The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Paint and Body Shop cab and bed shims

got bed off truck to replace cab corners, anyway noticed on drivers side the bed and rear of cab were shimed up about inch or little more. i know it is shimed to level, but why would it need that much shim to level and how would you check to see if it is needed. what is the starting point

Perhaps the PO was so fat they he shimmed up the cab so it rode level when he was driving?

could be, i`m carring a little extra weight, maybe i better leave shims in

Put a level on your frame and check it out. There could be several reasons for it to be unlevel and need offsets.

If after you do as Big Chevy says and the frame plumbs level, you'll probably find the springs worn enough to cause the problem.

I haven't done anything with my 1950, 3600 body yet. I'm planning a complete frame off restoration some where down the line. But I am making lots of notes, measurements etc in preparation.
One thing that I've noticed ever since I got the truck 18 months ago, is that she appears to have a little sag right in the midsection. Well it appears that I have developed a sag in the midsection also but after all, I am much older the she is! Anyway, I’m not talking about a bunch, but when you approach from a distance the cab and the bed looks a little out of plum just a tad mind you. Most people wouldn’t notice it, but being cursed with growing perfectionism in my old age, I do. By the way, that’s probably why I don’t seem to get anything done lately.
There is only about a 1/2” gap between the front of the box and the cab, this seems to small to me. And the gap between the cab corner and the aprons is not perfectly even, being closer at the bottom than the top on both sides.
When I look at the bed blocks they all appear to be in good condition, i.e., not, crushed, splintered or broken. The rear shackle bushings for the cab supports look ok but I’m sure they have never been changed and its possible that they could be dried out and compressed. I find it hard to believe that the cab could be sagging very much from that unless the rubber was completely missing.
The last thing on the list is something that I don’t even want to think about. Being a 3/4 ton truck rated at 5800lb gross weight it is just possible that at some time in her life, Buba looked at the ID tag and figured she could haul 2 1/2 tons and went ahead and loaded her up with hawgs and took her down the mud road to the slaughter house. In which case the frame may have been bent down slightly in the middle.
So wadd, there are probably lots of things that might have happened through out their lives that could account for them being tweaked just a little bit.
Denny Graham
Sandwich, IL

some minor issues i had were because the stock 50+ yr old pad supports were ..... heavily worn. .... when i did my frame off i bought all new rubber from my local capitol rubber supply. i bought 1/4''-5/16''x 3''x6 feet of hard rubber. i cut two strips about 14'' long and placed them under the cab front where (item 22 [the round rubber] is located http://www.lmctruck.com/icatalog/ca/t.asp see page=21) it supports the whole length of the cab bottom support frame where the chassis frame extends outward. i utilized the 1/2'' hole at one end and placed a big rivet to hold the other end. sorry no pics as that roll never made it thru the camera. It's easiest for you to just go look at your support frame and visualize this & do what you want/can.
i used two rubber squares at each of the 6 locations on the bed support. i also painted the wood blocks. if something is saggin unless the frame is tweeked everything would plumb to the frame surface.

Denny:
I'm sure you know but now is the time to find out what's causing the miss-shapes in the body and make corrections. I didn't spend as much time inspecting for problems before stripping her down and fear I may be trying to bolt down a freshly painted bed or bolt on a fender and need to make corrections then.

You betcha Jim. I'm gona do all the straightening I can on all the body work/panels before I unbolt and pull anything off. In fact I'm pretty much re-doing anything that I can and still keep her road worthy right now. When I get down to the cab as the last part to be re worked, I'll pull it and do the final work on the frame.
Been told by several body men not to pull anything off that need reworking, and that only makes sence.
I've got a new set of cab supports on the shelf and I'm gonna pop them in one of these weekends before I tear it all down. It will be interesting to see if that will make a difference. That should confirm whether that is the culprit or if I need to look at the frame a lot more carefully when I get it all tore down. I'm gonna check it out thoroughly any way.
Denny Graham
Sandwich, IL