Body Pads

> Like so much we post here, the negatives and difficulties dominate.
> Through all of this thread I haven't seen anyone proclaiming how GLAD they
> are that they went to the trouble! Let me start the GOOD JOB ball rolling:
> DO IT! You'll love the results. You'll wonder what happened to all the
> squeaks and rattles you hadn't even realized you had. How did your old
> Chevrolet suddenly become a new Cadillac?
>
> JWID,
>
> Ken H.

This rates as one of the best improvements that I have done to my coach. It was your prodding years ago that got me to do it. It was well worth the
effort.

This ranks in the top 5 or 6 things I have done. Others were aluminum wheels, Faye Curtis split radiator shroud, brass fittings on all air lines,
Dave Lenzi grease fitting front bearings, Fantastic vent, blocking the intake crossover, aluminum radiator which you and Emery helped install, and CR
Lawrence windows.

The isolators are a must do in all coaches in my opinion. I have done or worked on 3 coaches body pads. Only one was mine.

Thank you Ken

--
Ken Burton - N9KB
76 Palm Beach
Hebron, Indiana
 
I would have to agree the pads are a must-do. Not only to help the ride, but also to keep the air lines that run through those locations from being
permanently damaged or squeezed shut. It also affects other things too. For example we noticed that after installing the pads our bathroom door
started binding against the wood panel just above it, so we adjusted the top panel up a touch and fixed that. Probably needed it from years of sag
and settling. Also, our main side door had been off a little bit and a little low so it closed kind of hard; after the pads it closed properly.
--
Chris S. -
77 Kingsley, 3.70 FD, mostly OEM -
S.E. Michigan
 
Bruce H. Over all the years involved with GMC's. I don't recall of anyone having to raise the coach 4 to 5 inches to get pads in. Or taking the load off the suspension. Or damaging the body. Then bending the floor supports. I put a 4X6 on it's side. against the floor cross support. Then a floor jack to raise the body up the 1/2 inch to slide the pad in. I start just ahead of the side door. Put that one in. Then move each way from there. I've move the door jam forward by 7 inches to widen the door to 36 inches wide. The sides are VERY strong. I've had frame rails out.The steel frame rails aren't as strong as you would think. It seemed to me that the steel frame bends up to meet the body when the pads are missing. Bob Dunahugh
 
Bob, I'm going to quibble over the terms you are using, but in hopes of
better understanding. The frame rails are quite strong in their intended
role, but they are not particularly STIFF. the body is reasonably strong,
but it is particularly STIFF. The rails deflecting up to meet the body is a
matter of stiffness more than strength.

The point of the frame rails is to keep the back end attached to the front
end, but no ladder frame has much stiffness in torsion. The body provides
that.

The cross rails in the floor are a problem on my coach. They have creeped
on the ends, causing the body sides to sag. The 1" plywood on my early
coach will always creep, just like all plywood loaded in bending. The rails
are supposed to hold up the body, but their 1" depth just isn't enough and
with pounding they have assumed a mustache shape--droopy on the ends. I
suspect that can be corrected to some extent with thicker pads in the
middle of the coach to compensate for that creep, and that may be what is
required to really address the wrinkles in the lower body panel. I'm going
to be under the coach a lot in the coming weeks, and may take a hard look
at that issue.

The sections of pads (and my '73 has continuous pads) that I have looked at
still seem to be a half inch thick.

I know I had to raise the level of the floor at the door by a good 3/8" to
be able to hold the ends of my laminate floor pieces down.

I don't think it would be possible to straighten the floor joists--doing so
would required un-creeping the plywood floor, which I predict it will be
unwilling to do. But even in its creeped condition, it is still stiff.

Rick "not assuming anything is still straight, or that compressed pads
explain all the lack thereof" Denney

> Bruce H. Over all the years involved with GMC's. I don't recall of anyone
> having to raise the coach 4 to 5 inches to get pads in. Or taking the load
> off the suspension. Or damaging the body. Then bending the floor supports.
> I put a 4X6 on it's side. against the floor cross support. Then a floor
> jack to raise the body up the 1/2 inch to slide the pad in. I start just
> ahead of the side door. Put that one in. Then move each way from there.
> I've move the door jam forward by 7 inches to widen the door to 36 inches
> wide. The sides are VERY strong. I've had frame rails out.The steel frame
> rails aren't as strong as you would think. It seemed to me that the steel
> frame bends up to meet the body when the pads are missing. Bob Dunahugh
> _______________________________________________
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--
'73 X-Glacier 230 "Jaws"
Northern Virginia
Offlist email: rick at rickdenney dot com
 
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