'86 F250 4x4 Doors sagging-not hinges!
 

Don't reply about hinges, not the problem. Lots of rust, rocker on driver side loose, gone on passenger, some decay of cab bushings. Rear lower of Driver door suddenly sagging a lot, 2", can hardly close it, have to lift it. If the cab is decaying, on the bushings, how can I reinforce/fab some steel to get it back to normal?

Have you checked the hinges? Really the door can sag quite a bit when they wear out. I replaced mine at about 250,000 miles.

You might post a pic so folks can see what you are talking about.

Big Blue 2

If the cab is that rusted it might be time to either do some major rust repair or look for another cab / truck.

Know the cab mounts support the floor and everything off the floor so if the floor is gone then cab mounts are not going to help.
Dave - - - -

DId I not say to NOT reply about hinges? Focus dude LOL

Fuzz Face-The only thing the cab rests on is the bushings, correct? And if the material they support is gone, the cab's gonna sag, and then all hek breaks loose. Not gonna sell or replace it, it's a great wood and plow truck, that's all. Don't care what it looks like. Just need advice on what to fix. Should I lift the cab on the driver side and then insert some new metal where the bushing contacts the floor or whatever it contacts(haven't gotten under there to look)?

Is your door itself mostly gone at the very bottom? or greatly weakened? I have a 58 apache that is that way, driver door has to be lifted up and off latch post due to compromised door integrity.

The door bottom is all rusted off, but it's always been that way. Hinges solid.

You need to get under there to see what is going on and what needs building back up.

You have the frame bracket, rubber mount, cab bracket that is spot welded to the floor.
it is the same at all 4 corners so look.
If the door post is rotten, part the door hinge bolts to, then that can make the door sage too.
Dave - - - -

Some things cannot be fixed. I fixed one of these for a guy before, and we spent hundreds of dollars at LMC truck for repair floor pieces and repair rockers pieces and cab corners. It lasted for about 10 years and now it has serious problems with the mounting to the cab, the cab is going to have to be replaced. That is probably the same scenario you are in. There is no way around it, the cab sheetmetal is very thin and it's difficult to weld heavier metal to it that will hold.

it's probably like my 58 Apache. Not enough door integrity left. Hold a sledge hammer in one hand right in front of your sternum. Now, take the sledge hammer and hold it by the handle at the end and lift it straight out without bending your elbow with one hand. That's what your hinges are trying to do and with no structural integrity, things are moving and wiggling.
However, nearly anyone can weld these days with the inexpensive little migs with flux core wire. It's just all the taking apart and prep that's aggravating.
I was given a Chrysler convertible several years ago. hinges were factory welded. It had pulled a huge plug out of driver door front, bent door from hitting front fender, and bent front fender. All because owner wouldn't fix it and kept trying to live with it. I took door off and apart and plug welded and perimeter welded new plate on inside of door and it's still holding fine.
As cheap as ford truck parts are (at least around here), unless my paint was super great, I'd be inclined to snag a nice used door for a hundred or so. Then, I'd check mig prices at "Import World of Crap Tools Freight", and their auto helmets. For about $300, you could be flux core welding soon! Now, the metal is a different matter. It's why I keep old car doors, hoods and trunk lids laying around and junk like that, metal to weld with IS expensive. I even cut the roof off a rusted 55 chevy sedan and that became part of a seat build exercise and part of a floor pan for something else.

You did say that. Sorry. Sounds like you do need a new cab if it's rusting and sagging on the mounts. I figured if the cab was collapsing the doors would come down with it and maybe part of your problem could be the hinges. But sounds like they are solid. Donor cab sounds like your best bet.

No need to apologize hahaha...It's a rough old truck, I'll just see if I can cobble in a real heavy patch of some sort. I have a wire welder, and yeah, really should get a mig but they're pricey...I'll keep my eyes peeled for a used one..thanks guys.

I'm in MI, finding a good cab is pretty hard that's not 1500 miles away.

Flux core wire works good. Just weld till fixed. If your searching for a cab you might want to get one of those Craigslist apps that alerts you to new listings. You might have to import one from the south though.

I was going to say a wire welder is a MIG just with out the "G" gas.
Here is a picture of the right front cab mount bracket from the inside with the floor removed.
http://cars.grantskingdom1.com/var/r...224_171710.jpg
Here is that same cab bracket mount from the engine bay / fender side with fender removed.
http://cars.grantskingdom1.com/var/r...326_134732.jpg
Floor replaced a long with the rocker, rear cab corner, rear inner door jamb and a filler with the weather strip lip.
http://cars.grantskingdom1.com/var/r...320_171722.jpg
That same right side bottom after seam sealed & 2 coats of bed liner, top side was done the same way. I want this to last!
http://cars.grantskingdom1.com/var/r...422_162308.jpg
Just wanted to show you how it should be when it left the factory and how I fixed it.
Do you have to go that crazy? No you may need to find a cab bracket mount as they are hard to make.
Jack the body up replace the cab mount & just flat sheet metal for the floor to make it solid again.
My rear mounts were in good shape so did not take pictures.
Dave ----

BTW I know of someone up your way that got a frame to replace his rotted one and all it took was $$ for the tip from south to north.
http://cars.grantskingdom1.com/var/r...016_104429.jpg

Nice. I will tackle this...it'll be fun. Frame is fine...so let's assume the metal at the bushing is gone, do you think replacing that will solve the sag issue? (I do intend to do what you did though, but I can't really remove the cab to do it.

What gauge metal do I use?