Along with the cab, I took custody of some other parts. Time to get busy with some new nickel plated hardware!!!
Gonna need some of this so the bolts don't freeze up over time.
The engine crossmember is tricky. It's a tight fit to the frame where it lives. So, you have to raise it more toward the front, where the frame is narrower and then walk it backwards into place.
...and just like that, more problems!!! So, as I mentioned a while back, this crossmember has been pancaked. Doing this, causes you to lose the ability to bolt it back to the side of the frame using the original holes. The eight holes that were used will no longer line up. In hind sight, I should have welded up the bottom holes and re-drilled so I could use the threaded nuts on the upper control arm plate. This would lock in the crossmember fore/aft. Now that I am this far along, I will have to depend on the bottom holes.
Now for the problem. I pulled out the new grade 8 bolts that I planned to replace the originals with. Every one of them are 7/16". Again, not a problem if I could've mounted to the side of the frame. The holes on the bottom of the frame rail and the crossmember are 1/2". If I use the 7/16" bolts, the crossmember could walk back and forth and possibly open the holes up even more. Ever see what loose lugnuts do to a wheel after several miles? So, I need to use 1/2" bolts for sure. Well, I didn't nickel plate any 1/2" bolts for this application. So, the front suspension will have to wait a few weeks. I'll just put some temporary bolts in for now so I can get this floor jack out of here.
