** YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN ** The truck Chevrolet should have built.

[jbclassix]

basically what I am saying is you may just want to mock the body over the frame to get it set where YOU want it

[Hart_Rod]

Originally Posted by drewskiren

OK, Need a little help with my old body on late model frame. I am measuring where my body height is and need some confirmation. I currently show 19 inches from the top of my sill/rocker to the ground. This is a good hard edge to measure from. Open your truck door and measure from level ground to the opening of the door - top of the sill or top of the "rocker". That first hard edge that the outer rocker firsts starts to roll into the door jamb. This is an easier measuring spot than somewhere on the curve of the rocker or the bottom pinch weld that varies somewhat. Follow me?
I have no weight on my suspension now and it will drop 3 inches with everything installed. (I measured another new truck). What distance is there on a stock truck? If a stock truck has rake measure at the front of the rocker near the fender. What distance do other people have with lowered trucks? Please list how much drop you have to help me convert the results.
__________________

Drew,

I measured 12" at the front of the rocker and 13" at the rear. I'm running a 28" front tire and a 31" rear tire. I have a 5" drop in the front and a 7" drop in the rear. Hope this helps let me know if you need any other measurements.

R/

[drewskiren]

Originally Posted by jbclassix

after reading your post twice I think what you are looking for is body height off the ground? If you are here some points...

body height effects powertrain clearance
body height determines how the truck looks overall
body height effects center of gravity

If you have the engine/tranny I would get them on the frame.
get a set of wheels on (pref the height of the tire you want to run).
mount your front fenders on your cab
set your cab over your frame
center your front wheels in the fenders
set your bed over the frame
use the denali screw jacks to pos the body where it looks good to YOU...
since you are not using a stock frame and building your own custom body mounts the choice is yours. this will also give you a good point to determine your rear axle CL in the wheel wells. Did i ramble or am i way off?

Originally Posted by jbclassix

basically what I am saying is you may just want to mock the body over the frame to get it set where YOU want it

Something like THIS ?????

We had to drop the frame to the ground to get the lift to clear the bedsides over the rail.

[67chevy1series]

over here i think they call that ridin cali

[drewskiren]

Again it is just sitting there, but it looks like my calculations were spot on with channeling every bit of the cross bracing off of the bed to drop the bed down to meet the cab that rides on rubber mounts. I would still love to figure out if this will be normal ride height for cab of a stock 72 pickup. I won't really know until I load everything onto the frame and see where it settles out.

[Dieselwrencher]

Drew, I'm not trying to be hypocritical, but it looks like the cab could go back some more to get the front tire centered in the wheel well. Maybe about 1-1 1/2" or so.

[drewskiren]

Originally Posted by Dieselwrencher

Drew, I'm not trying to be hypocritical, but it looks like the cab could go back some more to get the front tire centered in the wheel well. Maybe about 1-1 1/2" or so.

Yeah, the cab slid a little in all the fighting. It is just sitting on the frame, I'm still afraid to commit.

[drewskiren]

Originally Posted by Hart_Rod

Drew,

I measured 12" at the front of the rocker and 13" at the rear. I'm running a 28" front tire and a 31" rear tire. I have a 5" drop in the front and a 7" drop in the rear. Hope this helps let me know if you need any other measurements.

R/

Originally Posted by hgs_notes

I have 14-1/8" front, 14-3/8" rear on mine. It is basically stock with 3-1/2" drop springs all around. Running 235/70-15s front and 275/60-15s rear tires. There are a few things in the bed, but no glass or interior, so I'm guessing it will drop some once it's re-assembled.

Thanks Rob!! Thanks HGS-notes??? !!

If you extrapolate both of your information, ya'lls measurements are within a half inch of each other. This makes me more sure of the numbers. More to compare would really solidify if anyone else wants to whip out a tape measure.

Using these 2 trucks, I have a hunch I am about a half inch higher than a stock 1972 truck. Not bad at all, but of course I was hoping to be lower before doing my bags and drop.

Thanks again to both of you spending a little time on my behalf. Let me know if I can ever do the same.

