putting the doors on to maintain cab integrity theory will work, I would instead weld bracing across the door opening prior to the metal work. I had a welder do my multiple cab panels, and one door did not fit after he got done. But he fixed it.

I feel it is very inportant to do the work on the frame with the frame set level. The factory assembly manual will give clearances and dimensions. The doors are the area that will get you in trouble fast. When I do a restoration I assemble the truck once in primer and check all fits BEFORE final paint.
I take the cab off AFTER all major work is done and clean up welds sand blast and so on. When removing major sections I also brace the cab in a x fashion.
Jeff your way might be OK but as you can tell I would not recomened it. You might need to shim the cab more than average when you get it back on the frame.
To sum up the best way FOR ME.
Do major repairs on a level frame.
Fit check
Fit check
assemble in primer
Fit check
Make corrections
Fit check
Jeff if you did do it as you planned I think you would also get in trouble with the front cab mounts I have found the holes in the repo mounts do not line up. If you did weld them shutand just drill them you would not beable to add a bushing from the bottom of the inside cab mount to the bottom of the floor. The factory used a sheet metal stamping. I make a bushing out of mild steel on a lathe. If you did not add this the floor would deform and not give a positive 'tight' I weld them closed and locate them off the frame. The holes for the e-brake support are often a problem.
Take your time and besure to allway check the fits as you go along, ask for advice if you get into any trouble or have any ? If you follow this advice major work on a AD cab can be done by ANYONE Ray

Thanks to all for their input. I appreciate MetalMan's experience. I'm not doing the cowls, only the rear corners. I think I'll be OK with regard to the doors, as I am not removing anything structural. Please tell me if you disagree.

Brian, I saw your earlier post referring to the 2x4 dolly. Could you please repost the dimensions or describe its assembly? Thanks in advance.

What are others experience laying the cab flat on the firewall to reach the rear corners on the underside of the cab?

This is a picture of my cab on setting on the firewall on the dolly I built out of 4X4's and 2X4's. I also put casters on it to be able to move it around. It worked very well to replace a portion of one cab corner. In fact it is setting on the dolly right now being prepared for paint.

http://community.webshots.com/photo/58753176/58834282bhGeoy

http://community.webshots.com/photo/58753176/58834855WZEsrQ

Thanks Arlyn! Those are smaller casters than I thought would handle the cab's weight!

Hi Guys!

F.Y.I.: The dolly in the Tech Tips section is actually made of wood. If anyone would like the plans I can send them as a .PDF file.

The Tech Tips still lists my old e-mail address, my new address is [email protected]

Randy B.

Thanks, Ray. As I said in my post, I'm a long way away from working on my cab. I've got a frame and front and rear axle in my garage. Everything else is in my buddy's metal building. The cab isn't getting any worse, so when I get to that point, I'll probably take your advice. Plastic sheet on the frame, put the cab on, repair, take it off and finish. Thanks again, I'll probably holler at ya'll in a year or two or ???

Here's pictures of my overbuilt cab cart, It was built from 4X4's, 2X4's and metal deck connectors, the Wheels are 4" from Harbor Freight (On sale) a buddie of mine has 2" on his and was amazed how easy mine rolled compared to his.
http://www.chevygmcofkc.org/Gallery/data/3002/1DCP_1306-med.JPG
http://www.chevygmcofkc.org/Gallery/data/3002/1DCP_1305-med.JPG
I overbuilt it because my cab has been extended so It's a little heavier than normal. Also I wanted to be able to transport it to my sheetmetal and body guys on a trailer safely.
http://www.chevygmcofkc.org/Gallery/data/3002/1DCP_1348s.jpg
Mongo

Thanks Mongo-

Your cab dolly is stout, but I like the elevation. A higher dolly can be a little less stable, but much easier onthe back! :p

Thanks Mongo-

Your cab dolly is stout, but I like the elevation. A higher dolly can be a little less stable, but much easier on my back!

What are the dimensions of the rectangle where the cab rests?
:p

Yeah, it's tall alright, I wasn't gonna mention this part but I wanted it as tall as I could get it and still get it through my garage door (under my house) So I did all the measuring and figured it up, Doodled up the plans so the top of the cart would be at 19" and the cab would clear by about an Inch. Then I was at Harbor Freight and they had those 4" wheels on sale (instead of the 2" one's my buddy used) So I bought them and thought to myself,"I gotta remember to compensate for these bigger wheels." Then didn't remember that til we were setting the cab on the cart on my driveway. Sure enough it wouldn't go through the door so we had to take the cab off and I cut it down about 3 inches, I'll have to measure to see what it's at now for sure.
Also mine's longer than most people would need due to the extended cab.
At both heights I didn't have any stability problems.In fact I've set the seat in and spent several hours sitting in it planning.. (and I'm not a small guy) The whole thing is so long and heavy, the wheels are Cast iron with a thin piece of rubber on them. And I put fixed wheels on the back and swivels on the front so It's easy to steer around.
MONGO

KC-

I'll have to watch the overhead dimension as well. Thanks for the info.

My cab stand was built out of scrap metal.I had wheels on it but took them off.The wheels made it hard to keep the cab staitionary when working on it.It slides easy enough on the concrete floor but if i want to move it any distance i tilt it and slide a furniture dolly under it.Its a one man job and when i get it where i want it i remove the dolly. Ihave a close up picture of the stand in my webshots,my 42 part 2 album in the link in my signature.

Bolters-

Found another low-end option through chevytrucks.org. Visit:
Simple Cab Dolly

Jeff, if you put the cab on its back for the love of god don't get in the cab. I worked an exta couple of days on taking the big brain fart dent out of the back of a f^*d cab and assume a better make of cab could dent as well.