I need to put a good frame under my '85 regular cab and was wondering how are the best ways of lifting the cab off without doing much damage. The front fenders and hood will be removed obviously and the glass could also be pulled since I'm planning on replacing it also. Thanks for the help and safe direction.

 

How tall is the frame? If its stock, it shouldn't be too hard with 4 stout backs to just pick it up and walk it on. . . if its empty and stripped. Thats how my cab came off, but my trucks lifted and it was a bit hard to get it down off the back of the truck.

When I go to put my cab back on, just becuase of the height and the fact I don't won't to screw up any of my resto work, I'm going to build a tall "A" frame with a chain-fall to raise the cab, roll the truck under and then lower it down once its lined up. These cabs, when empty don't weigh all that much, maybe 500-600 pounds, if that

 

Good help is hard to find anymore. Seems that all most people want to do is sit in front of the t.v. or watch you do something rather than take part in it. My frame is low and I have access to some large lifts and such. There's a wrecker company here that has an old military 6x6 wrecker with the extendable rotating boom. I've thought of giving them a call when I'm ready and have them or myself pull it off with that.

 

it really only takes two guys if you take your time, and if you remove the shifter before taking the old one off and putting the new one on. just lift it off and slowly move it from one side to the other, you'll have to have one person support it, or better yet, get a saw horse to support it, just take your time and you can do it with two guys. i've found that with a six pack of good beer and a large pizza you can typically convince a few guys to come and help out.

 

If you're by yourself because you don't have large friends handy, you can get the cab off a variety of ways. Once you disconnect everything of course.

Place a floor jack at the back of the cab, centered across the width of the truck, and put a block of wood between the floorjack and the bottom fo the cab. Jack up off the frame about four inches. Put cinderblocks at the corners then lower the cab onto the blocks.

Do the same in the front.

Jack the back up again off the cinderblocks, then place a 2x8 that's several feet longer than the width of the truck, across the cinder blocks.

Do the same in the front.

Then place the floorjack under the 2x8's outside the frame, and lift off ONE CORNER off the cinderblocks. THen move those released cinderblocks outside of the jack towards the end of the 2x8. Repeat for the other three corners.

Now, if I described this correctly, and you followed it correctly <grin>, you should have four piles of cinderblocks with two 2x8's going across the frame, with the cab sitting on the 2x8's, with enough room underneath to clear the frame/tires and so forth. Make sure the wheels are straight, and roll the frame out from underneath the cab.

This is how I removed the cab of my crewcab, which is larger, and heavier than a regular cab. All by myself. No damage other than minor paint scuffing at the very bottom in the rear of the cab.

GO REAL SLOW. If anything seems even slightly wobbly/hokey/unsafe, STOP so you don't lose the cab on it's side, or something equally painful.

You can do the same thing with the bed... or use my method here:

http://frederic.midimonkey.com/f350-bedrepair.html




If your truck fits inside your garage (mine doesn't even come close) and you have enough ceiling clearance, you can take the doors off, and put two 2" diameter pipes through the door openings, and wrap them really well in old blankets, rags, or whatever. Then suspend those pipes from the ceiling, using four pulleys, to a central point, and tie them together, and using an electric winch or a crank winch or something winch-like, lift the cab off the frame that way, and roll the frame out from underneath.

While your cab/bed is off, that's the best time to do any work you need to do to the typically rusty cab corners, floorboards, and so on. Even if it's not too bad, I'd at least scrub the heck out of the underside, prime and paint if not coat with a bedliner type substance before reinstalling.

Just because it's a PITA to do alter on, while it's on the frame.

 

Thanks frederic, that was the type of set up I was thinking of doing, I was just missing the 2x8 in the set up. The bed is a flareside so with the fenders off I should be able to get it off of there easily. I'm going to prep the frame and start installing the suspension and axle set up, 38 gallon fuel tank and run new lines for everything while the cab and bed is off and at the body shop. Thanks for the help everybody, that should complete my plan of attack on this project and I'll get it started in a couple of months. Happy wheeling!

bruin52
Ric Beach

 

frederic Thats a good looking rig to remove a truck bed. You might be able to sell those to body shops. I have always used a skid loader to remove truck bed or cabs. But i do have 2 of them around my shop. I might try and rig one up so i don't have to have 3 or 4 people watching and trying to tell me how they would do it if i were them.

 

Thanks!

The "rig" is nothing more than a standard 2-ton engine crane that I made an extension. In this picture it's clamped down ready for welding:



The long piece slips into the crane, and is retained by friction, since my chain lengths provided for the crane to be angled upwards just as things got taught. The short piece is what sticks out of the crane, hanging over the bed.

If you can weld, or have a friend who welds, you can make this easily enough. It took me significantly longer to rummage through my scrap pile to find suitable length steel than to actually make it.

At the joint, I cut both pieces at a three or four degree angle, giving me a total angle of six to eight degrees. Probably not necessary, but it allowed me to use shorter chains, which helps reduce sway and twist while dangling in the air.

The end that the chain goes into was also simple... I simply bored a 1.5" diameter hole on the bottom, sliped the chain in, and marked where the bolt goes across the width of the end. Drilled the bolt hole both sides, inserted the chain and bolt, then on the bottom welded two 1/8" thick pieces of flat steel boxing it in over the large diameter hole I drilled. A slot would have been better, but I had already welded the two long peices together, so trying to manipulate this on my drill press (with a milling bit) was going to be too much work. So, the end was a hack job.

Obviously, it worked

 

i like using a 2 x12 about 8ft roll down the windows slide it through hook a rope or chain on both ends and take it up (block and tackle loader winch )
doesn't hurt to have someone to steady the rad support

 

I did it with 3 guy (me and 2 others). 2 of us carriad the donor cab across the yard and than we got 1 other to help actually place the cab. I aligned it myself with only a second set of eyes (kept me from running around the truck).

The bed was heavier and took 4 of us.

 

Cool, glad it worked out.

When I lifted the cab off I needed six people - though I have a crewcab.