Truck rebuild
#1
01-09-2021, 04:07 PM
Truck rebuild
I am planning on doing a full truck rebuild on my 01 quad cab dakota. I was wondering if anyone had any good ideas how to remove the cab without having a 2 post lift so i can clean and repaint the frame. This is currently the only part i am unsure of how to remove without damaging it.
#2
01-09-2021, 07:28 PM
This is the way I'd do it. Follow at your own risk, as this is pretty dangerous. After everything is disconnected and the cab is free to be removed -
1. Measure the cab mounting points, front to back and side to side.
2. Buy 4x4s, two 8ft and one that is more than twice as long as the front to back measurement. Cut this one in half.
3. Drill holes in the two 8fts to allow the cab mounting bolts to slide through, and bolt the cab to the 4x4s side to side. The cab is 6ft wide, and you'll want a foot on either side for clearance as the frame will need to be able to roll away while the cab is supported. You may have to buy longer bolts to do this.
4. Spreading the load across the truck floor with a long board, jack the cab up high enough to run the 4x4s under it. You'll need to jack and support each side, 1 inch at a time because the cab can slide off the frame if it gets too high.
5. Cut the remaining 4x4, and bolt underneath the two 4x4s bolted to the cab as far out from the cab as you can. This should leave you with a wooden rectangle.
6. Jack up one side of the truck about 2 inches with the jack in the center of the short 4x4, then support the long 4x4s under each corner.
7. Jack up the other side of the truck about 2 inches with the jack in the center of the short 4x4, then support the long 4x4s under each corner.
8 Repeat steps 5-6 until the cab is high enough to roll the frame out from under the cab. Pay attention to how high it's going as you don't want to run it into the ceiling of your work area.
9 After the frame is removed, lower the cab as far down as you can while still being able to get the jack underneath. You don't want anyone falling against it and possibly knocking it off its supports, and the higher it is the less stable it is.
To make it easier to manage, you can bolt caster wheels to the 4x4s to let you easily move the cab about your shop. Get locking casters so the cab doesn't decide to roll around on its own. I'd also remove the bed before doing this as you won't want to try picking the cab up high enough to clear the bed because that would be highly unstable. You just want the cab to go up the minimum height needed to clear the frame.
1. Measure the cab mounting points, front to back and side to side.
2. Buy 4x4s, two 8ft and one that is more than twice as long as the front to back measurement. Cut this one in half.
3. Drill holes in the two 8fts to allow the cab mounting bolts to slide through, and bolt the cab to the 4x4s side to side. The cab is 6ft wide, and you'll want a foot on either side for clearance as the frame will need to be able to roll away while the cab is supported. You may have to buy longer bolts to do this.
4. Spreading the load across the truck floor with a long board, jack the cab up high enough to run the 4x4s under it. You'll need to jack and support each side, 1 inch at a time because the cab can slide off the frame if it gets too high.
5. Cut the remaining 4x4, and bolt underneath the two 4x4s bolted to the cab as far out from the cab as you can. This should leave you with a wooden rectangle.
6. Jack up one side of the truck about 2 inches with the jack in the center of the short 4x4, then support the long 4x4s under each corner.
7. Jack up the other side of the truck about 2 inches with the jack in the center of the short 4x4, then support the long 4x4s under each corner.
8 Repeat steps 5-6 until the cab is high enough to roll the frame out from under the cab. Pay attention to how high it's going as you don't want to run it into the ceiling of your work area.
9 After the frame is removed, lower the cab as far down as you can while still being able to get the jack underneath. You don't want anyone falling against it and possibly knocking it off its supports, and the higher it is the less stable it is.
To make it easier to manage, you can bolt caster wheels to the 4x4s to let you easily move the cab about your shop. Get locking casters so the cab doesn't decide to roll around on its own. I'd also remove the bed before doing this as you won't want to try picking the cab up high enough to clear the bed because that would be highly unstable. You just want the cab to go up the minimum height needed to clear the frame.
Last edited by Vimes; 01-09-2021 at 07:30 PM.
#3
01-09-2021, 07:54 PM
#4
08-07-2022, 02:55 PM
I do have a spring shop within an hour and he re-arched the springs on my Challenger a few years ago. Moparfest, the largest all Mopar show in Canada, is in two weeks and I have the truck in the arena display, a showing reserved for special vehicles, so I don’t have time to re-arch. I can make shackles easy enough.