1957 front fender / rocker not lining up?

[Darafayen]

Hey guys, I bought a 57 truck a while back but it was in pieces, I'm trying to get it back together and my front fender are not lining up on the bottom with the bottom of the step. From what I can tell I'm guessing they should be close? The bottom of my front fender seems to sit about 3/4 maybe an inch below the bottom of the door and step to get into the truck. Can anyone show me some good pictures of theirs?

[OrrieG]

Don't know about 57 but on 59 the bottom of the fender and door/step sill do not line. Mine is off about 1/4", I focused on getting the top and horizontal crease lined up with the door and cab cowl.

[dsraven]

these old trucks were almost a custom build from the factory, by that I mean they are all different so a fender from this truck may not fit that truck. or a door etc. is the fender/door the stock unit from the truck? the door should be adjusted in the opening first, with the cab bolted down on the frame, then the fender set on after that and lined up with body line and cowl etc. after that check the rocker alignment. you may need to try a different fender or door.
was the rocker/step replaced? maybe not quite right? was the truck ever repaired in that area? does the dimension from ground to bottom of rocker look the same on both sides?

[Darafayen]

When I lineup the top and the cowl I'm off on the bottom. From what I was told all the parts are original to the truck. It doesn't look there was damage to the step or front end of the truck. I haven't had a chance to get the passenger side on yet to check it. They do measure the same from side to side. I'm going to try to get some pics to post.

[dsraven]

pics would help for sure.
check the contour of the rockers because sometimes they get crushed upwards into the door opening so they would be "shorter" that they should be. snap a pic
install and adjust the door to the opening and snap a pic of the rocker to door relationship
install the fender and line up the body line of the door and the fender. snap a pic of how the fender fits compared to the cowl and rocker
grab a pic of the dimension from the body line to the lower edge of the fender, I can compare with mine if you want.(57 gmc). all the cabs should be the same. the difference in years is the front fenders are longer on the 58-9. (ok, there are other things too but for this scenario....)

[CountofMonteCarlo84]

Originally Posted by dsraven

these old trucks were almost a custom build from the factory, by that I mean they are all different so a fender from this truck may not fit that truck. or a door etc. is the fender/door the stock unit from the truck? the door should be adjusted in the opening first, with the cab bolted down on the frame, then the fender set on after that and lined up with body line and cowl etc. after that check the rocker alignment. you may need to try a different fender or door.
was the rocker/step replaced? maybe not quite right? was the truck ever repaired in that area? does the dimension from ground to bottom of rocker look the same on both sides?

This! The Driver's side fender on my 57 sits about 1/4" lower than the rocker, while the passenger's side is perfectly lined up. Can't adjust it any better.

[capnduane]

My 55 2nd is as the Counts, driver side 1/4 in low, and passenger side lines up perfect. My truck appears to be as it was from the factory, never wrecked

[_Ogre]

still waiting on a pic of the offending problem
the rocker trim on the bottom of the step is easily bent if the truck ever got bottomed out on the rocker
2 post lifts are rough on the rockers if you don't pay attention when putting a truck on the lift
when i replaced both steps and rockers way back when, we had to bend the rocker out to line up better than it did
it takes 4 strong hands to do this

[MARTINSR]

Originally Posted by _Ogre

still waiting on a pic of the offending problem
the rocker trim on the bottom of the step is easily bent if the truck ever got bottomed out on the rocker
2 post lifts are rough on the rockers if you don't pay attention when putting a truck on the lift
when i replaced both steps and rockers way back when, we had to bend the rocker out to line up better than it did
it takes 4 strong hands to do this

Yep, without photos this kinda thing is pretty much a waste of time to reply to.

And some "Basics of Basics" on the subject. http://www.hotrodders.com/forum/basi...it-499546.html


Brian

[DransportGarage]

Everybody probably knows this but me, but I thought I'd share it anyway. I've recently become an "expert" at putting the front end together, having now done it about 30 times while trying to align everything. On about the 25th try, as I tightened the two 3/8"-16 fender bolts I noticed the top gap would move, and the bottom of the fender would creep down about an 1/8". The curve of the fender at the door would flatten too, making panel alignment a function of bolt torque, and unrepeatable. Well, guess what? My el cheapo fender washers were deforming, pushing the fender mounting holes to be concentric with the bolt. I put thick washers in and the problem went away.

Hope this helps somebody.

We still need a picture from the OP!