hi,
yes that looks like a problem area on mine.... what im more concerned w/ is.. it appears from most of everyone elses pictures, that thier cab and running boards are perfectly parrarel... mine are not.... big gap between front of cab and r-board...no gap in back.....what makes me more concerned is i think im going to need to shim up the front of the cab a bit more in order to make my hood ect....work better... SOMETHING just isnt right... how thick of a pad/mount is supposed to be between the bed and frame? i need to back the truck out of the storage bay it spends its weekdays in, so i can get a better look at it from the side...standing way back... but again..it REALLY appears my cab is leaning backwards...r

 

hey ALB,
So... my smarter then me brother came over the shop tonight and over a beer we, HE put a new set of eyes on the front fender/hood issue ive had since attatching the running boards..... my hood is not closing now at all on the passenger side because the fender from being pushed up to meet the running board is now higher the the hood recess in the cab? follow what i mean? the indented area of the cowl that the hood sorta sets into?my fender is up higher then that line.. keeping the hood from settling down and in...
i was thinking that maybe i could cheat and shim the cab up a bit, but the cab to running board is pretty even side to side... im wondering now if my HORRIBLE front fenders are the root of the issue.. wondering if im going to need to trim the base off the passnger side? i dont know what else i can do.. i need to remove the bolts from the running board..let it down a bit..and regain my hood fit.... it has also reshaped the topside of the fender which i put SO much effort into in the past year... pretty disgusted right now.. i didnt wana trim the base of the fender and lose that "rolled" lip fearing strength issues... i suppose maybe i could reinforce/rebuild it w/ some resin and mat... ive gotta do something w/ the swiss cheese holes at this point... ugh!! ugh... ugh!!!

 

It sounds to me like you've created a lot of your own problems by force fitting the fenders into a shape they don't want to be in, because you are unwilling to make normal modifications to fiberglass parts. I've never seen any aftermarket fiberglass panels that didn't need some kind of massaging or adjustment to their shape to achieve a proper fit. I believe I mentioned previous that it's very likely your fenders were too long, and needed to be trimmed to fit. If you're concerned about strength, glass in some 1/4" rod around the lower perimeter and it'll be far stronger than it is now. It probably wouldn't even need that, since all the places where it has "rolled edges" are where the bolts are, anyway. But that's my 2c.

You need to decide on a starting place for fit, and go from there. You also need to have your cab level. Everything needs to fit off of something that's known to be correct. It could be the bed, which shouldn't be shimmed off the frame to make the fenders fit. It could be the cab, but you need to make sure your mounts are right. You've got so many incorrect and modified pieces, it's going to be difficult, but this is one of those times where you're going to have to jump in with both feet and not worry about the little things. Get your parts to fit, and worry about the details later.

By the way, I measured the distance between the rear cab corners and lower door edge to the step surface of the running board on the Merc, and I have 5 1/4".

Good luck. ;-)

 

52,
i couldnt agree more.. im not tryin to be a pansy.. its just fustraiting BECAUSE i dont have anything really "exact" to go from.. everything has been sorta reworked..and i agree i really did goof by forcing the fender fit, tho it worked out everywhere except the passenger side..now i just hafta deal w/ it.. which ill do... guess im just alittle leary of fiberglass work..i dont have that much experiance w/ it..im alittle better w/ the metal world.....
also i think i keep stopping myself in fear of making a mistake w/out thinking it completly thru... thats why ill ask so many perhaps stupid questions here.... i was asking ALB because it appeared him and i had a very similar issue.... wondering if his flexed enough to disturb the hood...
ty for the measurements... i have 5 inches on drivers side from door bottoms to r-boards... 4 3/4 +- on passenger side.. SO clearly something is way off!!.. new dogbones in the back... MAYBE i disturbed the front mounts during rebuild of floor ect.. BUT i was extremly cautious of that measurement..and i didnt disturb the rear mounts AT ALL!!.. has anyone ever "relocated" the rear frame mount in order to level thier cab? thanks... r

 

Your cab to runningboard fit may not be as bad as you think. The thickness of the fiberglass vs. steel, or possible warpage at your measure points could easily make up for the 1/4 to 1/2 inch difference from what I showed. Plus, as my truck is nearing 60 years old, there's no guarantee mine is 100% gospel, either.

I've never been much of one for altering good things to make bad things fit. Double check your mounting points, mount pieces (rubber bumpers, dog bones, etc.) and make sure they're correct, and not causing your problems, too, before going crazy with more unnecessary cutting.

Trust me, I feel your pain about being unsure or lost with your issues. I'm one to try to overthink things, sometimes, as well. And I was hoping I wasn't coming across as kind of an ***, but more like 'tough love'. ;-) Working with fiberglass isn't difficult, but is can be messy and a bit of a pita, but it is something you can do and learn, very easily, I'm sure. You might get yourself some resin and mat and play with it a little, to get used to it. You'll likely need to at some point.

 

hi,
well a few days later, and ive made quite a bit of change. I decided to just jump in and go for it. Ive given up w/ the thought that some of the stuff will just bolt up and be close to fit. Not that i ever expected it to be that easy, but closer then what ive had. I shimmed the cab, relocated the rear cab mount a bit, adjusted the hood just by loosening the hinge and repositioning it. My hood always fit poorly where it met the cowl, the sides of the hood were bent outward, probably from 61 yrs of worn/binding hood hinges. I ended up welding some turnbuckles inside the hood on that large brace w/in the hood structure. W/ a few turns it pulled the sides in nicely, i finally have a good fit on the hood!. ( yes i removed the turnbuckles haha). So after shiming the cab, adjusting the hood, and tweaking a few other areas, my running board to fender fit is much better, and the hood is not being tossed up out of position by the fender. Thanks for the advice....tuff love!..........now onto the bed tubbs ect.... r

 

my front fenders hang lower then the running boards factory holes in both and all original to the truck. my hood dont get me going on that