Cab to frame bushing worries.

[In The Ten Ring]

My front cab-toframe bushing bolts were tac welded in at the factory (thanks for nothing GM!). Anyway....I have those out now but my floor holes aren't perfect....

I've ground down the old tac welds but the driver's side hole is anything but flat.... (pic is of the passenger side which is much, much better than the driver's side).

Is this something I need to worry about? Will my new bolts align properly with the holes in the frame bracket?

[MidLifer]

Same thing happened to me when I ground my bolts out - when you torque them down the floor should flatten back out. It's just sheet metal. If you're worried, you can try pounding it out with a hammer and a rod.

Changing the cab bushings was one of the best things I did to improve the ride of my truck. You will be happy you did it, and soon you'll forget all about the deformed metal.

[In The Ten Ring]

Well thanks man. I have wanted to replace these since about 1994.

Did you use the washer? If I use the washer the bolt head will protrude nearly 3/8 of an inch. I don't think it will really hurt the new floor mat though. Thoughts?

[LockDoc]

Originally Posted by In The Ten Ring

Well thanks man. I have wanted to replace these since about 1994.

Did you use the washer? If I use the washer the bolt head will protrude nearly 3/8 of an inch. I don't think it will really hurt the new floor mat though. Thoughts?

I would try the washer on one of them and see how far it pulls down. I guess you could use a thinner washer on them. I can't remember for sure if they had a washer from the factory or not but I don't think so....

LockDoc

[In The Ten Ring]

No washer from the factory....not on mine anyway but the new kit came with a beefy set of washers and I like washers.

I don't think rubber bushings will be "torqued down." Someone posted factory ft-pound specs for me the other day (THANKS!) but Wes at Classic Heartbeat said (if I recall correctly) to "tighten until the washer at the bottom touches the bottom rubber washer and then tighten 1 more turn." He did caution that lots of people over-tighten the rubber bushings and literally defeat the purpose of the bushings.

[MidLifer]

I used the wrong word when I said "torqued down". I didn't mean you would crank the bolts to a torque spec. But when you tighten them the sheet metal should straighten out.

I can't remember if I used a washer, and I don't have pics to look back at. If you are putting in soundproofing you can cut it around the bolt head and that would even it out a bit, and/or you could partially grind the bolt head. I remember my bolt heads did not protrude, cuz I put the soundmat over them.

I do remember that I straightened out the floor using a 3/8 ratchet extension and a hammer and got it pretty flat.

[In The Ten Ring]

Ah, wrong wording!

I don't plan on soundproofing at the moment but that's a good idea. I just plan on a new mat from GMCPauls.

I might go out and pound on it some more today. Thanks for the advice!