As some of you may know I've purchased some bedsides for my truck and was quoted 350-500 to install. To save some cash I want to remove the current bedsides myself. I know they are spot welded on but that's about it. So if someone could walk me through removing them that would be helpful. Thanks. '77 F150 400 C6 8ft bed.

 

might wait for someone with more knowledge... but if I rmber correctly you just drill the spot welds

 

Tools:

Body hammers & dollies
Angle grinder. I have two grinders to avoid having to change discs.
120-grit flap disc
Cut-off discs
Spot weld cutters. I use Blair cutters but the Harbor Freight ones can get you by
Chisel
Ballpeen hammer.. bodymen don't use claw hammers on cars and trucks!
Center punch
Spot weld knives (or old steel putty knives)
Sharpie, black or silver depending on your existing paint color.
Safety glasses & gloves

The bed is already off the frame, right? There are welds forward of the head panel and ya can't get to 'em with the bed installed. With that said....

Procedure:
Identify the spotwelds - You can do it by sight. If you can't see'em, then use the flap wheel to remove the paint and primer.
Mark the spot welds with a sharpie.
Center-punch your first spot weld and drill it out. Avoid drilling a hole through the second layer. More often than not, there will be a little bit of the weld remaining. Use the spot weld knife between the layers of metalto shear it off. Alternatively, you can use a chisel to pry off the first layer and then chisel off the remainder.
After removing the panel, go back and grind the flanges clean.

If the body panel gets too loose and flimsy, use the cut off wheel to remove sections as you work along.

If ya have a time gap between removing the panels and heading to the body shop, hit the bare steel with cold galvanizing compound or weld-through primer to prevent flash rust.

 

Thanks for the reply. Doesn't sound to bad. If I take these sides off myself I'll save myself $150-200. I know the spot welds that run vertically on the front of the bed, but where are the others located? On the under side of the bed rail? As far as getting the bed itself off. I've located 4 bolts, 2 near the cab, 2 near the wheel wells. I did see 2 near the tailgate but couldn't see where they went through to. I could of probably missed it, its freezing cold out so I didn't look into much detail. So any tips on removing the bed would be appreciated.

 

Excellent description by HIO Silver.

When you are using the spotweld cutter, its worth it to spend time trying to center punch the existing spotweld in the exact center (or as close as you can). Also give it a good whack.

Think of the spotweld cutter as a mini hole saw. Instead of a small diameter drill bit in the center (which prevents the hole saw from wandering) the center pin on the spotweld cutter serves the same purpose. Without a good center punch it can wander.

As you are doing it, I frequently stop and check the depth of cut. I like to cut all the way through the quarter panel and just "kiss" the inside. BTW, I use the Harbor Freight cutters, They aren't as good, but they are so much cheaper I can't justify the cost difference.

Installing the new panel really isn't that difficult. I am not an expert, but got excellent results when I did it. Here's my technique:

Obviously you must make certain the new panel fits properly.

After initially test fitting the new panel I'll take it back off and drill 1/4" holes where I want my "spot welds" to be (more or less exactly where the factory ones were). Then I position the panel where it needs to be and clamp it. Using a mig welder I make "puddle welds" in the drilled holes, securing the new outer panel to the existing inner panel. I'll start at one "corner" and then move to the other "corners" so it's tacked in position everywhere. Then I go back and fill in the other puddle welds. I try not to just do a bunch in a row, but skip around.

A little clean up with an angle grinder, and possibly a little glazing putty on a few of the puddle welds, and you're done.

Again, I'm not a trained professional but this technique worked really well for me. If you take your time you can do an excellent job and you'll have the satisfaction and pride that you did it yourself.

Good Luck!

 

Seriously... If you need directions on removing the bed from your truck you best thing twice before taking on box side removal.
It sounds like the dollars involved are important to you, as they are to most of us. You can do much more damage to the box than you can save money by doing the work yourself. Trust me on this.
Perhaps the shop that you are having do the work would be willing to let you "help out" with the box side removal. You would most likely save a few dollars and learn something along the way.
We all have our limitations, and knowing what they are is important. I don't want to discourage you from tackling new projects, but we all had to crawl before we walked. I think it is good that you are asking questions. That is how we learn. To me the questions you asked threw up red flags. This response is meant to help you avoid problems I created for myself 40-50 years ago, when I knew everything.

By the way. To remove the bed do the following:
Remove the tailgate
Unplug the wiring for the tail lights
Un-do the fuel fillers from the bed side (if equipped)
Unbolt the bed from the frame.
Have 3-4 friends help lift the bed off the truck

Good luck.

Roger Carter

 

No offense taken, only reason I asked is because I've never taken the bed off of one of these trucks. I know these things inside and out, just never taken a bed off. I know its pretty simple, but was just simply asking if there were any catches I should look for. I asked cause its freezing cold out and I'd prefer to have everything I need on the spot instead of messing around in the snow. But thanks for the info. Any info as far as spot weld locations? The obvious ones vertically on the front of the box, then I saw a few on the under side of the bed rail in the corner, do they run the whole length of the bed rail?

 

I wish someone from up north was making a trip down to Baton Rouge. I have an excellent long bed, single tank, with tailgate, back step bumper, brackets, and the toolbox with the sheet metal to add in the bed. It is all original paint. The tiny spot of rust would take an hour to repair. All for 300 bucks.

 

Why cant you be closer? The gas I spend getting down there, then putting in the floor it wont be worth it.