The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Paint and Body Shop Running board shims?

I starting working on my '48 half ton today for the first time this spring, and immediately hit a major snag. To set up my question, you should know I had all sorts of problems with the bed, and this may be causing problems with the running boards.

Here's the question: Were there any kind of shims between the running boards and the running board brackets?

I put on the splash panel, and if I attach the top of the running board to the bottom of the splash panel, it leaves a quarter to a half inch gap between the bottom of the running board bracket and the board. If I ignore the splash panel and tighten down the running board to the bracket, the back of the running board falls below the rear fender by about half the heighth of the running board mounting area.

I would suspect that the bed is too high, but I used the correct blocks and rubber mounts.

Any suggestions? :confused:

No shims are needed. Is there a gap between the splash panel and the bed? There shouldn't be, well mabey 1/8 in. The fenders have slotted mounting holes so the they can be rotated to line up the boards. See if the fenders will rotate forward.

Thanks Wilbur, but even if the fender (I'm working on the driver's side now. I haven't looked at the passenger side yet) rotated forward, that wouldn't solve the problem. What it would do is create a large gap between the splash panel and the bottom of the bed.

It might help with front clearance, though. Currently, the front of the splash panel is within a sixteen of an inch of hitting the cab.

When I installed my bed, I had to cut down the front blocks to make the gap right. On the rear I bolted the cross member to the frame without any type of spacer.

Wilbur, did cutting down the front blocks mess with clearance over the hump in the frame?

Do your running boards still have the hat channels on the bottom?

IT PUT THE BOARDS ON THE FRAME. vERY LITTLE TO NO CLEARENCE. NO BIGGIE.

Well, after a day of adjusting the fenders and arguing with the old man, who insisted that everything was okay, I went under the truck (after cleaning out the bed of all the winter's accumulations, parts, etc.), loosened the driver side front bed bolt, pushed up on the bed wood and took out the block. I crawled out, pushed down on the bed side, and magically, everything lined up perfectly. Shims under the runningboards didn't work because the splach panel still jammed against the rear fender where it's supposed to conform to the fender's shape.

Now I have to cut the block, install it loosely, then go over to the passenger side and do the same thing. After that, I'll cut down the middle blocks as well. They're in there without the rubbers because they were too tight a fit.

Here's the funny part. After measuring what I need for the block height, it comes to exactly the width of the block. Hmmm... I wonder if someone at the factory drilled the wrong sides?????