Bed off center

GJB · January 24, 2019

Glad I found this site. I just bought a 2013 Sierra 1500 SLT one month ago. 1st vehicle purchase in 13 years. I noticed bed is off center with the cab. Probably not noticeable to most, but some other things made me notice it. It is mounted further toward pass side. Is this normal? Can it be adjusted? How difficult would it be?

riverbanks · January 25, 2019

There is more room to move on the cab mounts,bed,loosen up the bolts,give it a push,1/4"maybe?

JimCost2014 · January 25, 2019

2 hours ago, GJB said:

Glad I found this site. I just bought a 2013 Sierra 1500 SLT one month ago. 1st vehicle purchase in 13 years. I noticed bed is off center with the cab. Probably not noticeable to most, but some other things made me notice it. It is mounted further toward pass side. Is this normal? Can it be adjusted? How difficult would it be?

Welcome to the site. very common problem over the years, like the post above suggests, start with the bed. Sometimes, though it is the cab that needs to be moved. I would check with a body shop to just get a rough price for them to do it.

GJB · January 25, 2019

So This is not something that I should be concerned about, right?

riverbanks · January 25, 2019

Not really, but you could take a tape measure and go off the frame to bed sides and rear of cab,get a little better idea of which one is skewed a bit?

JimCost2014 · January 25, 2019

Do you know the history of the truck, are you concerned of an accident? Most all of the Chevy's that I have owned always have been like this. One last question, are you describing left to right (standing behind the truck, looking forward), or is it pushed in towards the cab on the passenger side?

GJB · January 25, 2019

Thanks for all the replies. Carfax and FaxVIN show damage, but no accident. When I took it to Fixx a Dent to pull a couple dings out (which they did an incredible job!), I was mentioning this to the owner because the front, top bumper cover above the chrome is a little off too. He said, "your Carfax damage isnt in front its the back." then he proceeded to show me the bed had been repainted.The did a good job, but then that kicked off the critical eye and paranoia, even though I thought I had noticed the misalignment previously.

Yes, to looking at it from the rear. The bed appears to be more toward the pass side or the cab is to the left. Make sense?

Thank again for all the help.

JimCost2014 · January 25, 2019

4 minutes ago, GJB said:

Thanks for all the replies. Carfax and FaxVIN show damage, but no accident. When I took it to Fixx a Dent to pull a couple dings out (which they did an incredible job!), I was mentioning this to the owner because the front, top bumper cover above the chrome is a little off too. He said, "your Carfax damage isnt in front its the back." then he proceeded to show me the bed had been repainted.The did a good job, but then that kicked off the critical eye and paranoia, even though I thought I had noticed the misalignment previously.

Yes, to looking at it from the rear. The bed appears to be more toward the pass side or the cab is to the left. Make sense?

Thank again for all the help.

Yes, that is how they normally "line up" from the factory. I thought maybe you were looking across the bulkhead of the bed and it was almost touching the cab on the passenger side (not an equal space between bed and cab)

GJB · January 25, 2019

Great, but strange they would leave it like that. Should I mess with it? It kind of bugs me, but more looking or peace of mind. Would it be better left alone?

One last question: it has the 5.3L that changes from 8-4 cylinders. Anything that I should be concerned with in order to prevent the lifters from being replaced. It seems to change back and forth a lot. I just wonder how it can perform that function so often without abnormal wear. The truck only has 70K on it. Its the 4wd Z71 pkg. I love the truck and driving it. Just some questions due to unfamiliarity.

Thanks again for all your help.

JimCost2014 · January 25, 2019

19 minutes ago, GJB said:

Great, but strange they would leave it like that. Should I mess with it? It kind of bugs me, but more looking or peace of mind. Would it be better left alone?

One last question: it has the 5.3L that changes from 8-4 cylinders. Anything that I should be concerned with in order to prevent the lifters from being replaced. It seems to change back and forth a lot. I just wonder how it can perform that function so often without abnormal wear. The truck only has 70K on it. Its the 4wd Z71 pkg. I love the truck and driving it. Just some questions due to unfamiliarity.

Thanks again for all your help.

If you do not like the look of the bed, I would get it fixed. The AFM takes some time to get used to. There lots of threads on here that go both ways on how it affects the engine, lots of things to delete the function, and people that love it and never touch it. I would just search around and see what you find, basically same engine in yours as the 14-18 5.3's, so I would start in those forums.

GJB · January 25, 2019

Thanks for all the help.

JimCost2014 · January 25, 2019

27 minutes ago, GJB said:

Thanks for all the help.

No problem, not an expert by any means, just sharing my experience with Chevy trucks that I have had over the years. Always ask questions, best way to learn about your "new" to you truck, some of the responses will be very helpful in what you are searching for.

Colossus · January 25, 2019

If you are one who wants to keep the truck for 300,000 miles then I believe that the AFM will probably limit the engine life. Just a strong hunch I have.