Remove Front Cab Bolts

[73737373]

On the cab floor, can't get a cutting wheel in the recess to cut all the way thru the welds w/out touching the sides of the recess and cutting thru them, also. I don't have a cutting torch. This operation is to be performed as routine maintenance to replace worn out cab bushings and not a wholesale tear down/build. The seat is out and I'd like to get it done before I put the seat back in which is currently sitting outside w/rain forecasted for TH here in OK. Thoughts? Is a Dremel stout enough?

Took me 10 minutes per side for the rear ones.

[72c105speed]

Get the good metal blades for a dremel or grind on some scrap metal until your cutoff wheel is smaller.

[Grumpy old man]

Use a sawzall with some good bi metal blades and cut them from the bottom if they're really stuck . I've removed a few cabs this past week with an electric 1/2 impact on top and vise grips on the bottom .

[RenoKeene]

I believe he is referring to the puddle weld on the bolt head in the cab.
Take a decent chisel to it, should pop loose from the floor.

[57taskforce]

Originally Posted by RenoKeene

I believe he is referring to the puddle weld on the bolt head in the cab.
Take a decent chisel to it, should pop loose from the floor.

+1 I used an air hammer and chisel

[67ChevyRedneck]

Originally Posted by RenoKeene

I believe he is referring to the puddle weld on the bolt head in the cab.
Take a decent chisel to it, should pop loose from the floor.

The weld on my DS was so small I was able to actually break it by turning it with a 1/2" drive ratchet. This was an accident, I did the DS first and didn't know about the weld, and just happened to break it loose...

PS was a big puddled turd. I used a hammer and cold chisel and it smacked free in a few minutes.

[Steven R]

can someone post a pic of what your talking about, I am lost, welds on the bolt heads????

[dfwright]

My 72 had them welded. Very heavily welded, I might add. I used a dremel on mine.

[swamp rat]

My truck had origional mounts and it didn't ever have the spot welds, guess i was lucky?? it was a pita to break then loose tho....

[Grumpy old man]

I'm thinking this was done on the later model trucks or just at some assembly plants , I've never seen any welded front cab bolts , But I buy 67's as a rule and most of them come from the southeast ? I have 4 cabs outside right now and not 1 has any welds ?

[GASoline71]

Originally Posted by swamp rat

My truck had origional mounts and it didn't ever have the spot welds, guess i was lucky?? it was a pita to break then loose tho....

Mine too... 1972 GMC C1500. I just removed the original cab bolts 2 months ago. No spot welds on the bolt heads.

Gary

[57taskforce]

I'm thinking certain plants, I've got 2 72s from different plants and only the C/10 was welded.

[Craftsmen]

Mine were welded on my 70, I couldn't under stand why the bolts didn't budge when I tried to remove them. I said to myself, why would these be left hand threads, then I looked closer and noticed the welds. I used my Dremal with a thin cut off wheel and put a cut into the weld and then used my 1/2 " impact with a impact socket and busted them loose from the sheetmetal.

[leftybass209]

The only thing I can add to this is, like many suggested, I have used the chisel, and it does work well!

Wear some ear pro though, that cab is a little boomy with all that chisel smacking!

[67ChevyRedneck]

My 67 c10 was built in the st. Louis plant. Both sides had the spot welds. There was like 10 plants... Could have varied plant to plant.

[In The Ten Ring]

I used a cutting wheel on my Dremel Tool. Take your time, go slow, and wear a set of safety glasses with a face shield over top. One of my wheels EXPLODED. You can't be safe enough with your eyes.

No reason for any hammers, just cut through the weld, smooth up the area with a grinding stone (the Dremel is made for such small jobs) and go on.

[73737373]

Thank goodness for Sears!! Picked up the Craftsman version of a dremel yesterday and will get after this job this afternoon while its still warm and before the rain/cold comes tomorrow. Got it, ALWAYS wear safety gear; I want to be able to see my grandkids and hear them talk...someday.

[In The Ten Ring]

Great. Keep us posted on how it goes.

The Dremel Tool and its brethren are important tools that really excel on jobs that are too big to do by hand but too small to do by the more powerful tools like angle grinders and reciprocating saws.

