I bought my 2008 F-250 SD 13 months ago and mechanically, it has not had any problems; however, I recently installed a headace rack, and within 4 days driving, I noticed about a 3/4" crack in the bed on both sides just below the bed rail caps and about 4" back from the front. As I looked more thoroughly, I found out that the front top of the bed at one time was damaged and repaired. It appears that the damaged bed metal was completely removed and replaced with some type of plastic body filler. I'm really pissed that I did not know about this when I bought my truck. Does anyone have any Ideas on how this can be repaired where my bed wont crack? I can imagine what will happen after driving on salted roads this winter with these exposed cracks. Any suggestions are sure appreciated. I believe if I had known of this problem when making the purchase I would hav negotiated for a replacement bed, but after a year of ownership I'm pretty well screwed

 

this mya be a really dumb idea, but why not go to a junkyard and cut off the bed rails and reweld it on???

 

I have thought about it.

 

to me it seems the most logical way of making it right, or even finding a bed that is in good continon and just change the beds, this way you have a spare

 

Thought about doing that too. I'm a welder by trade and have also considered building a dedicated welding bed.

 

Sounds like it is bondo or some equivalent if I understand correctly. Easiest and probably cheapest would just be find a used bed. Otherwise you'd need to take all the bondo out and try to work the metal back out properly or cut the bad part out and weld new in. Labor in time and money would be more than a $1K used bed.

Pictures would go a long way in a proper answer though.

Good news is almost all fleet trucks are white so there should be tons of white beds out there.

 

A take off bed is the bed solution in this case. That is about the only way it will ever be right.

 

Thanks for your reply. I'll post pics in the morning.

 

Also if you were to go that far might as well rip out when wheel well foam and save the arches from the salt.

 

I would bring the truck back to where you bought it and ask them to repair it. Just because you didn't notice it till now don't mean crap!!

 

No harm in trying, but the previous owner could have had it repaired before they traded/sold it too.

 

I tried to reason with the dealer..... Just spinning my wheels and going no where.

 

The dealer prob didnt know about it anyways. Alot of times they trade in a vehicle, and it's on the lot within a day. They didnt see it just as you didnt when you bought it.

 

Should have gotten the CarFax.

 

I did ask about one. The dealer claimed he couldn't find the one for that truck. Also, this particular dealer didn't take this truck in on a trade. He claimed he has people that search out good used Super Duty trucks and they go through a thorough check by their shop. They can't be too thorough, because when I bought it I could hear an exhaust leak. I told the salesman about it and he said it was my imagination. I replied that I would not purchase it until someone could show me what was causing the sound I heard. Turned out that they ended up having to replace both exhaust manifolds and studs. They asked if I would go half with them. I refused. Told them I'd go elsewhere. They then caved an ate the replacements.