Five Tabs to Tilt The Tub - Where are They?

[Bostonian1976]

Just prepping myself for this weekend....I'm going to attempt to tilt my tub forward because....as you can see.........it needs it.....

[jp-]

Um... What have you been hauling? Elephants?

The five rear mountings are clearly visible on the rear crossmember in your photo, the front mounts are located on the rear outriggers, located behind the seats. It's hard to tell in the photo, but the back may need to come up, or the front go down. There really isn't much adjustment for the tub. Get underneath the truck and see if one of the tub crossbraces has failed. Each crossbrace rests on a little perch welded to the frame.

[Bostonian1976]

Um... What have you been hauling? Elephants?

The five rear mountings are clearly visible on the rear crossmember in your photo, the front mounts are located on the rear outriggers, located behind the seats. It's hard to tell in the photo, but the back may need to come up, or the front go down. There really isn't much adjustment for the tub. Get underneath the truck and see if one of the tub crossbraces has failed. Each crossbrace rests on a little perch welded to the frame.

This is the way I bought the truck and it always bothers me when I look at it. Plus the doors don't close so well.....and the galvi doesn't line up at all between the doors and tub. You don't think the front will push down well? I feel like that's all it needs........a good shove downward in the front of the tub....but I could be wrong??????

So I just need to get under the truck in the middle and loosen those? Then stomp on the front of the tub?

[Bostonian1976]

anyone? will they be really obvious when I see them?

[daveb]

there are five tabs across the back. there are also two or four tabs at the front of the rear tub depending on what frame you have (early or late)

all of this will be pretty obvious when you crawl under the car.

it looks like the front needs to tip down and the back needs to come up.

was your frame ever repaired i.e new outriggers and/or crossmember?

anyone? will they be really obvious when I see them?

[Bostonian1976]

there are five tabs across the back. there are also two or four tabs at the front of the rear tub depending on what frame you have (early or late)

all of this will be pretty obvious when you crawl under the car.

it looks like the front needs to tip down and the back needs to come up.

was your frame ever repaired i.e new outriggers and/or crossmember?

thank you! The whole truck is completely rebuilt.......I think there's still a Land Rover sticker on the new-looking frame. (I didn't know Land Rover directly supplied frames...but the sticker is there). My guess is that either someone didn't know how to bolt the tub down, or it came loose after awhile and worked its way up?

[daveb]

getting the body panels to line up seems to be the hardest thing in a rebuild.

sometimes holes need to made bigger. sometimes parts need to be shimmed.

there is adjustment at the bulkhead, which can tilt and slide back and forth.

doors tilt up and down and move forward or back.

door latches move up and down and sideways and can be shimmed forward

rear tub moves as described.

front fenders mount flush to the firewall but there is ajustment built in to where they bolt to the rad panel and where the rad panel bolts to the frame.

I can usually get the doors to shut properly and more or less line up but if it is someone else's truck I won't let them watch me do it...

My guess is that either someone didn't know how to bolt the tub down, or it came loose after awhile and worked its way up?

[J!m]

The tub really doesn't adjust. Remove all the mounting bolts, and make sure it is sitting firmly on the frame pads, and centered side-to-side in relation to the frame. Also, there is supposed to be some canvas pads between the frame and the tub cross members. If these were deleted for some reason (or really worn out), the tub would be "balanced" on the mounting bolts, and any cargo you put in the tub will begin to crush the tub down to meet the frame pads. I added some rubber pads in addition to the worn factory ones to fill the gap on my series... The seat box also bolts to the tub, and this may need to be un-done to get the tub to settle and relax on the frame as it should.

Once the tub is sitting flat and square, then tighten the mounting bolts, starting with the rear 10, and then adding shims/washers (if needed) for the front mounting points. The key is you don't want to stress the tub tightening it up. Once this is done, loosen the door hinges and remove the strikers and all door seal gaskets.

Align the door with the tub, DON'T try to align the tub with the door. This is a bad idea, and will end up destroying the tub (see note above about balancing it rather than having it rest on the frame). If the doors cannot be made to align, loosen the bulkhead and get it all lined up right. Once the doors and bulkhead are right (even gap front and rear, body lines lined up straight) install the striker, and the body should be flush with the door with it fully latched closed. Finally add the gaskets, and you're done! (unless you had to remove the fenders to adjust the bulkhead)

Long story short (too late), the tub goes on the frame first, and then the rest of the truck is adjusted to meet that. You can't do it any other way (properly). It appears that someone built that truck not knowing what order to assemble it in...

[Bostonian1976]

thank you! When you say the tub ends up getting destroyed if it's done improperly, I'm not sure I follow. Where/how does it get destroyed?

edit: I understand now

[J!m]

Usually around the rear tabs is where it fails- a combination of mechanical stress and galvanic corrosion.

If the tub wants to be on the frame, and it will bend the tub, oval-ize the mounting holes and what ever else it needs to do to get the tub on the frame. This is why it is so important to get the tub on the frame to start with, so this doesn't happen.

Someone posted about the rear cross member replacement (which is common on old series trucks). If this was done, and not aligned properly, you may never be able to get it right...