I'm sure some of you other guys have had the same problem so I'm going to run this by the panel of experts. My truck is fantastic mechanically but the body isn't what it used to be. There are no cab mounts at all under the passenger side. On the drivers side I tried fabing up a new one but there's nothing to weld too when the truck is such a rotbox. My question is, am I on my own to fab up anything that works, or can I buy cab mounts and try to get them to hold, or should I just try to find a donor from down south and swap the whole cab?

 

The best thing to do is to swap in a new cab. I ended up swapping the entire body on my truck, and it looks great now, there isn't a spot of rot on the body.

Also, the cab mounting brackets on the frame are probably pretty well rotted out at this point. On mine the entire upper part of the bracket had essentially rusted through. I cut the mounting brackets off my donor truck and bolted them up to my frame.

There are straight, rust free bodies around the northeast area but they're far and few between. Before I found mine somewhat locally I was planning on driving down south and picking up a gasser with a straight body.

 

Hey guys
I just did my cab mounts and they are a piece of cake to do. I went to the dodge dealer and got uppers and lowers all the way around. After I did it the cab rides a little smoother. As far as fabing something up I think it would be easier to buy new ones, I can give you the part #'s if you want.

Good Luck
Ben

 

Sounds like he's talking about one like I looked at. On one side (drivers side)the mount basically had nothing to attach to capable of supporting any weight. The entire area was rusted away. The rocker was held together by the paint almost.

 

What cab do you have Regular or club?

 

I have a reg. cab. The problem with doing new cab mounts is that there is not much to work with. That vertical piece of metal behind the rocker panel is pretty much gone in the area where the mount would go. May be I should just try to find a donor at some point. Thanks for all the input.

 

Couldn't you bolt a plate inside the cab under your seat as kind of a huge washer then drill holes through it to bolt the cab mount? I didn't look at mine to see how they are installed. Just a thought. If they are welded you could do a plate on each side of the sheet metal.

 

maybe a trip to 'non-rust' belt for a new (used) cab is in order.

We have at least 3 'abandoned' vehicle sales / week in PDX (portland, or) area selling over 300vehicles/wk total, I've picked up trucks with decent cabs and crunched beds for $100, most often a fender or door is trashed. (I got most my VW-diesels for $35/ea this way)

This isn't the best area for no rust, as I expect you could get something better closer. (GA, ARK, TN) A cab would be pretty cheap to ship (try uship(dot)com ) works good for me! I had a 2000# excavator bucket shipped 2500 miles for $250, and got it in 3 days !

But to get a cheap cab (i.e. not from a wrecking / recycle yard) one of your friendly DTR guys might have to pick one up at an auction (most towing companies that contract with 'the law' have these sales, as it is cheaper to let your towed ('illegally' parked, or broke down...) vehicle be sold at auction, than to reclaim, especially if you can buy it back for $100 (of course none of us would do that...) but you should be able to get a gasser, or and ex-city rig at auction, hope you like white )

 

i second what janb says . my 93 is rust free. look on the craigslist portland oregon for gassers or diesels.