1980 Cheyenne Sit 1" Low on Right Front

[Art Pappas]

I have a 1980 Cheyenne where the front right sits approximately 1” lower than the front left. All cab body mounts have been replaced including the radiator mounts. New coil springs. All front end suspension work has been completed. New shocks. The alignment checks out completely. It drives straight as an arrow. But it just makes me crazy that it sits a little low on one side. I have recently added 3/4” worth of washers under the front right radiator mount, and now the body sits straight, and even a bubble level shows it is sitting correctly. But the front bumper is still Approximately 1” low. The front bumper attaches directly to the frame, so I had the frame inspected. The frame technician said all of his measurements, when comparing the left side frame to the right side frame are very close, with the exception of the right front, which does appear to be approximately 1” low. But I’m not entirely convinced that is the issue. He did his measurements with the truck sitting on the tires, and he also did measurements lifting the truck off the tires to take the suspension out of the equation. I did my own measurements of the frame using the 1980 shop manual specifications and all of my measurements are about 3” lower than the shop manual numbers, but all Left/right measurements are very similar. The right front is a bit lower, but not a full 1”. The frame does not appear to to be twisted in any way and there is no visible damage anywhere along the frame rails. I have now removed the front shims from the cab mount and I am getting a 2nd opinion from a different frame shop. At this point I’m at a loss. The only thing I can think of is the truck was shipped last year from the Pacific Northwest to Texas. The transport driver used chains to cinch the truck down using the frame as a tie down point. The trip took 8 days and my pickup was loaded at the very back, and top, of the transport vehicle, and was tilted down on a 30 degree angle. Is it possible the transport driver over tightened the front right chain on the portion of the pickup truck frame that attaches to the bumper. And the torque of the chain, the downward tilt of the truck, and an 8 days trip bouncing up and down all the way could have pulled my truck frame down by 1”? I’m open for any comments and/or suggestions anyone might have. People have told me to just leave it alone and just drive it. It looks good and only I notice it. But it’s making me nuts. Thanks.

 

[shiftpro]

Hey Art, thanks for the kind words.

You will get responses here, be patient.

And you're right, coils are not expensive...

Do you have pics? When you figure out how to post them we will appreciate you even more!

 

[Art Pappas]

Ok. Good to know. I’ll post photos if I can figure that out. If I can’t figure it out my kids can. Each generation gets progressively smarter I think.

 

[Snoots]

ONLY the bumper sits low? I don't think the bumper attaches directly to the frame. There are brackets between the bumper and frame.
Just waiting on pix.

 

[Goldie Driver]

ONLY the bumper sits low? I don't think the bumper attaches directly to the frame. There are brackets between the bumper and frame.
Just waiting on pix.

I will really curious on this one, so climbed under Goldie.

The bottom bolts for the bumper go directly in to the frame horns.

Just a FYI.

Britt

 

[Art Pappas]

Same here. One bolt from the bumper into each frame horn. There is also a short 90 degree bracket from the bumper into the top of the frame horn. There is also a 24” long angle bracket on the left side, and another 24” angle bracket on the right side that attaches to the bumper on one end of the bracket, and directly into the frame on the other end. I’m going to remove the radiator cab mount washers this week and repeat all my frame measurements again.

 

[WFO]

Are both new coil springs clocked the same in the lower control arm spring pockets?

 

[Art Pappas]

Yes. Both springs are seated properly. I just crawled underneath to double-check.

 

[Art Pappas]

One additional piece of information. Before I replaced the front foul springs, whenever I made a left-hand U-Turn, the front right felt like it dipped down more during the turn than the left front dipped down when I did a right-hand U-Turn. So I made the assumption, probably not a good idea, that maybe I had a weak front right spring that was causing the right front to be lower when the truck is just sitting there. The new springs have definitely helped. I’m also told this specific truck spent most of its life with a bigger camper shell mounted in the bed. That’s a lot of extra weight to carry around for 35 years. I guess that could have been a contributing factor to the weakened front coils. A set of helper leaf springs were removed last year to soften the ride a bit. I saved the helper springs and mounting hardware. Maybe I need to look at the rear leaf springs after this is all over.