AD Rocker replacement

[patrickk1]

I am working on replacing both rockers, both inner cab corners, and both lower inner door pillars. So far i have removed the lower door pillars but have yet to tack them in yet. A friend of mine said that in order to replace all of these things that the cab should be mounted on the frame with the doors on in order to keep correct door gaps. Currently i have the cab flipped on its back on my motorcycle lift so as to easy access to the bottom. I don't quite understand how any of these items will affect my door gaps, other than the lower door pillar of course. To me it would just seem easier to cut out the entire rocker and inner cab corner on one side, replace it, then move onto the next side.

What do you guys think?

[54 jimmy]

i did the same on my truck. the best thing to do is take some angel iron and tack it between the door opening and keep the cab upright perferable on the frame. this is to keep the cab from moving and causing lots of allignment issues. you are replacing the main structural support that keeps the cab floor straight and the cab square with the roof that is why this is important to do.

[pgf545]

The reason is to keep everything square while you are cutting and welding. Keeping the doors on is a way to keep an eye on your door gaps to make sure that the cab is not sagging or moving. I didn't do that when I did the cab corners but I did test fit them while I was fitting everything. I did miss it a little but nothing that I can't fix pretty easily. The thing you don't want is when you get everything done the doors don't fit or the cab is out of square. Take a look at my build thread, I think I have some picture on there of when I was doing the work.

Bernie

[dwcsr]

My advice to you would be to tack it all in then fit the doors and if they are ok then weld it up. These old trucks will spring out of place when you cut off to much metal at one time. If your floor is good then you may not have an issue. Either way on it back or bottom some cross bracing should be done prior to cutiing out large sections.

[50adrod]

mine braced with rebar, cheap insurance. I welded to some old door hinge bolts and then to the body when I cut out the firewall and floor

[solidaxel]

When we cut our truck apart we shimmed the doors in place and then cut it apart and welded everything back together, then removed the doors