a question for superduty owners......

[mschn99]

i am just curious. i know a lot of you know a lot about these trucks, and know that a common repair procedure for techs is to lift the cab off the frame for major engine work. this is how i do all my major engine work(engine replacement, head gaskets, etc). i have had some customers think it was just awsome we have figured out a way to save our bodies by thinking outside the box, and other customers flip out on me worried about rattles, etc(which are almost impossible). i was just curious about the normal guys opinion on this procedure and also i will answer questions about the process if you guys have any.....Marc

[99Smokin73Stroker]

I'm okay with it. I've studied heavily the layout inside the engine bay of my 99 7.3 and I can barely imagine how the heck you guys have any room to work!! I had a friend who was a teacher at a career center and they had an old donated non intercooled 7.3 sitting on a crate in the shop. I got curious and decided to take the turbo off for something to do. Then I thought gee, how the heck do they do this when it's in the truck??!!

[overl0rd]

I wouldn't pull the cab off, seems like it'd be easier and you'd get the same effect by pulling the fenders.

[mschn99]

you dont get the same effect by pulling fenders, because then you would have to take the whole front clip off, the inner fenderwells, and you would still have the cowel overhang to deal with.......and taking the cab ff consists of farr less bolts than all those other pieces do.

[overl0rd]

And that's not less complicated than unbolting and/or disconnecting all the wiring, master cylinder(s) and assorted stuff then lifting the big, awkward, heavy cab off? Rather than removing a few bolts for the fenders and inners, hood, and leaving the core support in place?

[99Smokin73Stroker]

I agree, that's a lot of work taking off the fenders and everything that makes up the front clip. I've seen them pull a cab from a truck before when I was checking on my old chevy when I had it in the body shop. It looked to be rather simple and the lift or whatever they were using looked like it was specially made for that sort of thing...

[mschn99]

Originally Posted by overl0rd

And that's not less complicated than unbolting and/or disconnecting all the wiring, master cylinder(s) and assorted stuff then lifting the big, awkward, heavy cab off? Rather than removing a few bolts for the fenders and inners, hood, and leaving the core support in place?

the truth is in the end result. i have done sick-0 head gaskets both ways. in the cab, you have to take the evap core housing out, loosening and torquing everything is a nighmare, my back hurt every night after i was done working on it, and it took me 21 hours. doing it taking the cab off, my back feels good, torquing head bolts is much easier, many less scratches on the hands and arms, and virtually no chance of scratching the guys fender paint taking those heavier parts...heads, turbo, or bigger akward parts like the intake out. not to mention i can do the same job in 14-15 hours......

[mschn99]

and...getting a sick-0 or a 7.3 out without taking the core support is very tight and you risk damaging other things if you dont take the core support out. the only way i could see it as practical is if you had a overhead chain hoist, as a cherry picker does not lift perfectly strait up.

[toobadq]

i have done many cab off's. I have one showing in my garage pic's. That one was one of three done at home. I can have the cab off in 1 hour and 30 min. If the cab is not full of STUFF and no add ons( plow, beacons, grillguard, ECT). much easyer on the body and faster to. only had one with a squeak after repair. now I lube mounts where the body sits.

[mschn99]

tighten the body mounts like you would tighten an intake....middle left, middle right, next one to the front left, next one to the front front right, next one to the front rear left, next one to the front rear right......etc........ and they usually dont squeek....i always double check the first ones i did after i get all the rest done, and i hear you bout people who have a junkpile in the cab....makes it a lot slower. the other thing you have to remember about the time it takes to lift a cab......some things overlap, like fan and shroud, some bulkhead connectors....etc...so that time isnt just "time to lift the cab"....a lot of people dont look at it that way