Does anyone know what is involved in removing the plastic rail caps that run along the top of the bed and the tailgate? The ones that came on my 2001 F250SD are gray instead of black and I was wanting to put black ones on. Thanks.

 

well there are some pretty tough plastic clips that go through the top bed .if you take a look from under the truck looking up towards the rail you'll see them.
A trick we used to use in the bodyshops was to take a heat gun on low heat soften the tabs if there warm they'll pop out easier.

The one in the tail gate ,you have to remove the access panel ,then there are special scrivets used to hold this in place. Make sure you have new
scrivets before removing .


Rich

 

9 out of 10 times the tabs will break, mine was in the shop not to long ago and they said it's easier just to bust them and replace with new. I guess my insurance company agreed, cause they paid for them no problem.

 

Great, Thanks for the replies!

 

Can you order the black ones from Ford? I'd like some as well.

I don't understand why all the plastic on these trucks is black except these rails. Just looks funny to me.

Scott

 

There are black plastic ones available as well as aluminum. The ones I saw were in the Bass Pro Shops- Truck World catalog.

 

Well, my tailgate cover came off quite easily. While loading my quad, the ramps slipped backwards a bit (resting only on the plastic cap), and WHOMP! Down went the ramps holding the quad with me on it. When I got up, I picked the plastic cap up, looked at the dent on top of the tailgate (almost cried) then put the plastic cap back on. Pretty easy, and it's in there pretty good. When I pulled it off when I got home, I kinda rolled in backwards (away from the bed) and it came right off.

 

That's why you should always ride the quad up the ramps real fast. na hope the brakes work real good.

 

Sounds like somebody is gonna be asking Sanny for a hydraulic hoist to put the buggies in the bed.

I think Hjudge49 is really Robbie Kneivel, although he didn't mention that the truck was moving when the quad jump was being performed (sweet!) Evel taught you well...

In Phoenix they all start out black plastic, by fall they are all gray and warped anyway. Some Einstein thought it was real cool to put a black plastic tailgate handle on there, probably disfigured my fingerprints enough to hide from El Federales now. Wish I had color schemed handles off an X, I'm starting to wander, need RF hub assy.... call dealer w/o anger ..... breathe.... breathe..... out

 

Not so, I just had homemade ramps that I didn't trust too much. I figured the less time I spent in the 2x10's the less chance I would wind up under the big green Honda. I use a trailer for it with the new truck