The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Paint and Body Shop running board to rear fender alignment

Of course when I took my project apart I can't remember the shape of the running boards, now that I'm pre-fitting parts prior to color paint, it looks like I may need to tweek the RB frame brackets up to match the body lines to the fenders and the aprons, note that I am now using both repo RB's and rear fenders on my 1954 3100. I have positioned the rear fenders as far forward as I can without modifying the mounting holes. Note both RB's had been banged up and not straight enough to repair. Does this sound like the proper way to match up the parts?? I'm all ears for any suggestions. I'm learning that after so many years that our old projects have been through you just don't swap damaged parts with new, it takes a certain amount of imagination to make everything fit, Thanks Steve

Did you remove the brackets from the frame? (drill out rivets) I did that and it was a bit of a head scratcher to figure out the right ones from the left ones. The factory assembly manual shows some dimensions.

Very likely the running board brackets have been tweaked along with the running boards, making the repo boards hard to match up. You'll likely need to bend the brackets back to the correct position. The Frame dimension sheet shows dimensions to the holes in the running board brackets. You might need to set up a straightedge along the baseline and use a plumb bob to get the measurements correct. My truck has a couple of brackets that are beyond repair where the it got high centered on the brackets (or at least ran over some rocks) on the road construction sites where it spent its early life.

The original frame RB brackets were still riveted to the frame, I tried to purchase repo brackets twice and both sets were not even close to the originals, Just today I attempted to tweek the left side to raise the height of the rear bracket that aligns the RB to the fender, it is closer to the body lines, I think I can shim it close to where it needs to be, one problem is forcing it upward causes the mounting surface out of level. It does appear that overtime and crashes that all of these bracket are out of alignment, both side will need to be tweeked. can someone tell me if the 54 / 55 RB brackets are different than 53 and older? I've tried two different manufacturers { I think they probably came out of the same plant } I have run into many instances where the repo sellers offer 47-54 and they are clueless of the differences. Thanks for the information and suggestions. I'm finding these forums are more helpful than going through a ton of U-tubes and not finding this kind of subject matter, Steve

I’ve noticed on my AD trucks that the LH and RH running board brackets look alike but aren’t AND that they are front, middle, back specific. In addition to this, my trucks have also had little washers used as spacers between the brackets and the frame. I feel that if you don’t have an original picture of what you took off the frame, are dealing with reproduction parts and don’t have the spacers you’re going to need a paddle whilst up that creek.

I’d try this if t’were me. I would bolt the fender on as centered as possible with the bed holes, then attach the runnin board to the rear fender and , while supporting the front with jack stands, start trial fitting pieces until they match correctly. Could take a while of trial and error.

I love how you figured out how new parts don’t fit! Man, oh man, I wish I had learned that lesson early on. If it’s orignal, and “ok”, fix it. It will bolt rightt up.

According to the FAM, on a 3100 just the front running board brackets are left and right specific. It shows only a single PN for each of the center and rear brackets with no L and R specific number.
Section 2, Sheets 7.00, 7.01, and 702 are the pages that show the numbers.

Very nice, Kevin.

After reading here and reading an article "Restoring the running boards" where they fabricated threaded blocks as spacers, I tried 5/8" spacers which made it difficult to set in place, I decided to "tweek" the brackets, because I needed to lift them. primarily the rear ones, I used cheap 2 ton floor jack until it lifted the truck up off the rear tire, did this a couple of times then finished by using .125 body shims I had purchased for the front clip, a couple on the inside and 1 on the outside, when the rear was close I worked to the next one forward. To tweek the bracket sideways, I had a long piece of square box tubing that fit inside the channel from the bottom up and bolted it tight, this way I could get the bolt holes to align up with the RB mounting holes which seemed to move a little every time I lifted a different bracket. The body lines look really good, the apron is too tight to the cab, without trying to move every other panel, we'll do a little hammer and Dollie work. This finally solves one of my issues on my resto, next challenge is getting the front fenders to line up with the hood. I'm probably going to haul it up to a shop, it looks like the hood is going to need a lot of massaging, I know its a fact of life that this model didn't fit very well when new, but I would like it closer. After that, maybe frenching in the head lights and then PAINT

Hey fellows I am doing this on my truck now and was curious if you found a solution

Best advice that I can offer is to lay the running boards on the brackets without any bolts attached to the running boards to see if your brackets line up with the holes on the underside of the running boards, and to see if the holes in the end of the running board lines up with the holes in the rear fender. If they do, go get a bunch of one dollar bills and start handing one to as many perfect strangers that you can find.
Next, install the special running board bolts to the underside of the running boards install the running board, and install the nuts. Don't tighten them up yet.
Install the bolts that hold the running board to the rear fender. There is a piece of felt that goes in between. don't tighten those yet either.
Install the apron, and apron bracket to the running board. Don't tighten those up yet either.

Now you can start tightening bolts.
I start with the bolts which hold the end of the running board to the rear fender.
I then tighten the apron nuts and bolts.
I then tighten the running board to brackets nuts.

If I have installed new running board brackets, I tighten those bolts to the frame last.