Truck Cab

There have been a few things about the build of the '52 3100 Pickup that have gotten me aggravated, but none more than the previous owner's inability to use the correct fasteners. A few weeks ago, we took the bed off the frame again, and replaced the tiny little bolts with some standard-sized grade 8 nuts and bolts. I even used these fancy "lock-washers" that prevent the bolts from loosening up and falling out. According to Google, the lock washer was invented by a blacksmith in New Brunswick named Morris Landry in 1901 to keep the nuts on rail cars.... so WTF, why couldn't you put them on my truck??? I knew there was an issue because not long after I started driving the truck did the cab and bed start making contact and messing up the paint on the cab corners. Awesome.

So the next step was to check the ever-loosening cab mount bolts, and as you can guess some were not up to par. I removed the seat and seat floor platform, cleaned up the mess underneath (including the carcass of a petrified rat) and got to work replacing the hardware. The bottom of the rubber body mounts on the cab were a flimsy rubber O-ring, so I added a solid rubber Camaro body mount to the inner section of it, and of course the required lock washers. Before reinstalling everything, I wanted to put some sound insulation on the floor, so I called my local car audio installers... they wanted $120 for a 10 foot piece of "Hush Mat". After a bit of research, I came to find out that Lowe's has a "Peel and Seal" product that works just as well for about $18. It was a quick and easy fix that keeps the road noise down, and seals the factory holes in the floor as well. It is much quieter now, and although the cab feels better on the frame, the gap is still pretty close between the cab and truck bed. I'll have to tweak the filler panels when I eventually do a bit of body work, but for now the ride is much better.