Five Tabs to Tilt The Tub - Where are They?

[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.

[GrFa]

The arrows point to the areas I was talking about, those panels should be completely flat. Check the cross braces (underneath tub, laying on frame) and let us know what you see. Also a better picture of that area in the rear if you have it.

[Bostonian1976]

thank you

thanks very much for taking the time to post that. Yeah it drives me nuts and I want it resolved. I'm sure I have other pics of the rear...let me take a look....

[Bostonian1976]

more pictures

here are more pictures of the truck to give you an idea. I'll post links instead of big pictures because I think some people don't like the scroll bars that pop up with the bigger pictures (but I think they help w/ detail in this case). Let me know what you think. Thanks!!

http://www.fjcruiserforums.com/gallery/data/516/Christmas_2006a_012.jpg

http://www.fjcruiserforums.com/gallery/data/516/124-2491_IMG.JPG

http://www.fjcruiserforums.com/gallery/data/516/124-2489_IMG.JPG

http://www.fjcruiserforums.com/gallery/data/516/run_over.JPG

[GrFa]

here are more pictures of the truck to give you an idea. I'll post links instead of big pictures because I think some people don't like the scroll bars that pop up with the bigger pictures (but I think they help w/ detail in this case). Let me know what you think. Thanks!!

http://www.fjcruiserforums.com/gallery/data/516/Christmas_2006a_012.jpg

http://www.fjcruiserforums.com/gallery/data/516/124-2491_IMG.JPG

http://www.fjcruiserforums.com/gallery/data/516/124-2489_IMG.JPG

http://www.fjcruiserforums.com/galle...6/run_over.JPG

Yep to me it definitely looks like the rear is jacked down too much. I would say your next step is to get underneath and check the crossbraces under the tub, only three of them resting on the frame. If they don't look too bad you could probably just loosen all the bolts, floor jack, wood blocks, and try to get it to line up. But to me it looks like the rear needs to come up and the front needs to come down. Good luck!

[Bostonian1976]

I still haven't done this - laziness. This will be my weekend project.

That and I still have a tropical top that I haven't put on yet - hmm

[siii8873]

I had a similar problem when assembling my SIII. This was very evident when I installed my top. The top had a gap (~1/4") between it and the tub at the front and it could not be bolted on. It was in contact at the back and at the windscreen with a few bolts. I checked the alignment with a string line which confirmed that the tub was low at the front.
I jacked the front of the tub up until the tub came up to the top. This also aligned the tub line with the string. I then made hard rubber shims of the correct size to fill the gaps between the crossmembers and the frame tabs. I jacke the tub up a little extra and then let it down on the shims and checked each to be sure they were supporting the tub. I then jacked the tub back up and used an industrial adhesive to attach the shims to the pads.
I would check my top alignment before I went crazy with raising the front of the tub. You could go through that effort and find out that the top does not fit.
Bob

[Bostonian1976]

I had a similar problem when assembling my SIII. This was very evident when I installed my top. The top had a gap (~1/4") between it and the tub at the front and it could not be bolted on. It was in contact at the back and at the windscreen with a few bolts. I checked the alignment with a string line which confirmed that the tub was low at the front.
I jacked the front of the tub up until the tub came up to the top. This also aligned the tub line with the string. I then made hard rubber shims of the correct size to fill the gaps between the crossmembers and the frame tabs. I jacke the tub up a little extra and then let it down on the shims and checked each to be sure they were supporting the tub. I then jacked the tub back up and used an industrial adhesive to attach the shims to the pads.
I would check my top alignment before I went crazy with raising the front of the tub. You could go through that effort and find out that the top does not fit.
Bob

Thanks for the tips. I'm up here working on this now but am giving up soon. Its 95 degrees - too hot for this. I did get one window installed on mr trop top so that is cool. One more to go

[TSR53]

Let's see scroll bars, scroll bars (I programmed them in for YOU and this purpose). Go for it

here are more pictures of the truck to give you an idea. I'll post links instead of big pictures because I think some people don't like the scroll bars that pop up with the bigger pictures (but I think they help w/ detail in this case). Let me know what you think. Thanks!!

http://www.fjcruiserforums.com/gallery/data/516/Christmas_2006a_012.jpg

http://www.fjcruiserforums.com/gallery/data/516/124-2491_IMG.JPG

http://www.fjcruiserforums.com/gallery/data/516/124-2489_IMG.JPG

http://www.fjcruiserforums.com/galle...6/run_over.JPG