68 Bed question

[WhiteZ_02]

Hey guys I am new to the 67-72 world and I have bought a 68 swb project that was partially completed. The cab and fenders were already painted. I have got the bed together and painted now but it isn't lining up very good with the mounting holes or the body lines on the cab.

My questions are

Do you guys usually have to shim the bed and cabs for the body lines to be right?

And my newbie question is which way do the bolts on the head board of the bed go? I have mine going through from the inside and it looks like they are going to hit the back of the cab when I slide the bed up far enough to line up.

Thanks in advance for any help you can offer

[englands 71]

the bolts go in through the back side. Nuts exposed on the inside of the bed ....
You can check to see if your cab bushings are shot but I doubt that's the problem.
Feel free to correct me guys but there is no bushings for the bed. It bolts right to the frame. Has your truck had cab corners welded into it ? Do the door lines line up with the cab corner lines ?
Is you cab sitting higher or lower than the bed ?

[hugger6933]

The bolts go in from the cab side of the panel. There are no bushings to help you unless the cab mounts are toast they could be and the bed lined up when took apart but now they don't that is one of the great truck mysteries. But lest talk about gap, is it tight at the top and wide at the bottom? That could be a cab bushing problem or a sign of other things that you hope is not there like frame damage.

[WhiteZ_02]

The cab bushings appear to be new. The driver side has had a cab corner replaced but the door seems to line up pretty nice with the fender and cab corner.

The cab is just a touch lower than the bed on the driver side. Passenger side appears to be pretty good right now but Im afraid if I shim the left side it will affect the right as well

I have some bed "mounting pads" that came from Woodall. The are rubber and about 1/8" thick. I haven't put them under the bed yet

The gap seems to be consistent top and bottom. And it looks like I have put the bolts in backwards...that's not going to be a very pretty fix

[hugger6933]

You need carriage type bolts to drop in from the top. Is this truck a truck something other than 1/2 ton 2wd? There are different type bushings for heavier trucks but with one side lining up the bushing is what I call a mute [not moot]point means it doesn't matter so don't talk about it. You can line up the one side and shim it up right and it shouldn't throw off the other side that is already lined up. Put you a level on the front panel and then the tailgate that will answer your questions about the side to side thing. Shim up the one side that is off and let 'er roll. Jim

[WhiteZ_02]

It is a 1/2 ton 2wd. Sorry I didn't specify that earlier. I have the carriage bolts and I will hopefully get to try and mess with doing some leveling checks and shimming tomorrow afternoon.