rust belt body mounts?????

[darkshadow]

ok so it was pointed out to me that the front of my truck seens to be lifting off when i hit bumps, about 3 poped body mounts thanks to this:

so i thought i would put a one inch lift in as i was doing it. I mean why not. two questions thoughs of you in the rust belt, just how bad is it going to be for me?

and two, besides the auto trany, and t case shifters what elce needs to be extended?
/forums/images/graemlins/burb.gif /forums/images/graemlins/woot.gif

 

[cybrfire]

Your hosed!











Seriously though. You are in for some work. Get out the penetrating oil now and don't even think about taking the bolts loose with a wrench for at least a week and then you still probably won't get it. Most times, I've had to hole saw a hole in the floor on top and blow the bolt out with a torch.

 

[fad2blk99]

When I got around to replaceing mine I think I had maybe 2 mounts still holding the body on. The body would flex so bad that on mildly uneven terrain the fan would hit the shroud and scare the piss out of me /forums/images/graemlins/angryfire.gif ...and that was with no lift!!!
Anyway... so getting the remaining 2 off wasn't all that bad; it was putting new ones on that was the pain....
be ready to cut holes in your floors for the cab mounts.

With the 1" body lift you'll also need to trim the bottom of the fan shroud.

 

[TruckNutzDude]

Anything with rust is no fun. On my K5 the only body mounts left were on the radiator support... talk about scary! I found that if you use some penetrating oil and it fails that you can use a mild torch and heat the nut mounted inside the body (from the outside, underneath) and sometimes the bolt will break free. 9 of 10 times this has worked for me and I've done a few trucks in Mass. Be prepared to replace the bolts with new ones, you'll see why when you take the old ones out. Also don't think about using a wrench for any of this, it's all Air Impact work. If your frame has rotted in the back (probably has) I'd skip the body lift since even if you patch it, it will be weak around the body mount areas IMHO. Good luck /forums/images/graemlins/weld.gif /forums/images/graemlins/hack.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grind.gif /forums/images/graemlins/weld.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grind.gif /forums/images/graemlins/hack.gif

 

[js4x4]

You may also need to drop the steering column a bit, just loosen the clamp that holds it to the firewall I think may do it for a 1"...some minor trim work for a 2" to the firewall when i added the body lift to my 69 blazer. Food for thought anyway.

 

[spearchucker]

Maybe the gas tank filler tube too. /forums/images/graemlins/dunno.gif

 

[gravdigr]

Don't let these guys scare ya too much. Indeed they may be right but they are describing worse case scenerios. I had to replace the body bushings in my '79 along with the frame mounts because they rusted through. I spun every bolt off with a 2' breaker bar and was able to use every original blind nut. This is after 20 years of pennsylvania winters so you may get lucky.

 

[RedBrute]

One trick I've found works is once the bolt breaks free, run it back in, then back out again. A breaker bar works good for this. The idea is to work it back and forth and keep hosing it with lube as it works it's way out. Takes a while but sure beats a broken bolt or twisting a captured nut loose. The idea of drilling a hole above the captured nut is excellent...if theres metal to drill, the bolt is fairly rust free /forums/images/graemlins/thumb.gifif the hole is there in the form of rust, well, you know what to expect /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif. I did all mine on my '87 this way. Took all day but came out good. I also bought new bolts from LMC truck to make the install easier. Some of the originals were eaten halfway thru from rust /forums/images/graemlins/doah.gif

 

[darkshadow]

[ QUOTE ]
With the 1" body lift you'll also need to trim the bottom of the fan shroud

[/ QUOTE ]

don't need to, the fan already did that, with the front end flexing /forums/images/graemlins/histerical.gif

thanks guys ill use a can of penatrating oil then use an impact on it /forums/images/graemlins/whistling.gif