Five Tabs to Tilt The Tub - Where are They?

[Bostonian1976]

the whole entire frame is new.......I imagine pretty much everything was redone on this truck (one of the big reasons I'm looking forward to my gray rover..........completely untouched).

It seems the person knew what they were doing though......everything is neat and orderly and you can tell they cared about details. There's no visible damage/corrosion anywhere on the truck, including those rear tabs and the metal it connects to. Hmmm. Sounds like it's gonna be finicky. I imagine the top needs to be off too........making this a job I can't do myself....

[J!m]

Your pic shows the top off, so I assumed this was how it is now. If the body is that out of whack, I imagine the doors leak very nicely...

If there is NO corrosion around the tub mounting holes and the frame is new, there is cheese in the tub, hiding God knows what. The nicest, rust-free original series trucks show corrosion around these mounting tabs, there is no way around it. Heck, my 1995 110 has corrosion all around this area!

It seems they had good intentions in mind, but no idea how to properly assemble the body on the frame, which you can't blame someone for if they haven't done it before. Honestly, the best thing to do is to strip it down, start from the rear per my earlier post, and re-assemble it correctly. It is a ton of work, but saves so much aggravation in the long run...

[Bostonian1976]

Yeah the top is back on.....the tops of the doors around the windows don't even come close to meeting up to the roof.......the passenger's door fully closes, and the driver's door closes one notch.

I seriously don't think there's any filler in the body/frame. I just think it was rebuilt and hasn't seen much use since the rebuilt. None of the bolts have any rust, etc. It's very clean (despite the dents, etc)

[Tim Smith]

The advice from J!m sounds spot on but before I started, I'd also want to run a string from the rear of the truck (at the top of the galvy capping) to the front. Tape it tight and then you should be able to see/measure just how much you need to adjust and where.

I'll bet a pint that the front fenders need to be pushed down a little to tilt the bulkhead -> doors up a bit but I'm guessing here.

I've yet to start my own reassembly but will probably take a look at this string before I start. Looks like some good advice!

[Bostonian1976]

took another picture of the section today. I think the right side fits better than the left (the door on that side closes better as well)

[J!m]

Another thought:

Since you have the older hinges, make sure you get some new hinge balls, bolts and springs and rebuild them before you start trying to line everything up. If the new balls don't tighten them up, you may have to find some nicer hinge castings too.

If the hinges are "floppy" (open door can be moved up and down) it will make the project more difficult for you...

Did not think of it until I saw the last picture and realized you have the older style hinges like I have on my '71...

The same also applies for the series III and defenders. Replace the hinges before you try to line this all up (unless they are nice and tight).

[Bostonian1976]

Another thought:

Since you have the older hinges, make sure you get some new hinge balls, bolts and springs and rebuild them before you start trying to line everything up. If the new balls don't tighten them up, you may have to find some nicer hinge castings too.

If the hinges are "floppy" (open door can be moved up and down) it will make the project more difficult for you...

Did not think of it until I saw the last picture and realized you have the older style hinges like I have on my '71...

The same also applies for the series III and defenders. Replace the hinges before you try to line this all up (unless they are nice and tight).

very good thought. It was actually the first thing I did when I bought the truck, thinking it would be an easy fix. Unfortunately it didnt' do much....this whole lining-up business is more tricky than I anticipated!

[J!m]

The line-up is easiest when you assemble the truck fresh.

Doing it later, as you are doing, is quite a project. Basically, you have to all but completely disassemble the truck, and then reassemble it making sure all the pieces are in place and lined up correctly.

With a fresh build, you can expect to spend about four or five hours getting it all lined up right (the more trucks you do, the less time it takes to get it right). In your case, I foresee an entire weekend and several gallons of beer involved...

[Bostonian1976]

lol..........several gallons of beer and the breakfast will end up as the tailgate and the tub as the roof

I'll be seeking this advice again I'm sure when I disassemble/reassemble the gray one. This has given me good prep for how to do that

[GrFa]

After looking at the first photo you posted, it looks like the rear of the tub is crushed pretty far down and bowed out by the mounting holes along the rear of the frame. I wouldn't be surprised if there is some funky stuff going on once you pull it apart. Hopefully once you loosen all the bolts (all 14 of them I think) and stomp on the tub you can get it to lie flat.

Like one of the other posters suggested I would check the tub supports that run underneath the tub and rest on the frame, it could very well be that one of those is crushed as well caused the rear to sag (which is why the rear would be bowed out). I am going to highlight what im talking about in the picture but it will take me a few to do it and host it, check back in a bit.