[hgs_notes]

I have 14-1/8" front, 14-3/8" rear on mine. It is basically stock with 3-1/2" drop springs all around. Running 235/70-15s front and 275/60-15s rear tires. There are a few things in the bed, but no glass or interior, so I'm guessing it will drop some once it's re-assembled.

[lolife99]

Instead of channeling all the bed cross bracing,... why don't you just raise the bed floor?
(1"-3")

[drewskiren]

Originally Posted by lolife99

Instead of channeling all the bed cross bracing,... why don't you just raise the bed floor?
(1"-3")

Keith,

I was headed in that direction, but I REALLY didn't want to do all that work AND lose space in my bed. If you look back in earlier posts you will find where an engineer here on the board gave me an idea on how to build all the cross bracing into the frame. All within the same plane of the top of the frame rail and no higher. Right now what you see is bed floor riding directly on frame rail and it lines up perfectly. I will pop the bed back off and build the frame out to properly support it.

[Rokcrln]

Drew I would love to help but LowBuk is raised in the air on jacks right now. Have you tried the fit of the motor and trans yet with the body in place?

Kevin
LFD Inc.

[jbclassix]

dont forget you have a taller tire under the frame right now too!!

Have you thought about inverted C-notching the frame under the cross-bracing? You wont be going very deep so you should not be compromizing your rigidity.

I definitly agree with rokcrln that having the power train set will save the chance of a future headache!!

[drewskiren]

Originally Posted by jbclassix

dont forget you have a taller tire under the frame right now too!!

Have you thought about inverted C-notching the frame under the cross-bracing? You wont be going very deep so you should not be compromizing your rigidity.

I definitly agree with rokcrln that having the power train set will save the chance of a future headache!!

The tire I will be running is a 275/55/20. It is 32 inches tall, so really I have shorter tire right now. Great, more work!

[drewskiren]

Originally Posted by Rokcrln

Drew I would love to help but LowBuk is raised in the air on jacks right now. Have you tried the fit of the motor and trans yet with the body in place?

Kevin
LFD Inc.

Not yet, I didn't want it in the way. Also I figured worst case I could do a high hump and be fine. No prob on measuring now, just whenever.

[tdave00]

Awesome build. Are you gonna keep the current front clip or swap to a 67-68 like your inspiration truck?

[drewskiren]

Originally Posted by tdave00

Awesome build. Are you gonna keep the current front clip or swap to a 67-68 like your inspiration truck?

Keeping the 72 just cause that's what I've got and it is perfect/rustfree.

[drewskiren]

I am working on the body mock as we speak, it is going very well. Moved the cab back just a little to fit the wheel towards the front. Wheel base will grow exactly 4 inches. Body line lines up perfectly. All the body mounts look very easy to build. Overall a great night! I put the bed on at 1 inch off the cab. I always thought they should be tight. Does anybody think that will be a problem?

[67chevy1series]

thats great

[extremesounds13]

I am just amazed at the work you are doing, great job!!

[lolife99]

The cab-to-bed fit, looks perfect.
(like the rest of this build)

[67cheby]

i slid my bed forward a little like that also

[jbclassix]

Looks perfect! I never really liked the gap from the factory.

So were do you find the time to do all this! I guess I need a regular job

[ERASER5]

I hate this thread. I look at the pics, read the posts and think "I'm love'n it!" Which makes me think of McDonalds, which makes me hungry. So I say "Make me a sammich woman!" Then I miss reading the thread for 3 or 4 days till the swelling goes down.

Nice progress. I like the bed tight to the cab. Looks good. I'm love'n it! Mmm hungry. Hey dear make me a sam... Owe!

[drewskiren]

Originally Posted by ERASER5

I hate this thread. I look at the pics, read the posts and think "I'm love'n it!" Which makes me think of McDonalds, which makes me hungry. So I say "Make me a sammich woman!" Then I miss reading the thread for 3 or 4 days till the swelling goes down.

Nice progress. I like the bed tight to the cab. Looks good. I'm love'n it! Mmm hungry. Hey dear make me a sam... Owe!

Now THAT was funny!!!

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