Body Assembly Order

[bkahler]

I'm getting near the point where the truck has to be assembled from all the various body panels.  Currently both of my spare bedrooms are filled with painted body panels and so is my living room.  Only the cab is in place at the moment.  

 

 

 

So, the question is what's the best assembly order?  

 

Front grille panel

Front fenders

Doors

 

OR

 

Front fenders

Front grille panel

Doors

 

Or

 

Doors

Front fenders

Grille Panel

 

What about the hood assembly.  Does the hood go on before the fenders?  

 

So many questions, so little time 

 

Suggestions welcome.

 

 

[greg g]

Looks good.  Don't know about the Dodge, but when I did my Studebaker,  I did rad support loosely,  inner fenders snugged, doors, outer fenders loosely, grille assembly, snugged, hood,snugged front bumper. Then when back in and aligned and tightened.  If you have extra hands, you can preassemble the dog house, inner fenders,  outer fenders, and grill and rad support and lift the whole assembly in place then align, tighten and add the hood and bumpers.

,

[Los_Control]

I figure the doors are optional ... put them on first or last .... they are separate.

 

The radiator support, then grill panel.

Then outer fenders, then hood.

The inner fenders are designed to be removed, for example to adjust the valves ... I figure they can go on last.

Thats what I did anyways.

 

Not sure about the bed though. I have seen where some build them then set them in place.

I'm thinking to assemble mine in place .... right or wrong I dunno.

 

 

 

[Dave72dt]

Doors first. If by yourself, I'd then do a fender, then grille, then the other fender, followed by hood or bumper.  Helping hands, preassemble the doghouse, then hood and bumper.  The front edge of the doors are your alignment guide for the fenders.

 

Or... you could put the box on, assuming it's ready to install.  That would take care of a bunch of big pieces as well.

[Plymouthy Adams]

Like your colors.....

[LazyK]

Doors first, they are needed to set the door to fender gap. Hood last

[ggdad1951]

Bed can go last and can be built off the truck and set in place with help/lifting device.

[bkahler]

Ok, it sounds like the order of assembly should be something like the following:

 

Doors

Fenders

Front nose/grille

Doghouse (I'm assuming the doghouse is the center section of the hood)

Hood panels

Inner fenders

Front bumper 

Bed assembly

Running boards?

 

Based on lots of pictures I've seen over the years and todays comments I plan on assembling the bed first and then using the gantry crane to lift it up.  The truck would then be positioned under the bed and the bed lowered into place.  This brings up the question as to what point in the sequence should the running boards be installed, before the bed is lowered down or after the bed is in place?

 

I will have help assembling all of the panels.  If I tried to do this all myself then I would just have to pay for another paint job 

 

As for the doors, would it be better to assemble the innards with the doors laying on a work surface or after the doors are hung onto the cab?  

 

 

 

 

 

[David A.]

Of course what works best for one person may not be as good for another. I didn’t have any help and this is the order I did mine. 
1. doors- they are needed for fender alignment. It was easier for me to install all the door innards and glass after the doors were hung. 
2. inner fenders- I set them in place so I wouldn’t risk scratching anything trying to install them after the fenders. 
3. front grill piece- mounted it loosely and slid the radiator support as far forward as possible to make sure I had room for the fenders. 
4. fenders- once tightened to the grill, you will need to shim the radiator support, and back fender support to make the rear of the fenders parallel with the front of the doors, and match up to the curved section of the door. Then slide the whole front assembly back towards the doors allowing enough room for the doors to open without scraping the fenders. 
5. hood- I did have to enlist some help to put the hood in place. It was just too much for one person. 
6. Bed- I assembled it first, then put it on the frame using a hoist. After the bed was in place I loosely mounted the running boards in place, then installed the rear fenders. 
 

Good luck!

Edited March 7, 2023 by David A.

[Dave72dt]

Doghouse in this case, is going to consist of the fenders and front panels.  Assemble doors after they are hung.  You won't have to worry as much about scuffing them while trying to maneuver glass and window regulators around in them.  Once installed on the cab and the door check installed, there shouldn't be anything for the door to get scuffed from, unlike on a work surface.

[ggdad1951]

As David said...all depends on the person.

