I was looking under my son's '70 F100, and both front cab mounts have recently collapsed. The cab floor is resting on the frame! We are going to part this truck out eventually, but is it safe to drive? Should I jack the cab back up a bit and try to secure it somehow? We were going to get him a later model truck in the spring, but now I'm concerned for his safety. We're not going to do a permanent fix; it was damaged beyond repair recently in an accident, but he needs something to drive every day.

 

67 to 72's are notorious for doing that. Safe? Well, if you want to err on the side of safety then probably not, especially when it's ones offspring.

On the other hand, I wouldn't have much problem driving it. I recently stopped driving my 69 F250 for about the same reason. Not only the cab mounts but the area around the cab mounts and the one side of the core support have rusted out completely.

I've known they where bad for years but the truck was so reliable about running, it's nicname was old reliable.

Blocks of wood fall out from the up and down stresses. If the cab mounts are gone it's likely the floor boards are gone too. (look and see) If so, they aren't going to carry much weight if any. My 69 floor is really, really gone, the 70 could have gotten away with blocks under it.

What happens is the cab weight gets loaded on to the steering column. MAkes a manual steering a real bear. If you have power steering, not only does the rag joint go, it eats the bushings and bearings inside the column but it's possible for the power steering box to loose it's seals. (happened on my 70)
The steering wheel will slide up toward the driver when the rag joint goes. The truck can be steered but it'll have lots and lots of slpop before it turns.

Turn signals won't shut off.

One other thing I beleive is related but can't swear to it. If the truck is parked on a slight uphill incline where the frame is also twisted, It won't lock the parking pawl in the auto tranny. If you start the truck and walk away to warm it up, you could easily find the truck moving on it's own. NOt a good thing under any circumstance.

Both my 69 and 70 were 3/4tons with autos.

I've rebuilt the 69 column once and don't want to ruin it again. The bring about 100$

Hope this helps.

 

The lower bearing in the steering column disintegrated, so the shaft is still able to line up with the steering box, somewhat. We live in an area of very heavy traffic, so driving anything is risky. I wonder what would happen to the cab in an accident? I welded in new floorboards years ago; they're pretty solid. Meanwhile, we've stepped up our search for a later model truck to NOW.

 

I certainly wouldn't want to be a passenger in it.

The cab will move around quite considerable under normal driving with no mounts, especially on corners. This is going to put a lot of stress on the steering column, rag joint, and steering box to the point that you risk a failure.

And, like you said, what happens in an accident? Best thing is to fix them properly before driving it.

 

One low cost alternative is to replace the mounts. Just about everybody has them even J C Witney. The cheap ones bolt in and the better ones weld in. I drove my '69 for years this way and finally gor tired of the steering problems etc and mwelded in new mounts. It is a really quick job. Just a couple of hours.

 

if you do continue to drive it watch the steering shaft because with time it will where in two from the perssure of the cab causing it to rub on the steering colunm tube

 

I didn't know they had bolt-in ones; that may get us by for a little longer. I'm not gonna do anything fancy; we are parting out the truck soon, as it was damaged in an accident- not worth fixing. I'm gonna take the entire chassis and driveline and put it under my '64. I went shopping for late-model trucks today. They are either really old or really beat, or out of price range ($6000) I'm pretty discouraged.

 

I used the bolt in ones from J C whitney. I welded them along with the bolts just for security. I personnally think that keeping a old truck going is more cost effective. In addition the new trucks are not as well built as the old ones. Sure they get better mileage and ride better but if you want a truck for a truck you can't beat the '67 thru '79 models. My wife kids me about my '69 F100. The only thing left from the original truck that I bought 10 years ago is the frame and sides of the bed.

 

My 72 was just like talisker's. I bought new cab mounts and floor boards for both sides. Total was about $120 for all four from Whitney. I put about 5 coats of paint and that spray on rubber to protect them. My cab had been down so long that not only did the steering column bearings fall apart but the steering shaft wore the shift tube into two parts. I bought it that way and fixed it. Its a lot of work but what else does a kid have to do.

 

My latest Whitney only showed Chevy, not Ford cab mounts. LMC has 'em for $30 each; I don't know if they are bolt-on, tho'. Do you have to remove the old ones first? As I said, I don't want to do much; the cab corner got severely creased in an accident recently, the passenger door is toast, and rust is popping out many places, esp. the roof.

 

I think the LMC are weld on. If they look just like the originals then they're bolt on. Those I bought from Whitney were boxy and square and just mounted over the old ones. I think those from LMC are a replacement part. I don't know what to tell you though. They're a lot of work to fix and with what it can affect in the steering if you don't fix it can be dangerous. Fixing it will be an investment. Some money and a lot of time. Or if you pay somone then a lot of money. If you don't want to invest, which is what I think it will take to make it safe, then move on and get another vehicle.

 

if the columbia area of south carolina isnt too far i could line you up with a couple of cabs to pick from, these trucks are all over around here. couple hundred dollars

 

I accidentally said that if they look like the originals they're bolt on. I meant that they're weld on. The bolt on Whitney's I had were boxy and square looking.

 

Any of you'all know how i'm supposed to get to these front mounting bolts on a 78 super cab so i can get it off the frame? looks like gotta cut a big hole in the firewall to get to either of them

 

Dunno, on our trucks there's a little access pannel that is held on with 2 sheet metal screws. Remove the panel and the mounting bolt is right there.