All clean, and a little crooked...

[05crewcab]

For whatever reason, everytime I wash my truck I have to snap a few shots Here are a few from tonight...

I love my truck's look, but one thing bugs me... please note the relationship between the front of the bed and the cab in the last two pics. It is offset about 1/2 inch to the passenger side. how do I fix this to align things again? are there any reference points to use? ...im not sure if the cab is whacked or the bed truthfully. Thanks

[Hubscrub]

i would just try looseing the bed bolts you should have enough play to get it aligned

[hayhauler71]

Originally Posted by Hubscrub

i would just try looseing the bed bolts you should have enough play to get it aligned

x 2 on that

[05crewcab]

Thanks guys. Does anyone have any measurements for aligning the bed and cab or is it more a sight thing?

[frednoah]

It's more of a sight thing. Plan on having a helper, or climbing out from under the truck a few times to make sure things still look good to you.

When we had mine off, I had my father help me line it up, then stand there and make sure it didn't shift when I went to tightening down bolts.

[kwmech]

Check the cab mounts first, they could have settled and shifted the cab

[05crewcab]

Originally Posted by frednoah

It's more of a sight thing. Plan on having a helper, or climbing out from under the truck a few times to make sure things still look good to you.

When we had mine off, I had my father help me line it up, then stand there and make sure it didn't shift when I went to tightening down bolts.

Well, I started the process of loosening the bed bolts....and stripped 4 of them and broke off the others! Not so sure the bed has been off this truck since it was new. the bolts I broke were about half their original thickness, so it is time for new bed bolts, but the biggest silver lining here is that i get to start my back-half "restoration" Basically I'm going to scrape/grind off as much rust as possible and buzz bomb the underside of the bed and frame with rustoleum. This will just be to preserve it until I have the means to do a frame off, but it will look a TON better than it does now. I might Rhinoline the inside of the bed too while it is off... I'm getting excited!

[Hubscrub]

just watch out it will snowball from there and that thing will be into a hundred pieces

[05crewcab]

Originally Posted by Hubscrub

just watch out it will snowball from there and that thing will be into a hundred pieces

I know! I have to be SUPER careful to not get out of control I have a three week deadline on this until the truck has to be back together for a cruise...mark my words, it WILL be back together!

[oldblue1968chevy]

YOU BETTER WATCH IT, YOU'LL BE SANDBLASTING IT BEFORE YA KNOW IT, THEN WHILE YOUR AT IT PULL CAB/FRONT CLIP MOTOR, HECK THEN PULL SUSPENSION AND POWDERCOAT IT ALL

Then bam its all over for a few years...Just replace the bolts and line it up if you ever wanna drive it again in this lifetime!

[05crewcab]

Originally Posted by oldblue1968chevy

Then bam its all over for a few years...Just replace the bolts and line it up if you ever wanna drive it again in this lifetime!

Too late!!!

[05crewcab]

Well friends, got it ground down, primed, painted and put back together in 10 days On to the next little project!

[mr48chev]

We want to see it when you get everything lined up right. I've seen photos of supposedly finished trucks lately that have the bed so far out of kilter with the cab that your before photo looked like perfect alignment. Worse are a couple of trucks with C notches with the beds drooping over an inch out of line with the lines of the cab when you look at them from the sides. No effort spent to get things right when they were done. I like it that you are making the effort to have yours right from the get go.

[jrdv]

Looks good to me! I have the same problem......I want to drive them and not have a pile of parts for years....I guess that's why mine are never done!

[05crewcab]

Well, she is far from perfect by any means, and i'm really just trying to keep her from falling apart until I completely restore it right...my biggest pet peeve is having things be out of whack that are supposed to be symmetrical. no matter what the condition of the piece is.

Here are the bed back on pics...i think i still have some tweaking to do, but it's much better than before.

[pat 70/71]

I have run across this in the past. try and loosen the bolts that hold the bed and just pull the bed into line. measure everything (all the wholes are elongated anyway just for this issue) take your time and measure the cab to the bed (numbers never lie !!) cheers, Pat

[cdowns]

those lazyman rubber fuel lines are a great source of big fires. i'd spend my efforts there first

[MikeB]

Good Job!

Back in 1991, I spent nearly 6 months getting my 69 ready for paint. Lots of that time was spent adjusting/shimming fenders, doors, and aligning side trim. The guy who painted it said the trucks were notorious for coming from the factory with uneven door/fender gaps and "misaligned" side trim, and that mine was as nice as he'd seen. (Insert "pat self on back" icon here.)

As someone said above, be sure to check the cab and radiator support mounts. I replaced mine back then with genuine GM parts, but they started disintegrating just 4-5 years later, so I switched to Pro-thane. That was 14-15 years ago, and they still look like I installed them last weekend!

[eightbanger]

It really does feel good when you get some stuff done on your baby....out of curiosity, how did you lift the bed off?

[Hubscrub]

Originally Posted by 05crewcab

I know! I have to be SUPER careful to not get out of control I have a three week deadline on this until the truck has to be back together for a cruise...mark my words, it WILL be back together!

You were right ^^, looks good

[05crewcab]

Originally Posted by eightbanger

It really does feel good when you get some stuff done on your baby....out of curiosity, how did you lift the bed off?

Not sure how much the bed weighs but it was a PIG to lift off with three people....damn near killed my brother and dad. I lifted the rear by the bottom of the tailgate and slid it back enough for them to get a hand each on the front of the bed, and the front bottom corner. then we lifted straight up and walked it over to the grass and gently rolled it over. the lifting was a bit easier with it upside down for the walk over to the sawhorses.

To re-install, i called up 5 of my friends and it was a cakewalk...should have done that in the first place!

Next time I am going to rig a pulley system from the rafters of my garage...that way i can get the motor out/cab off, etc. when i tear it down for the real work.

[eightbanger]

Originally Posted by 05crewcab

Not sure how much the bed weighs but it was a PIG to lift off with three people....damn near killed my brother and dad. I lifted the rear by the bottom of the tailgate and slid it back enough for them to get a hand each on the front of the bed, and the front bottom corner. then we lifted straight up and walked it over to the grass and gently rolled it over. the lifting was a bit easier with it upside down for the walk over to the sawhorses.

To re-install, i called up 5 of my friends and it was a cakewalk...should have done that in the first place!

Next time I am going to rig a pulley system from the rafters of my garage...that way i can get the motor out/cab off, etc. when i tear it down for the real work.

Cool, now I know that it can be done that way I'm less worried as I haven't got access or facility to use winches and stuff.
Cheers 05crewcab.