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How to Determine Proper Cab Alignment?


rangerenthiusiast

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Hey, folks.

Me again. So I’ve been trying to replace the body mount bushings on the 1992 Ranger Supercab that I bought earlier this year. Unfortunately, the previous owner kept driving it despite the bushings being shot, so the old hardware destroyed the tops of the cab mounts themselves from the constant rubbing of metal-on-metal. I couldn’t find replacements and the mounts are all very solid everywhere except the tops. So I’ve been fabricating plates that I will be welding to the tops of the mounts to accept the new bushings and hardware that I bought from LMC. The problem I’m having at the moment is determining proper alignment of the cab before I weld these new plates fast to the tops of the mounts.

The instructions that came with the new bushings indicate to only replace one side at a time (in order to maintain the cab alignment relative to the frame and bed), but as previously stated, the old tops of the mounts were no longer keeping things aligned when I got it, so there was no point. So my question is whether anyone knows of good reference points on the truck that I can use to measure off of, in order to make sure that the cab is aligned side-to-side and front to back before welding the new plates onto the mounts? Or, even better, is there any old Ford reference material out there that provides this kind of information? Once I weld the new plates on, there won’t be any adjustment, so I have to get it right or I’ll have a cab that’s crooked relative to the rest of the truck.

Hope I’ve explained my question alright. If not, please let me know and I’ll try to be more clear. Thanks as always, everyone! :icon_thumby:
 


adsm08

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What I found when I did my frame off is that the bed can't really move. Like at all. It is either lined up correctly, or at least one of your bed bolts doesn't go through and start threading. I think I had less than 1/8" to shift in any direction once all the bolts were started.

So use your bed. Eyeball your shadow lines for up and down, look down the side of the truck, or use a pair of straight edges to make sure of your lined up side to side.
 

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Just food for thought since I have not had to repair a mount in this way before but... Cant you use the opposite side mount to get where the hole is located in the mount? I would think that they would be a mirrored image of each other.

My understanding of the situation is the top of frame mount is the issue? If so you should be able to use the opposite side mount hole to get your front to back measurement and the frame to the center of the mount hole for side to side placement then use the front bed mount holes to get make sure you are squared by going diagonal. this should but it right where it needs to be.
 

rangerenthiusiast

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What I found when I did my frame off is that the bed can't really move. Like at all. It is either lined up correctly, or at least one of your bed bolts doesn't go through and start threading. I think I had less than 1/8" to shift in any direction once all the bolts were started.

So use your bed. Eyeball your shadow lines for up and down, look down the side of the truck, or use a pair of straight edges to make sure of your lined up side to side.
Hey, thanks adsm08.

Yeah, I’ve been working under the assumption that there’s no way the bed moved. I’m assuming that the gap between the bed and the back of the cab should be somewhere between 3/4” and 1” (not quite sure which) and obviously be even top-to-bottom. The only flat surface I have to rest the truck on is the “garage" that I have it parked in currently, but the lighting is dim and there’s only about 12” on either side of the truck to work in (it’s a TINY building). The lightning is also bad, so it makes it really hard to depend on sight for checking body alignment. I had hoped that maybe I could hold a piece of taught string between the back of the rear quarter and the forward tip of the front fender to use as a straight edge, but it looks like the front fenders have slight curves designed into them, so that doesn’t work either.

Was just hoping that maybe someone had another method like measuring out from the frame rails to some trustworthy point on the body to get things even, etc. Guess I’ll have to just do the best I can, put a couple of tack welds on each plate, then pull her out in the blazing bright sun and see how she looks. If things are wrong, maybe I can grind the tack welds back off and adjust... :icon_confused:
 

rangerenthiusiast

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Just food for thought since I have not had to repair a mount in this way before but... Cant you use the opposite side mount to get where the hole is located in the mount? I would think that they would be a mirrored image of each other.

My understanding of the situation is the top of frame mount is the issue? If so you should be able to use the opposite side mount hole to get your front to back measurement and the frame to the center of the mount hole for side to side placement then use the front bed mount holes to get make sure you are squared by going diagonal. this should but it right where it needs to be.
Hey, Bgunner.

