Lifting cab on 35 PU

[Lawson Cox]

I am thinking of lowering the cab a tad on my pickup to get the belt molding on the cab to align with the belt molding on the hood. Can't do it very easy by trying to align radiator end. Too much out of line to just adjust hood itself. I think I can loosen cab bolts and jack cab up enough to remove long wooden supports and trim them a little to make it right. HAS ANYONE DONE THIS? AM I DREAMING???

Any suggestions or comments welcome.

Thanks in advance.

[SofaKing]

The hood hinges on my 39 PU are bolted to the cab. Lowering the cab therefore would not change the relationship of the belt-line between hood and cab.

[V8COOPMAN]

Originally Posted by SofaKing

The hood hinges on my 39 PU are bolted to the cab. Lowering the cab therefore would not change the relationship of the belt-line between hood and cab.

Yeah, and a 1935 pick-up DOESN'T have hood hinges, either! DD

[rotorwrench]

Different type of hinge but I don't know how it attaches to the cab center line of if there was webbing or pads to hold things along the back. Getting things to align usually takes some little tweeks all over the place to get er dun. If Lawson is willing to go all the way to the foundation, I'm sure he will find a way. He certainly knows his old truck better than I do. Body shimming (or deshimming) was a common way to align things for the earlier cars & trucks. Nothing will bug a person more than an alignment problem and especially the owner.

[37 truck]

What you propose makes since, assuming you have room to come down. That hood sides won't hit at bottom when lowered. Or do you want the back of cab to come down which will tighten reveal to hood sides? The front can't come down much, I've seen about a quarter inch on some.

[V12Bill]

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On my 1939 PU the wood between the frame and the body starts out as 0 in the front and about 2" in the rear. The front is already on the frame and will not go down. The rear is raised about 2" and can go up or down. I replaced the wood on my truck to align the body belt moulding. The wood had dried out and lowered the rear section about an inch.

[SofaKing]

Originally Posted by V8COOPMAN

Yeah, and a 1935 pick-up DOESN'T have hood hinges, either! DD

DD, you are number 1 with me!

As the hinge runs down the hood centerline, the hinge is supported on the cab and the belt-line of the hood is immediately below the bends of the hood panel. The distance from hood hinge centerline to hood beltline remains unchanged regardless of what you do with the cab height. Do you have a photo of the misalignment you are trying to correct? After re-reading your query I see that you are trying to align a belt moulding and a photo might be useful to confirm definition of terms.

[Heard]

Lawson, I'm in the process of removing the cab on my '35 right now. Looking at the very front of the cab from inside the engine bay, my cab is almost sitting on the frame rail. No way is it going to come down in the FRONT. Maybe 1/8" inch or so, but not much. Yours may be different and/or you may be wanting to lower the rear.

As far as jacking it up and sliding out the wood spacers....I would have to go look at this a little closer but it seems like it would be possible.

Heard

[Scott H in Wheaton]

i am still assembling my Frankentruck and I did not have any problem lifting the 36 cab enough to slip the new wood blocks in place, so lifting your cab to remove them should be no problem.

i would address the alignment/misalignment issues by playing with the front sheetmetal rather than the cab, but that is provided your cab wood is in good condition.

[Lawson Cox]

I spent most of the day smoking over the situation. I placed a long magnetic strip along the door, cowl and hood, where the pin stripe should be, measured everything carefully, and it looks pretty darn good to me as it is, looking at it from all angles. It looked a little "off" until I stuck the tape to it. I may just go with what I have.

While working on the truck, I also pulled the front wheels to see how the brake pads looked, and they have a normal position and all. Very little wear. I will give them a little adjustment because the pedal is a little low for me. (It is surprising how much heavier the wheels and tires are now as opposed to a couple of years ago. Just gotta face getting older more realistically.) LOL

Thanks to everyone who chimed in with their comments.

Yes, as several pointed out, it has the beautiful four piece hood, therefore no hinges to fool with. LOL

[Adam/Mill Valley CA]

(It is surprising how much heavier the wheels and tires are now as opposed to a couple of years ago. Just gotta face getting older more realistically.) LOL

Hauling #80 bags of Quikrete to help my son put in some fence posts at his place yesterday. 80 pounds weighs WAY more than it did 10 years ago when I was 59!Adam

[jimTN]

When I put my 34PU together we found that the frame had sagged. Took some realignment to get it back up to par but then things fitted right.