Hood Adjustment

sixty6 · Post by **sixty6** » May 23, 2011, 2:40 pm

Tips for hood adjustment. I have it mounted as low as the hinges will allow and the back of the hood will not sit down on the fender or cab.

Are the hinges sprung?

Bill W · Post by **Bill W** » May 23, 2011, 6:18 pm

put some flat washers (1, 2 or 3)between the hinge and hood front bolt location.... dont ask me how but this will bring the back of the hood down.

GDG · Post by **GDG** » May 23, 2011, 6:22 pm

The hinge pins are probably worn allowing the springs to pull the hood up when closed. New or rebuilt hinges is the best fix.
Doug

Dirky · Post by **Dirky** » May 23, 2011, 6:26 pm

I was trying to work out the same problem this morning. Moved the hinge down as as far as I could, but still need more. Good to know!

Derek.

tomrooster · Post by **tomrooster** » May 23, 2011, 6:38 pm

If you grind the bottom 1/4" off the hinge it will allow it to go down a little . It was enough for my hood along with the washer trick. Tom

Dirky · Post by **Dirky** » May 23, 2011, 6:45 pm

My hinges don't appear to be worn, but I would need to remove the hood and springs to determine that... Only one side of my hood has raised above the cowl... Probably 1/4" inch!

Alan Mclennan · Post by **Alan Mclennan** » May 23, 2011, 9:39 pm

Can you post a few pic`s so we can see what you mean?

Hawkrod · Post by **Hawkrod** » May 23, 2011, 10:59 pm

It may seem counter intuitive but try and adjust the hinges up. They over center and drop a bit when closed and if the hinge is too low it does not do that and the back sits up too high. If the nose of the truck runs uphill all bets are off but otherwise adjusting the hinges up often solves the problem. Hawkrod

sixty6 · Post by **sixty6** » May 24, 2011, 8:13 am

Ezer- now that you mention that, it had a stack of 3-4 washers on each bolt when I took it apart. I didnt think it would have made a difference that I didnt put them back in.

sixty6 · Post by **sixty6** » May 24, 2011, 8:19 am

Ezer- now that you mention that, it had a stack of 3-4 washers on each bolt when I took it apart. Of course I thought the previous owner was clueless and thought those washers were unnecessary.

Alan- I will try and get some pics tonight.

At least the new Goodyears look good on the old pickup.

sixty6 · Post by **sixty6** » May 25, 2011, 10:52 pm

This is what it looks like Alan.

Hawkrod · Post by **Hawkrod** » May 25, 2011, 11:02 pm

You've got a whole mess of trouble there. Your fender is way out of whack to the cab and you will never get the hood to fit until the fender alignment is fixed. Note the gap between the cowl and fender is wider at the back and the door to fender gap is wider at the bottom. This is because the nose is too high. It can be caused by bad cab mounts or getting nerfed up front but untill the nose goes down the hood will never fit. Hawkrod

sixty6 · Post by **sixty6** » May 25, 2011, 11:30 pm

Thanks for the heads up. I will see if I can drop the front of the fenders. The cab mounts are brand new.

Will be trying the washer trick first.

If you think that is a mess, I wont show you the rest of the truck...

Alan Mclennan · Post by **Alan Mclennan** » May 26, 2011, 1:47 am

What Hawkrod said is what I was looking for in the pic!, are the rubbers new under the cab mounts and the radiator support?

sixty6 · Post by **sixty6** » May 26, 2011, 8:20 am

Both are new.

sgart80 · Post by **sgart80** » May 26, 2011, 10:08 am

Hey sixty6, I'm having the same trouble with my cab lining up with my fenders. I also have new rubber cab mounts and radiator mounts. When I received my cab mounts in the mail, it looked like the rear ones were way to tall, but I installed them anyways. I don't know if that's the case and I don't have a solution to the problem yet, but I'm in the same boat, either the front of my cab needs to come up an inch, or the back of the cab needs to drop some, or the radiator needs to drop some.
There are a some threads on the board already that cover this topic, but you have to do some searching, I turned up these results when I searched for cab mounts, support, etc. I'm sure there are more threads on this subject somewhere.

http://fordtruk.com/forums/viewtopic.ph ... sure+mount

http://fordtruk.com/forums/viewtopic.ph ... ab+support

sixty6 · Post by **sixty6** » May 26, 2011, 10:20 am

Sgart- Thanks for the links. All of the cab mounts look to be the same thickness. With the exception of the radiator support mounts. Those are "homemade" and will be the first place I look for some adjustment.

Brians1966 · Post by **Brians1966** » June 28, 2011, 9:20 pm

Thanks Bill W - Just re found this thread- been fighting a hood alignment

issue for awhile- took your advice- used a 1/8 inch fender/body shim at each hinge and

perfect - it brought it down level with the cowl

thank you thank you
Brian

andgott · Post by **andgott** » June 29, 2011, 11:29 am

Wow- It works!!

I had all but given up on getting my hood aligned properly- Or even close. I figured I'd need new hinges- It was about 1/2" off-

But, I tried the shim 'trick'. I shimmed the front bolt on the hinge about 1/4", and Voila-

I realize it's not PERFECT, but it looks a lot beter than it did before, and it doesn't rattle nearly as much. When I get the new bumpers on there, it should be even quieter! Looks like I can hold off on the new hinges for a while.

William-in-St George · Post by **William-in-St George** » July 1, 2011, 10:23 pm

Really easy to overtighten the cab mount bolts and squeeze the biscut. Try loosening the front bolts a few turns and tighten the rear ones. After the cab is sorted out the fenders and core support can be adjusted. Sometimes these hoods will be flared out at the hinge from coming open at speed. Sometimes they will have cracks in the inner support near the hinge. You can squeeze them into shape with a ratchet strap and then use body glue to attach the inner hood support to the outer sheet metal.

Hood Adjustment

Hood Adjustment

Cab Mounts