73-87chevytrucks.com
73-87 Chevy _ GMC Trucks => Body, Glass & Paint => Topic started by: DTrain on December 11, 2011, 01:19:23 pm
-
I have a 1984 Silverado single cab/short bed. The cab seems to be sitting right as far as I can tell, but the bed seems to be sagging on the drivers side. Because of this the body lines do not line up where the bed meets the body, the measurement from wheel to fender well on either side of the rear of the truck are different. I wondered if it were suspension, so I changed the rear leafs with no improvement. My next thought was to maybe try and shim the bed. If there is a proper way to fix it, I would love to take the right approach. Any feedback on this would be greatly appreciated. The truck rides great, but the way it looks is just killing me.
Thanks
-
Welcome to the site! Can you post a few pictures (maybe each side from the front, back & side) so we can see what your up against? The bed is mounted solid to the frame so unless something odd (front crossmember rusted, bent, ect.) it shouldn't be the problem.
(1) How far off is the wheelwell measurement?
(2) It didn't change with the new springs?
(3) How far off is a tail light to the ground measurement on a level surface?
(4) How far off is the front wheelwell measurement?
(5) Do you see any signs of collision damage to the Right front?
Try to answer these questions & post a few pictures if you can & we'll be glad to help. Lorne
-
This is typically caused by spring fatigue. You replaced them with new springs?
-
Thanks for you responses, I've owned the truck for somewhere around ten years, the truck hasn't been hit in that time. I pulled into a tree at low impact on the front drivers side once. The leafs I put on where used with a 3/4 ton helper pack, I measured with the old springs and measured again with the upgrade and got absolutely the same difference to the 1/16. Now granted this is from the tires, but DF wheel well is 10 3/4, PF is 10 11/16, DR is 8 5/8 and PR 9 1/4. I wasn't able to get an acurate light measurement, but the ballpark I got was similar to the difference in the rear wheel wells.
I'm having a hard time with photos for some reason, I'll try to work that out and post some later, hopefully this is enough info to get the wheels turning for now.
-
What are these measurements from? If the body lines are off, either the frame is tweaked, or you bushings are shot.
Don't be fooled and think that the springs are going to have the same identical tension and fatigue. They won't settle the same. If you are measuring from the ground to the lip and you think the rear should be the same you are in for a surprise, there are far more variables that you cannot account for, Tires being 100% the same, spring tension/fatigue being the same, etc.
You need to measure from from the frame to the bottom of the body part in question and compare sides, this will let you know if the bushings on the front are good, the bed is hard mounted, so it really doesn't have anywhere to go.
-
Chris - the bed is hard mounted, so it really doesn't have anywhere to go.
Does this mean it's mounted metal to metal or are there thin rubbers in there somewhere?
quick hijack, sorry!
-
jack up the back of the frame and on the low side and see if the body lines correct. If they do it's probably a fatigued spring but you can shim the bed to make it look right.\
-
A crushed bed crossmember, tweaked or bent frame, worn spring bushings, worn cab bushings, worn springs, bent/tweaked bed floor, low bed side (from a camper or toolbox), etc. could be the cause of the body misalignment.
Try Ville's idea first, if that doesn't do it work through the process of elimination.