Yeah, I was afraid that I wasn’t explaining things well enough. Unfortunately, I can’t use the mount one one side to line up the other because the holes in all of the mounts were greatly rounded out by the destructive action of the old mount hardware (bolts, sleeves, etc) grinding away at them before I bought the truck. So there is no mount that would give an accurate reference point for the others to relate to because there is no mount with a top that wasn’t damaged.

I’m currently plating the tops of the mounts with new steel pieces that have holes drilled in them to accept the new bushings, but wherever I ultimately choose to attach them to the mounts will permanently determine the alignment of the cab, which is currently “free floating” on top of the mounts. Hope that makes sense.
 

Bgunner

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Just food for thought since I have not had to repair a mount in this way before but... Cant you use the opposite side mount to get where the hole is located in the mount? I would think that they would be a mirrored image of each other.

My understanding of the situation is the top of frame mount is the issue? If so you should be able to use the opposite side mount hole to get your front to back measurement and the frame to the center of the mount hole for side to side placement then use the front bed mount holes to get make sure you are squared by going diagonal. this should but it right where it needs to be.
 

adsm08

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Having it sitting level is not super important for this. We did mine on an incline and it came out just fine.
 

rangerenthiusiast

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Hey, guys.

Got a further question that’s been bugging me for the duration of this project and it’s getting to crunch time. As mentioned, both the tops of body mounts and the sheet metal where the retaining bolts for the bushings pass through the body were rounded out because the PO kept driving the truck with shot bushings and hardware. So when I fabricated plates to weld to the tops of the mounts (which are otherwise in good shape), I cut holes in them for the bushing sleeves to pass through that were ever-so-slightly larger, thus ensuring a snug fit.

I’m assuming that the fit where the bushing bolts pass through the body should also be snug, right? I’m planning to weld some #8 washers to the body where each bolt passes through, so that they’re passing through a hole that’s just barely larger than themselves. My thought here is that while the bushings should allow slight up-and-down movement of the body, the hardware should allow no side-to-side or front-to-back movement. The only reason that I’ve started to question myself on this idea is the fact that all of the bolts use large, thick slotted “washers” in addition to the sleeves, nuts, shims, etc. This would seem to imply that some movement is expected. On the other hand, if the bolts were allowed to slide around, I would think that this would throw the cab out of alignment, right? :icon_confused:

Can anyone help with some insights into this? Sorry, but as old as I am, I’ve honestly never replaced bushings before, so I don’t know how things would look if all the damage hadn’t been done. :dunno:

Thanks, guys.
 
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rangerenthiusiast

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Anyone? This is really a big problem for me moving forward, so if I can somehow explain it better or take pictures, I’ll be happy to. Seems like with all the guys out there that have put lift kits in their trucks, someone has to know whether the bolts fit snug going through the body, or if they pass through a big old 1”+ hole and the tension of the bolt and nut pulling toward each other somehow holds everything in position so that the cab doesn’t shift around. Thanks.
 
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07nhbpsi

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The hole is bigger than the bolt for sure....I seem to remember the hole being kinda oblong allowing adjustment from side to side... I won’t tell u it’s a lot but some, actually the bolt passing thru the lift block on mine is a tighter fit that bolt thru the body:icon_thumby:
 

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If memory serves a couple years ago I attempted to pull the cab back as far as it would go on the bushings (front tire fitment issues, I don't think it worked), one of the 6 holes in the body is smallish like 5/8" for the ~1/2" bolt the rest are more like 3/4" and slotted some for side to side as mentioned above. That's just for easier assembly line assembly though...
 

rangerenthiusiast

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Hey, thanks guys. Scott, I’m betting that the smaller holes would be the ones up front on the bottom of the radiator support.

By the way, does anyone know what the spacing should be between the rear of the cab and the front of the bed? 3/4”? 1”?

Thanks.
 

scotts90ranger

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I think the smallest hole was the rear drivers side...

I've never measured, but I don't rub even at extreme suspension and frame travel at around 3/4" which is all that really matters.
 

rangerenthiusiast

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I think the smallest hole was the rear drivers side...

I've never measured, but I don't rub even at extreme suspension and frame travel at around 3/4" which is all that really matters.
Huh. That’s odd, because the hole in the corresponding mount for the right rear is the only one on my entire truck that wasn’t totally mashed up and the matching body hole doesn’t seem smaller. Anyways, thanks again for chiming in on my thread, man. :icon_thumby::beer:
 

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