Fender alignment

[CTgreen]

As I look at my M37 from the front, I notice that the front of hood appears lower on the driver side. So, the top of the hood is not parallel with the windshield frame. It also appears that the grill guard is about a 1/4" lower on the driver side. Any suggestions on how to get it back to square? As I look all around in and outside, I see nothing else that is kinked, bowed or bent,Thanks. H.

[Sal]

A picture might help so we can see what your talking about..

Sal

[CTgreen]

Here is a front view, and a rear view. In the front view, you can see that the hood and grill appears to be lower on the driver's side. Seen from the back, the bed and cab are square to each other. Thoughts? H.

[T. Highway]

H,

I would start from square one to figure out what is out of alignment.

You will need to park the truck on a flat slab of concrete and start measuring from the ground up to see if the front frame rails match from side to side. This should be done with the truck on equally spaced jack stands under the middle of the frame and shimmed to match in height. The tires should be off so that you can also check the springs for sag also. I guess you could get a rough idea of frame twist just measuring it with the tires on as it sits on a flat slab.

If you don't want to go thru all of that take it to a auto body shop and have them check it, this could get expensive.

I wouldn't worry about the body sag if it's a daily driver, but if your going to restore it to factory new then you should wait until the body is off the frame to check for proper alignment.

This is just my two cents.

Bert

[snowdad]

I am with Bert on this one to start with. Looks like the psgr side has been forced upwards. Don't think it would be spring sag. That would not creat what we are seeing in the second photo. If that is ok, I would check the mountings of all items on the psgr side to see if fender, etc. have all been forced upwards. May be as simple as loosening all fender, fender skirt, side panel bolts and adjusting and retightening. Any unusual wear one or more tires?
Phillip

[WarrenD]

Paint it green and drive it. It's not a show car!
Seriously, if it bothers you that much fix it and as said, if you are doing a frame off factory fresh resto then go for it but otherwise it's just part of the character of the truck.

[Gerry]

Just put a shim in your left shoe when looking from the front. Should make it look even

[DJ]

Check cab and fender mounts.

[CTgreen]

I measured the distance from the top of the side panels under the hood (If that what they are called) to the horizontal seam on the firewall. It appears the driver side panel is approximately 1/2" lower than the passenger side one. Also, there is an uneven gap between the hood and the driver side panel, while the passenger side has an even gap.

How much adjustment is possible when the bolts are loosened? Thanks. H.

[Brett]

There is quite a bit of room for adjustment in all the bolt holes. Maybe not 1/2" but close. You may want to look at the radiator core support where it mounts to the frame, as everything mounts to it. There are supposed to be 2 or 3 washers between the core support and the cast bracket it sits on. maybe there's one more washer on the passenger side bolt than the driver side.

Good luck
Brett

[CTgreen]

I spent some time today looking it over to see if I could find the cause of the crooked hood and grill. I jacked the truck up on a level concrete garage floor and put it on stands at the same height. I got consistent measurements from the frame to the floor in several locations on either frame rail. The front frame horns are at the same height (Maybe 1/32" difference). However, the grill looks like it has been bent and straightened several times. The bumper is also well-pounded, looks like it has been through a bit.

Is the grill supposed to be straight from side to side? The bottom of my grill appears to have suffered being pulled by a tow chain, and is bent outwards a bit. The end pieces are higher than the middle.

I checked the bolts and washers at the base of the radiator mount. Interestingly, the driver side had less washers/space than the driver side.

Paint evidence: The truck itself has several layers of paint. Starting from the most recent coat, to first coat, I see Brownish flat paint that is on it now, Gloss green army color, yellow, gloss army green, primer.

Some of the front sheet metal and the grill are a little different: from last layer to first: Brownish flat paint, gloss army green, yellow, gloss army green, Air Force blue, primer. Is my best option to remove all the front sheet metal, and start from scratch lining it up? H.

[hbb]

You might try and loosen all of the bolts that are holding the grill together then with a jack raise the left front corner and re tighten the bolts. There is enough clearance in the bolt holes that you might gain a little this way! After that paint it drive it and forget about it.Driving down the road at 45 mph no one will ever notice if it is not perfect and you will be having fun.

hb

[SOTVEN]

Just put a shim in your left shoe when looking from the front. Should make it look even

HAHAHA I AGREE WITH GERRY. IF IT IS HALF AN INCH ALL THE PROBLEM, JUST DRIVE THE TRUCK AND ENJOY IT. THE MORE YOU DIG INTO IT, THE CLOSER YOU WILL GET TO AN OVERHAUL. BESIDES, IF IT TOOK YOU THAT LONG TO PINPOINT THIS FLAW, THAT MEANS THAT NONE ELSE WILL EVER NOTICE IT. JUST MY HUMBLLE OPINION

[k8icu]

Shim it up and drive. As my Granny Hawk use to say. "Boy they aint never gonna see it on a gallopping horse!"

[CTgreen]

When I went to look at it, I noticed it, but I kind of overlooked it.......you know how that goes.......you try to see what you want to see. A diamond in the rough!