B-1-PW cab mounting

[Steve Pellock]

What is microlam? guessing it is a wood product of some type? did you do only the fronts, or do you have some for all four corners?

Microlam is a laminated wood product similar to plywood. It is used for structural applications like headers, beams, etc. They do not split apart like the originals that were made out of a solid block of wood.
Only two are required as mentioned on earlier posts

[Clint Dixon]

"Am I correct?"

am I correct in the belief that the later trucks got a rear "block" which was largely a metal spacer, with some rubber attached? which brought the over all hight of the cab up about an inch in the rear as well?

Not exactly.

It is true that later trucks received the thicker rubber spacer in place of the rear fiber pads and the front wood blocks/fiber pad stack, but the cab did not change position in height at any corner.

The newer trucks that received the rubber spacers had their rear cab-to-frame mounts lowered to make room for the thicker rubber spacers. The frames are actually different. The newer frames have the mounting holes lower than the older frames. The cab-to-frame mounts are riveted to these holes.

Cab floors on both older and newer trucks remained parallel to the frame channels.

[Clint Dixon]

While the wood blocks are correct for a period restoration job, you'll find rubber insulators will last a lot longer and be more effective at vibration absorbtion than wood- which is why they've been used for the past 60-plus years.

You may be correct on the ability of rubber insulators to absorb vibrations better than wood blocks, but it may be tough to notice any difference when actually driving a Power-Wagon. There are so many enjoyable things stimulating the senses all at once during the experience..... ;^)

I might have to argue against your belief that the rubber will last longer than wood though. At least in the trucks I have seen around this part of the Midwest, the early wood blocks have tended to fare better than the later rubber insulators. The old oak seems to have been a lot tougher than the rubber. It may be because it was more resistant to weather, or it may be that the rubber absorbed a constant flexing, dried out, and eventually started breaking down, whereas the wood did not flex much and tended to become harder with age (unless rot sets in of course).

If I were thinking about experimenting with cab mounts, I would go to the additional effort to change out the rear mounts to a single point centralized point, giving the cab a 3-point mount. This allows the frame to flex more without tearing the cab apart while traversing terrain that gets the truck all crossed-up.

Ron Smith has done this and, I believe, Dave Brownlow also.

[sixtyninegmc]

Well, the cab is now securely bolted down. I scrounged some oak blocks and trimmed them to fit, and used old tires for the rubber, works great.
Thanks for all the help.

[PWFFnut]

I can atest to the possablity of cab damage

You may be correct on the ability of rubber insulators to absorb vibrations better than wood blocks, but it may be tough to notice any difference when actually driving a Power-Wagon. There are so many enjoyable things stimulating the senses all at once during the experience..... ;^)

I might have to argue against your belief that the rubber will last longer than wood though. At least in the trucks I have seen around this part of the Midwest, the early wood blocks have tended to fare better than the later rubber insulators. The old oak seems to have been a lot tougher than the rubber. It may be because it was more resistant to weather, or it may be that the rubber absorbed a constant flexing, dried out, and eventually started breaking down, whereas the wood did not flex much and tended to become harder with age (unless rot sets in of course).

If I were thinking about experimenting with cab mounts, I would go to the additional effort to change out the rear mounts to a single point centralized point, giving the cab a 3-point mount. This allows the frame to flex more without tearing the cab apart while traversing terrain that gets the truck all crossed-up.

Ron Smith has done this and, I believe, Dave Brownlow also.

I bought a FARGO POWER WAGON 3 yrs. ago. A two foot piece of frame is rusted away the only thing holding it together is the headache rack.It had a 17 Ft. A frame boom on it. Kevin the guy I bought it from used it to move heavy idems around his yard with it. The lack of support and twisting frame made a mess out of the cab A youtube video can be seen by typing in 1954 fargo power wagon.

[maineSS]

My wood blocks were completely shot- collapsed to the point where the hood panels hit the fenders during opening/closing. They were repro pieces installed by the previous owner that lasted about 5 years.

Central mounting of the rear is interesting- but the weight of the driver will always bias weight distribution to the left. You'd want to reinforce the cab bottom so stress is not always concentrated on a single point. How did Mr Smith & Brownlow install their rear mount?

[Cheyenne Dave]

Correcto Mundo, amigo...GUS has rubber engine mounts on all tree corners...

You may be correct on the ability of rubber insulators to absorb vibrations better than wood blocks, but it may be tough to notice any difference when actually driving a Power-Wagon. There are so many enjoyable things stimulating the senses all at once during the experience..... ;^)

I might have to argue against your belief that the rubber will last longer than wood though. At least in the trucks I have seen around this part of the Midwest, the early wood blocks have tended to fare better than the later rubber insulators. The old oak seems to have been a lot tougher than the rubber. It may be because it was more resistant to weather, or it may be that the rubber absorbed a constant flexing, dried out, and eventually started breaking down, whereas the wood did not flex much and tended to become harder with age (unless rot sets in of course).

If I were thinking about experimenting with cab mounts, I would go to the additional effort to change out the rear mounts to a single point centralized point, giving the cab a 3-point mount. This allows the frame to flex more without tearing the cab apart while traversing terrain that gets the truck all crossed-up.

Ron Smith has done this and, I believe, Dave Brownlow also.