the gap between the bed and cab on my '48 F1 is all but gone. both the bed and cab appear to be mounted properly. any ideas what might be going on here?

also, as you can see, the back of my cab is pretty wavy. suggestions on what to do? hammer? bondo? new metal? all of the above?

anybody have pics of what their cab-bed gap looks like?

 

The bottom looks like it's about an inch away, but not the top. My guess is that.. well I was going to say bowed but it doesn't really look like that does it? If the panel is bowed/warped/dented/whatever you should be able to find out where pretty easy. Taking something like a hose that fits easy at the bottom, then pull it up to see where it starts to snag. Just an idea.

Have you tried measuring the distance from the wheels to the fenders? Maybe something got twisted?

But there again, maybe it's not the bed at at, you mention the cab being wavy which means it has to be hit some how and if it was from the inside it would push it out. Hammering would be the first thing I would try, but given where it's at you'll need someone on the other side holding the anvil, otherwise it will just get way bad in a hurry. Maybe a piece of thick plywood put up flush and held there strong? (like a brace for it), lol course that will ruin your paint, but so will hammering...

I would try to do something to it before any filler, otherwise it will still be wavy in the cab. Using heat and rapid cooling can also help to get rid of the waves (it will shrink where you do it, but without the cooling can be used to relax an area in a wave, not a dent mind you, just a wave). If you have a laser pointer handy and are having trouble determining if the wave is pushing out or in, you could try that by running the laser down the side parallel to it...


I dunno, getting tired and the brain has stopped working, lol. Till then free bump to the top! lol

 

Check your rear cab mounts, they might be bent or the the rubber bushings have just fallen apart. Both things could cause the cab to settle. Rusted out cab floors can also weaken the mount area and cause settling.

 

thanks for the input guys.

the front bed panel appears to be slightly bowed out towards the bottom, but not at the top. also, it looks like the cab is pushed inward, not outward (as if the front bed panel dented it). i've also just replace the front sections of the cab floor - the rear appears to be fine. in doing so, i also replaced all of the cab mounts / arm bushings. i do know that the rubber mounts for the bed are either old/missing, but the bolts are still in the holes, so it shouldn't allow too much movement.

stephen, could you elaborate a bit more on measuring distance from the wheels to the fenders? what would that do for me?

 

Three area to check, Cab mounts, bent frame (long shot), or mounting pads on bed. Or the PO may have modified the existing bed frame work.

I think that may be whats also wrong with mine. Small gap at top, large at bottom. Bed is tilting towards cab. I have a metal frame work for the bed with the mounting locations ground down for fit.

Wonder what an average gap should be for these trucks?

Keep workin on it, It'll just buff out

Dale
Ford52F2

 

Oh, my thought on measuring the fenders to the wheels would let you know if it was centered, but now that I'm awake I see there wouldn't be much point for you cause you have mounting holes all ready where I don't, lol