I'm new here, so I can't post any pictures yet (I have to wait till I have 25 posts?), but I have a question regarding my dentside.

I recently bought a 1975 F-250 4WD; its a 100% rust free, original paint Oregon truck. My question is in regards to the alignment of the cab and bed "dent" body lines on the passenger's side of the truck. The drivers side is fine, but the passenger's side shows a misalignment of about 3/4", where the cab is higher than the bed. Looking across the back of of the cab, the bed seems to sag ever so slightly in relation to the trim on the back of the cab.

Now, the cab mounts are in very nice shape, even the rubber pucks look to be okay in all mount locations. The bed cross members are 100% rust free, and do not appear to be bent, rippled, any of that. There is no evidence of the bed ever hitting the back of the cab, or anything like that. I am wondering if this is a common thing, or whether there is some tribal knowledge here as to what might create an issue like this.

I have seen side profile shots of a couple of trucks on www.rustfreeclassics.com, where I seem a similar misalignment.

I suspect this truck may have been hit in the front before, as I replaced the original front axle housing a couple weeks ago. The original was bent; I originally though the cambered left front wheel was a result of dead kingpin bearings, but they wer in nice shape. Upon pulling the axles, I noted the bent housing.

If there is not some common issue with these, where would you guys start measuring the frame to see if its bent? Is bending a frame on one of these trucks even feasible? Or are they that robust? I see no obvious frame damage anywhere (rippled flanges, evidence of straightening, etc), and like I said, the truck definitely has the original paint.

Any suggestions??

Thanks in advance for any help. The knowledge base here (FTE) is astounding, and I'm hoping someone can share some insight. I love the truck, but the misalignment is all my eyes are drawn to when I look at it.

 

I'd measure several diagonals on the frame to determine if the frame is square or even twisted.


The frames are robust.. but hit something with enough force and even the toughest of frames will show dimensional changes.

 

75HB250,

My 79 had "shims" under the front corners of the bed itself. I have 2 on the driver side and 3 on the passenger side. The shims are metal disks (appx. 3" dia) with recessed center holes so they can stack together. They are between the bed and the frame rails themselves (not the cross members)

I would recommend you check to see if you have them on either side and see if adjusting them will "level" out the issue.

Good luck,

Scott

 

I added 2 big washers between bed and frame to where each of the 8 bed bolts go through to raise a bed to match the cab bodylines on a 79 4x4

 

I agree with measuring the frame to check for damage and if it all checks out just use shims..

Gotta watch out for the ford raptor pandemic

 

I will start by measuring the frame to see if anything is obvious.

My fear with just shimming the bed is that it alter the cab to bed gap.

Upon further inspection last night, I realized the bed looks like it is slightly shifted to the right side of the truck some.

I had a friend follow me down the road, and the truck doesn't "crab". It also goes down the road straight as an arrow (with the new front end).

I'll report back with findings.

 

Sounds like the bed was removed or loosened at some point and not retightened properly.. are all the bolts in it? Should be eight.

 

So I've spent some more time studying the truck, and I've made some measurements diagonally at several locations underneath the truck. The diagnonal measurements match. I know that it can be really difficult to notice frame damage, but the measurements don't lie. And I see no evidence of prior damage either. I even spent significant time looking at the paint to see if it looked like anything had been changed, or painted. No dice.

The bed does not use any shims, and all 8 bolts are in. I am starting to think more and more that body mount bushings are the issue here. The one under the pass. side rear mount of the cab looks taller than the rest. And the one under the drivers front, and drivers core support look pretty mashed out. The mounts themselves (cab and frame), are in really nice shape.

I think I am going to start by ordering a set of Prothane bushings, and a bed bolt kit. I will use some shims if I have to and see if it changes anything.

Any one ever change the body mount bushings? Any pointers?

 

75HB250,

I did the same to my truck - prothane bushings. They lowered the cab just a hair. The product fit well and I am pleased with how everything turned out.

My advice is this: soak the cab mount bolts (top and bottom) with PB Blaster or 4D-40 and let them soak for a couple hours. If your lucky, all the cab bolts will come out smoothly. I had the front 2 mounting washer sleeves seize together so I soaked them a bit longer and used the bolts to help pull them a part. I also had to replace the washers on the radiator mounts.

I used a jack and some 2x4 shims and did it without removing the cab. It's straight forward work but be patient with the soaking and let it do the work.

Good luck. Scott

 

i just replaced all of mine and honestly, you'll probably save time by just grinding them off..mine were just caked on bad..grind them right off through the top bushing and they will just fall right out

 

Instead of grinding them take a angle grinder with a brush wheel.. Spend time on each one with it, then spray the oil on.. 90% of the time they come out..

CUT otherwise

 

I appreciate the pointers.

The good thing is all the hardware, threads, etc looks like it will be cooperative on my truck, and I was planning on doing this project anyway. I assume I'll have to pull the seat and fuel tank to get at the rear cab mount bolts?

Thats also fine, because I have a new carpet, door seals, sill plates, and kick panels to install. Might as well cross a few other projects off the list while I'm at it.

 

yep, pull the seat and gas tank, and gas tank mounts too, i think they are bolted above the covers for the body mount bolts, if not then they are right beside them, and you will have to pull the saetbelts off the floor as the middle seat belts won't pass through the benchseat, and the side seatbelts have to come off to remove old carpet / install new carpet

 

Just an update on this thread, in case anyone needs closure on my findings in a future thread search.

I was able to correct the bed misalignment. I started by measuring the frame in diagonals in numerous locations. The frame was not bent, much to my relief.

I removed the bed from the frame in order to do a number of things, including installing my bed side toolbox tub, and repairing some crossmembers which someone had torched small holes in. This was an opportune time for me to replace the cab mount bushings, as visibility and access was greatly improved. I used the Prothane urethane cab mount kit, and it made a huge difference. My cab was sitting low on the driver's front, and incidentally the pass. rear of the cab was high compared to the bed.

The front radiator support bushings were nearly impossible to change./ They took me almost 8 hours, and I ended up machining a tool to pull the lower half apart.

I reinstalled the bed this past weekend, and the body line was still slightly off. An 1/8" shim under the front bed crossmember made everything perfect though.

So, if, in the future, anyone runs into this issue, just know that cab mount bushings will help, and you can fine tune with shims.

And remember that changing the radiator support bushings is not fun. On a rust free truck the cab mount bushings themselves only took about 2 hours, including tank removal, etc. But those radiator support bushings are stubborn. You will need to get creative if the front sheet metal is installed on the truck.