What the hell is going on with my cab?

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SplinterXJ

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Hey guys,

Got a doozy for ya that's pestering me for a while now.

A little back story: I've got 97 that had bad cab mounts for a couple years (outside of my control). When it was back in my possession, I replaced the mounts with heavy duty polyeurethane from LMC. Immediately after the install, I notice the cab is riding really low still. After some forum searching and outside opinions, the theory is that the mount platforms have been bent down from the cab bouncing on them over time. So, I take the truck to a body shop and they level the mount platforms back to my body lines. I get the truck back and it's not perfect but it'll do. Fast forward a long winter, I start to notice that my cab is actually starting to raise higher than the bed. By about a half/three quarters of an inch. I also notice that the body lines, specifically the line under the extended cab window doesn't really angle in the same direction as the door or the bed, it seems to angle down. Being low on budget and not wanting to throw another few hundred bucks at the body man just yet, I pulled my rearmost cab mounts and shaved them down significantly so the cab lines meet the bed lines. Before shaving I pulled the farthest rear mounts and then let the cab just sit on the remaining four mounts. Doing that made the truck sit about where it should, a little lower even. Seeing that told me that all I needed to do was shave down my rearmost mounts. It's all back together now but it's still very apparent to me that the body lines may meet correctly between the cab and bed but don't travel straight along the way. After staring at my truck for a long time, I'm starting to wonder if my cab is actually bent down from the prior bouncing and it's throwing everything off. I'm looking for some insight and personal experience from others because I'm at a loss with this one. The zoomed in picture is the cab raised above the bed, before shaving. The other picture (after shaving) is the body lines meeting where they should but the lines don't look straight. The third picture is a reference truck of what it should look like.

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east302

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Aside from the door (hinge pin bushing issues?) the line from the b-pillar to the bed kind of looks like it's sloping down, but it's hard to see from that angle.

A close-up picture from the side may help.


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SplinterXJ

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Aside from the door (hinge pin bushing issues?) the line from the b-pillar to the bed kind of looks like it's sloping down, but it's hard to see from that angle.

A close-up picture from the side may help.


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I know with the door being off it's hard to tell. If you look at just the third window area compared to the bed then it shows. I've added a couple more pictures to try and clarify. The picture with the framing is crude but it does illustrate the bad body line.

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Dubs

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Have you replaced body mounts? If not that's where I'd start. Make sure the brackets aren't rusted out under the cab. 400's are notorious for it. Mine are gone. I'm using a washer under the body mount to keep it from falling through until I can get it to the body shop to do a frame off and fix it.
 

SplinterXJ

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Have you replaced body mounts? If not that's where I'd start. Make sure the brackets aren't rusted out under the cab. 400's are notorious for it. Mine are gone. I'm using a washer under the body mount to keep it from falling through until I can get it to the body shop to do a frame off and fix it.

I actually don't have any rust on my girl at all. The cab mounts went bad a while ago and I think they bent the mounts from bouncing. I replaced the cab mounts and the truck looked terrible so I took it to a body shop and asked them to straighten it up. They didn't do the best job but got it close. After a year though it looks like my cab is bent down in the middle. I'm guessing I just need to take it to another shop again.
 

Keepinitoldskool

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Have you inspected the frame for cracks? GMT400s are also known for them cracking and eveb braking all the way right behind the cab.

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SplinterXJ

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I actually don't have any rust on my girl at all. The cab mounts went bad a while ago and I think they bent the mounts from bouncing. I replaced the cab mounts and the truck looked terrible so I took it to a body shop and asked them to straighten it up. They didn't do the best job but got it close. After a year though it looks like my cab is bent down in the middle. I'm guessing I just need to take it to another shop again.


Here's another picture to try and better elaborate what I'm saying. Between the door and the bed it literally looks like the cab is bent down.

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