2012 at the Hammond Barn

[Bob Carriere]

.... they are still looking for her......

....... I just could not afford the postage to ship her all over the country !!!!!


Or is it an ALTAR.......

.......will be offering sacrifices to the CMP GODS.....


,,,,,, was going to do the whole barn but 8 bags was all I could afford !!!!


It will be the corner stone....pun fully intended.... to sorting out the twist in my frame.

I went to an old guys who assesses cars that have been declared "total wrecks" and later rebuilt for the road. It is a costly deal but if one finds the right damaged car that has been written off and fix it.... he will certify that it has been repaired according to specs and a new registration tag can then be issued for licensing and street use.

I explained the twist in my cab 11 frame..... the fact that the front cross member and middle engine support cross member had been remomved and replaced.....yada yada yadda.....

He told me two things..... I can fix it for you but it will cost you over $1500...... or I can tell you how to do it. Being cheap and loving a challenge ....... I izz gunna do it.

The whole process is 90% labour, 9 % sweat and one percent common sense.

I can always borrow common sense from Rob and Grant,,,,, 0,5 % each should not be toooo much.

I first need a suitable....almost perfectly level surface to work from.......


........ therefore the cement slab wide enough for the front axle.....

Plans are as follows....

Position the frame centred front axle on the slab.

Jack up rear axle on axle stands and level as necessary

Remove the front tires and position the front axle on small/low axle stands perfectly level the stands using sheet metal shim if necessary.

The concrete slab serves as a reference point for all vertical measurements.

Set a level on the frame and record amount of twist
.....left side...pass side from the front is high by 1.5 inches

Measure everything twice and record measurments
....front most frame horn to the floor

....spring to the floor

....axle .... each side to the floor.

Once everything has been measured and photographed.....

Plan "A"
remove spring packs and switch sides

Measure, record, photograph

if changes are positive leave as is.... or reverse if the twist is worst.

Plan "B"
Loosen all the grade 8 bolts to the front cross member and to the mid section engine support cross member..... also remove the bolted floor plates.... may need to loosen engine motor mount bolts as well....

Observe, measure, record and photograph

Plan "B -1 ..... optional to get drunk if it has not partly self corrected by now.

Plan "C"

The old guy says with the weight of the engine tranny it may self correct or at least visibly improve and noticeable in the measurments.

OR..... I may have to impose a reverse twist in the frame and see if by over correcting I can slowly relax the frame to a near level.

It will take time....... and tie up the barn for quite a few weeks/months.

My goal is to get within 1/4 inch level across the front frame horn....

Then I will have a reasonable straight surface to bolt on the sheet metal.


Way back when I took the frame apart for sandblasting and to replace the rusted cross members I did have difficulty getting the new crossmembers back in place..... pry bars were used to line up the bolt holes.

When the bare frame was resting on large saw horse stands there was a noticable twist in the front half part of the frame ...... I assumed wrongly that all the weight of the engine, etc. would bring it down.....dum !!!

Original pictures of the truck BEFORE disassembly showed that it was much more level than now......

So it will be a learning experience to try.... measure....tweak....measure....
swear some...... measure..... tweak some more...... and retighten real fast before the wind shifts.... !!!!!

.... it will keep me out of the local bars for a while.

As usual will post my progress .... or frustrations.

Bob