---------

DML FAQ

---------

DML FAQ : Body : How do I remove my cab mount bolts?

Q:
How do I remove my cab mount bolts?


I'm gonna sound like Norm Abrahms or something, but wear eye protection! There is seriously a lot of crud that comes falling out of these things.

  1. Spray the living crap out of the mounts with a good penetrating solvent/oil/rust buster majig (someone on the list had the head of one of the bolts shear off, so use LOTS).
  2. Let the stuff sit for 30 mins.
  3. Spray some more solvent on there, and loosen all bolts off about halfway (you'll need a pretty long extension for the front ones).
  4. Figure out which mounts go where (there should be a set that fits rather loosely together, and the others are snug, the loose ones go furthest rearward on a RC)
  5. Remove all the bolts from ONE side. When you do, there will be metal cups that hold the bottom part of the bushing, keep those. I decided to scrape/sand them down and paint them with some tremclad rust-inhibiting paint.
  6. Take a chunk of 2x4 about 3' long, and use it to jack up the body of the truck on the one side. I jacked from under the floorpan, seemed the logical place to me. Take all the top halves of the bushings off - whack 'em with a rubber mallet. There is another cup on the top (it looks kinda like a bunt cake pan). Save those as well. They probably won't need paint, as mine were pretty much rust-free. When you remove the front mounts, pound them out with a big socket on an extension or a small chunk of wood and a hammer. Mine left little metal sleeves in the holes, you need to pound 'em out.
  7. Slip the top section of bushing over the bunt cake pan, then put the protruding metal sleeve through the hole in the body mount on the frame. Lower the body back down onto the bushings. Take the lower section of bushing and the bottom metal cup (you'll notice one edge of the bushing is rounded, I put that facing into the cup, I don't know that it matters,) grease the bolt, and slip the bushing over the bolt, then partially reassemble - leave the bolts loosened.
  8. Repeat steps 5 through 7 on the other side. When you lower the bugger back down, you can then go ahead and tighten everything down, and torque it all to 60 ft-lbs.
  9. Go for a test drive, and admire the stiffness of it all.
  10. Drink a beer.

One misc. point:
I think ma' mopar used u-nuts on the body to secure it to the frame. If you go to stick the bolt back, but the hole is askew, try sticking a long screwdriver in there to fish the u-nut into place.


Contributed by: Kyle Vanditmars
Last updated: Sun Jul 13 22:45:31 2003