 

I believe I did:

1. cab
2. doors
3. grill
4. fenders
5. inner fenders
6. hood
7. bed
8. running boards
9. rear fenders 
10. tailgate

 

And yah, I finished the door assy (windows etc) after hanging them

 

[bkahler]

20 hours ago, David A. said:

Of course what works best for one person may not be as good for another. I didn’t have any help and this is the order I did mine. 
1. doors- they are needed for fender alignment. It was easier for me to install all the door innards and glass after the doors were hung. 
2. inner fenders- I set them in place so I wouldn’t risk scratching anything trying to install them after the fenders. 
3. front grill piece- mounted it loosely and slid the radiator support as far forward as possible to make sure I had room for the fenders. 
4. fenders- once tightened to the grill, you will need to shim the radiator support, and back fender support to make the rear of the fenders parallel with the front of the doors, and match up to the curved section of the door. Then slide the whole front assembly back towards the doors allowing enough room for the doors to open without scraping the fenders. 
5. hood- I did have to enlist some help to put the hood in place. It was just too much for one person. 
6. Bed- I assembled it first, then put it on the frame using a hoist. After the bed was in place I loosely mounted the running boards in place, then installed the rear fenders. 
 

Good luck!

 

David, you are 100% correct about what works for one doesn't always work for another.  

 

Once the cab is squared away, I'll start with the doors and once done I'll look at the suggestions and see which one makes the most sense based on what I kind of help I have on hand.   It could also come down to finding out I don't have the right bolts, or gaskets, or who knows what so rather than stopping I take a different approach so I can keep moving forward.

 

I think the interesting thing is each response has been remarkably similar with what I would consider small details differing.  It would be really interesting to know what sequence Dodge used when building these trucks.  

 

[bkahler]

4 hours ago, ggdad1951 said:

As David said...all depends on the person.

 

I believe I did:

1. cab
2. doors
3. grill
4. fenders
5. inner fenders
6. hood
7. bed
8. running boards
9. rear fenders 
10. tailgate

 

And yah, I finished the door assy (windows etc) after hanging them

 

 

Leaving the rear fenders off would certainly make it easier to fit the running boards.  

 

Hanging the doors empty (which seems to be the consensus) would allow me to hang the doors now and means I would have doors AND seat belts to keep me in the cab

 

[JBNeal]

10 hours ago, bkahler said:

... It would be really interesting to know what sequence Dodge used when building these trucks.  

there are some assembly line pics in the Bunn books that lead me to believe the suspension, powertrain, and steering are installed to the chassis; the doghouse etc is set in place; then the cab with full doors is installed over the steering wheel; then the bed.  In these pics, there may be special tooling used to set everything in place so that all the parts line up, especially the cab.  I learned the hard way that the best approach is to put the cab, fenders, and hood in place with finger tight hardware, so that adjustments can be made during installation without too many tools.

[bkahler]

11 hours ago, JBNeal said:

there are some assembly line pics in the Bunn books that lead me to believe the suspension, powertrain, and steering are installed to the chassis; the doghouse etc is set in place; then the cab with full doors is installed over the steering wheel; then the bed. 

 

Several have mentioned bolting the fenders to the front grille and then installing (doghouse).  Since I have a gantry crane the process of installing the doghouse would likely be greatly simplified.  

 

 

11 hours ago, JBNeal said:

 

In these pics, there may be special tooling used to set everything in place so that all the parts line up, especially the cab.  I learned the hard way that the best approach is to put the cab, fenders, and hood in place with finger tight hardware, so that adjustments can be made during installation without too many tools.

 

Special tooling as in alignment jigs?  That would make sense.  

 

Yep, figured finger tight would be the most logical approach.  As long as I don't forget to go back and tighten them later

 

[ggdad1951]

1 hour ago, bkahler said:

 

Several have mentioned bolting the fenders to the front grille and then installing (doghouse).  Since I have a gantry crane the process of installing the doghouse would likely be greatly simplified.  

 

 

 

Special tooling as in alignment jigs?  That would make sense.  

 

Yep, figured finger tight would be the most logical approach.  As long as I don't forget to go back and tighten them later

 

 

With a gantry or engine hoist it can be a lot easier to assemble as the grill to fenders is a solid non-adjustable configuration.  

 

You WILL end up adjusting here then there, then there, then there, then back to #1, then #3, then #1.....it's chase the issue down till you are happy.....KNOWING it will never meet current wants for gap alignment and consistancy.  Tehn you go and tighten them all down consitantly.