What to use for bed bolts?
 

Will standard carrage bolts work for the bed on a 89 F250? If not, what did others use for theirs? I had to cut mine off and dealer says they dont have anything for me.

I used Grade 8 from the hardware store, I had to cut the stock bolts to remove them.

Carrage heads are not strong enough IMO for the task, generally only grade 2.

I used standard hex bolt then used an angle grinder to kinda round off the heads some to resemble the stockers after they where tight, you know so stuff wouldn't tend to snag on em as easy.

if you send me your address i have an extra set of factory bolts here. i took the ones off my truck when i did the body lift so i dont need them anymore. just pay for postage. i used standard grade 8 hex bolts on mine, but they sometimes catch on stuff, and you need 2 people to install and uninstall them. the factory ones are a 1 man job.

You can get factory bolts from Ford, several aftermarket places, even ebay.

Why use junk when you can use the real thing. Plus, the official bolts self-keep in the holes of the bed and don't spin when you tighten the nuts.

Well heck then better go with the Taptite2000 fasteners the newer models use! LOL

Just one man and working from the top to boot.....

Thanks i think ill just get some bolts from the hardware store like advised. It needs to be on sooner, rather than later. Appreciate it though :o

no problem. just expect about $2 a bolt.

you can still buy them from ford. i bought a set 3 weeks ago. stock items off the shelf. the problem is that they are no longer listed in the computers.
but they are still listed in the microfilms, the problem is finding a parts man that knows how to read a microfilm.

give me a few and i will try to find the part numbers for you.

here are the ford part numbers for the bed bolts.

*N803022*S40 @ $12.62
*N803020*S40 @ $6.90
*N803023*S40 @ $9.90
and the nut part number is
*N620483*S437 @$1.62

you will need 2 of each bolt, and 6 nuts.

these part numbers prices are from parts guy ed, a site sponsor.

http://partsguyed.com/

Thanks for the info, tjc transport! :-X22

You can get grade 5 and grade 8 carriage bolts from a fastener supply house, hellava lot cheaper than those prices!

Thats what i was thinking. But do those bolts from teh factory do something that the carriage bolts wouldnt?

yes. the shank is oblonged the full length of the bed instead of just the small square head like a carrage bolt.
here is a pic of 2 of the 3 different size bolts

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e2...edbedbolts.jpg

LMC has the bolts