I put in my new cab-to-frame bushings and bolts with my dad and it was a two man job requiring a large box end wrench and a 1/2 inch ratchet. The tack welded bolt was probably done to save labor. I used the kit from Wes at Class Heartbeat.

Here is a diagram of what your new bushings should look like IF that is the route you are going. I went with new rubber as I wanted a softer ride than polyurethane.



If your shims from your truck are too far gone, you can have a machine shop make you up a couple or cut your own. If you have a torch or plasma cutter, it would be a very easy job.

[73737373]

The Dremel worked great, but couldn't get the cab seperated far enough from the frame to slide the new bushing and shims in the front. UGH!!! I have an extra rear cab mount bushing and was able to successfully slide that one in in the front plus reuse the shims (mine had 2), but the bushing that's supposed to go in like in the picture above, simply would no go in. I'm going to loosen the rear mount on the same side and jack up the cab again and see if that works. I need about another 1/8 of an inch of clearance, and even w/that, will still have to hammer in the shim(s). That's as far as I got late Wed afternooon when it was 70 degrees and sunny. Rained yesterday and more of the same for today, Sat and Sunday, so it will sit for a while until the weather warms up.

[In The Ten Ring]

Originally Posted by 73737373

The Dremel worked great, but couldn't get the cab seperated far enough from the frame to slide the new bushing and shims in the front. UGH!!! I have an extra rear cab mount bushing and was able to successfully slide that one in in the front plus reuse the shims (mine had 2), but the bushing that's supposed to go in like in the picture above, simply would no go in. I'm going to loosen the rear mount on the same side and jack up the cab again and see if that works. I need about another 1/8 of an inch of clearance, and even w/that, will still have to hammer in the shim(s). That's as far as I got late Wed afternooon when it was 70 degrees and sunny. Rained yesterday and more of the same for today, Sat and Sunday, so it will sit for a while until the weather warms up.

Glad the Dremel Tool worked.

Here is what I did.

1). Put penetrating oil (ZEP 45, which is much better than PB Blaster) onto the rear cage nuts and front nuts for weeks.

2). I removed all 4 bolts.

3). I removed the bushings also.

4). My cab had rotated a few degrees to the left, which would not allow the bolts to go in.

5). I jacked the cab up on both sides with trolley jacks and wood blocks, putting the blocking under the cab (framing) rails.

6). I used a large welding (screw) clamp to rotate the cab to the right.

7). I reused one rear cab to frame bolt as it has the sharpened point allowing it to hit the rear cage nut easily. *The bolts from Wes at Classic Heartbeat had blunt ends, not the best.

8). I turned one rear bolt (from Wes) on a grinding wheel to a point so it would hit the other cage nut easily.

9). My truck has been "repaired" by metal welded over the cab support framing.....the shims were a tight fight but I got those in. My new shims were from a machine shop and were the size in the diagram above. Everything fit perfectly.

10). I tightened all rear bolts and all front nuts till the bottom washer touched the rubber, then I applied two marks with a sharpie, and turned the bolt or nut 1 more full turn (advice of Wise at Classic Heartbeat).

11). My dad held the heads of the front bolts with a large box ended wrench and I used a 1/2 inch ratchet on the bottom (nut).

[RedRider]

Removed my cab bolts yesterday, no spot welds.

FWIW: 1970 C-10 built in Fremont.

[In The Ten Ring]

Originally Posted by RedRider

Removed my cab bolts yesterday, no spot welds.

FWIW: 1970 C-10 built in Fremont.

No spot welds on your cab to frame bolts? On behalf of 99% of forum members, WE HATE YOU!

The Dremel Tool excels on small spot welds such as those.

[rsavage]

Removed all the body mount bolts on my 69 Blazer to replace all body mounts this past weekend and finished up today. All were tack welded as they were on my 71 Blazer that I restored 5-6 years ago. The bed bolts are easier to grind the welds away with a 3" air grinder with a cut off wheel in it. The front mounts on the "cab" section are much more difficult as they are recessed deeper. I believe that the bolts were tack welded at the assembly plants so that they didn't push up when the body was set down on the frame.

[rsavage]

I've found that dremel tool stones last only a very short time especially on hard welds. Better have a hand full of them.

[In The Ten Ring]

Their wire brushes fly apart pretty quickly too but for small jobs and tight spaces, a Dremel excels.