The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk Trying to get the feeling again....

Ok, thats an old Manilow tune. I have been in a funk with the GMC. After literally years of work, It's back together...Almost complete actually. Then, I get to noticing that the box and the cab are all jaberwocky. Looking from behind, the bed tilts one way in the front and the other way in the back. I don't know what the problem is. Many a night I laid in bed, trying to figure out what went wrong and what am I going to do about it.

Last night, I decided to get underneath and start running a tape measure. The cab is not parallel side to side with the frame. I took the offending cab mount loose and put some spacers between the mount and the cab. It started to look better.

I measured the front of the bed to frame distance on both sides. Its close but not right on the money. Its going to take some engineering to level that out since I built my own steel floor for the bed. Maybe just cut a slot in some washers and slip them in around the bolt on the front corner. We will have to see how that works out.

Still, the back passenger corner of the bed takes a dip. Not sure how I am going to handle that. If I space the cross sill up, its going to make the bumper look askew.

I must have missed something back when I started. The frame must be tweeked or something. I am in way too deep to take it all apart and start over. I am on the verge of losing interest in the thing anyway. It doesn't have to be perfect, I never intended it to be. It was a total basket case when I got it. The springs are wore out and drooping, the shackles are in the same shape. Maybe that has something to do with it. Another thousand bucks to put new springs all the way around? I'm not feeling it, being at least $8000 into the thing now. Or maybe whats another thousand and dozens more hours?

I did notice a bunch of ugly stuff in the seee-through fuel filter while i was wallowing around underneath it...that probably explains why after running so sweet for awhile it wont idle or pull a load anymore.

Anybody got any suggestions out there? Or got your own story? Maybe this is just a rant.

At this point, I think finishing it would be the best medicine. I know what its like to get to this point, but working through it helped me. Stick with it, you be glad you did.

50jimmy,

My heart goes out to you. The situation you are experiencing is the reason I decided to do a frame off restoration of my truck. The frame for my truck had been damaged. I was too concerned with rust and any other damage that I did not see that it was not sitting straight. It probably did not help that it was sitting on dirt and not pavement when I looked at it. One side was bent down in the front and the whole frame no longer had any torsional strength. There must have been some broken rivets somewhere in the crossmembers. I replaced the center K-member with a new x-member and the frame stiffened up very well.

On another note, if your springs, shackels and all mounting hardware are not in like new condition, it will be difficult to determine the cause of your tweaked frame. I spent many hours under my truck measuring to find the problem and it was very difficult. In the end, I did not find the real problem until I took the truck apart.

Goood luck with your 50.

E-e-easy, now. Take a deep breath and remember why you got the thing in the first place.
Start with something known to be good...is the floor level? Got 4 identical jackstands? Flashlight? Tape measure?
Let the suspension "dangle" and measure from the floor to frame at lots of points, especially where crossmembers are. And don't forget those diagonal measurements. We're not worried about 1/16" here or 1/8" there...
If the frame is reasonably straight, double-check those cab & bed mounting points: rubber parts, bracketry, etc. A couple shims won't hurt if that's what it takes.
If the truck looks good up on stands, maybe the suspension is the culprit. Check the springs, perches, shackles, bolts, etc.
Am I saying anything you haven't already thought of? Sometimes just seeing/hearing it makes it look/sound a little easier. After all these years, could you really give up? Just think how cool it'll be to drive...even if it takes a little longer.
Best,
cm

What starfire4 said.

I know you guys are right. I guess I was venting a little. When i started this project, I tore it clear down to the frame but left the cab on, and I thought I had done the frame check like you all described. I also have moved and dont have a level floor to work on anymore. I musta missed something. There is also the fact that all four points of the suspension are in sorry shape and could be affecting how the thing sits. It will be alright. This whole project has been more about improvising than restoration anyway. I agree the best cure would be to get the last of the little nagging things done that are preventing me from getting it out on the road done, and drive it.

One transmission swap, one new fuel filter and a carb cleaning, one drivers door that will stay shut, cotter keys in the tie rod ends and fixing one very dim turn signal, and it could actually be driven somewhere. The rest of what needs done is just to make it pretty.

..relaxxx, calm down, don't stress, take it eassssy. I actually have a little "toy" that says this. Every time my wife sees me getting aggravated she squeeze's it and it always makes me smile...and gives me the lift to work on the projects "one more time"

Sometimes we just have to know we are not the only one that is up against a rock. But, with a little attention the rock can be moved. Got to it. Have at it. Kick its butt. You CAN do it..... now if I can just take my own advice

Edit: just my opinion but I would start with rebuilding the spring shackles. Its not THAT big of a job and you don't have to take out a bank loan to get it done. Once thats done, MARK IT OFF THE LIST, and then on to the next item.

That sounds about on par for me and my general car restoration experiences.

You already know that you will need to address the suspension at somepoint, but just get up and running and drive the truck for awhile before dropping more cash and time into it.

Jaborwocky or not, it's gonna be fun to drive. That what the thousands of dollars and years of effort were for.

My advice would be to back into parking spaces until you figure it out

A while back, someone (Alvin, was it you?) discussed the idea of spending just 5 minutes a day on the project. Not a bad thought.

Just go out and take care of some of those little things you mentioned--something that won't take very long, yet when you're done, you can see the progress. Also, there are times when you just need to sit out there and stare at it for a while.

Before you know it, things will start looking better, and not only that, YOU'LL start feeling better!

Good Luck!!

Rich, yes, it was me. While I am dragging some on my project I still give at least FIVE minutes a day to the project. It is still moving although its slow...... but its moving and I find that the five minutes really add up and I also find that 5 minutes usually turns into to 10 or even 30 minutes.
Just today I blasted about 10 minutes on the gas tank I have in my bead blasting cabinet. At the rate I'm going it will take me a week to get it all done.... but it will be done.... five minutes at a time. Then, I came in the house and looked up some parts. That counts to!!!