Is there a guide for removing the bed? I thought I saw a thread on this but can't for the life of me find it.

 

when i removed my box on my 79 f150
i found the fastest way was to use a drill
to take the heads off

 

Thanks. I assumed the bolts are rusted on. How heavy is the bed?

 

I sprayed some PB blaster on mine about 30 minutes before I started. Then another shot on all right before I started. Mine were in terrible shape but I had no problems removing them all.
On my long wheel base I used my engine hoist and tow straps to lift and move the bed. If you don't have that as an option, get a few friends over to help. I thing two strong people can move them or four average people. It's really not that bad.

 

I removed two beds in the past month, one with a friend and one by myself. I used a cutoff wheel to cut the heads off. Once it was all loose, I put 2x4's between it and the frame and slid it off the back, tilting it once I got to the wheels. Stood up on end with no trouble. Make sure you unhook the wiring behind the bumper and the fuel filler lines first.

<a href="http://photobucket.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a204/KBrian/Truck/9d889d0f.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

 

Bed Removal Guide:

Remove canopy or camper or fifth wheel hitch or garbage if present
Remove tailgate (if weight is a concern).
Remove bumper to avoid hitting box on bumper and to make access to wiring easier.
Bumper may or may not have wiring for license plate lights, extra reverse lights, a trailer plug or a winch.

Remove tailights and undo wiring, part of it unplugs from the marker lights, and thread it down to the ground through a hole in the structure of the box.
If you want/need to save your marker light wiring you will need to undo the ground screws behind the taillights and force the grommet through the hole toward the front of the box.
There is a ground strap from the box to the frame, of the 2 boxes I removed I believe the strap went to the same crossmember as where the ebrakes go through.
While underneath take a look around to make sure nothing has been ziptied or tie-wired to the box that shouldn't be.
Also check for a camper plug wiring harness near the front of the box, it may be just sitting between the cab and box or it may be threaded through the box structure to come out of the stake pocket.

Remove 8 bed bolts that go to frame, gas tank(s) may be in the way though.
Remove gas tank filler neck(s) from side of the box and lower out of the way.

If the bed you are removing is junk, now is a good time to salvage those "bottom of outer bedside to inner bedfloor support rods" that prevent the bedside from flopping around in the wind, as well as the rubber wheelwell liners(they interchange front to back and side to side of the bed wheelwells).
You can never have enough clips so take the taillight clips and marker lens "square rubber plug" that the screw attaches to.
Cutout the sheetmetal around the fuel filler doors (if bed is junk) and the fuel doors themselves, and the plastic cup bowl that has the filler neck hole in it, as guys look to upgrade their boxes or use an earlier box on a later truck.

Remove bed with friends or machinery or both!

If I missed something I know people will tell me

 

You forgot................

Enjoy a cold beer after you have it off!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

^^X2 on the cold beer!!

 

Fairly simple task if you follow most of "four-sixty-power's" instructions......especially the friends and cold beer part haha

 

Which holes did you hook the engine hoist up to and what setting was the hoist on?

I'm looking for some advice on how to quickly and painlessly get rid of my current bed on my truck. I wouldn't mind if it was balanced and not swaying everywhere when I try to give er a lift!

Any advice with an engine hoist is appreciated.

 

On the inside of the bed on the inside of the 4 corner stake pockets, there are some holes that are approximately 5/8 to 3/4" in diameter. I hook into these holes with some good high quality 1" wide ratchet straps. ( Not the cheapest ones you can find but some good heavy ones) I use and X pattern. In other words run one strap from the left rear to the right front, and another from the right rear to the left front. Where the straps cross is where you would want to hook the hoist to. If you tighten the straps down fairly snug, it will keep it from swinging wildly. As far as which setting to use on your cherry picker. Use the one that will reach the middle of the bed. The bed wont weigh more than about 6-700 lbs with the tailgate removed. A cherry picker is not the best thing to use however. If you have access to an A frame with a chain hoist. That would be ideal.

 

Corner stake pockets... I'll have to look for those. My bed is so darn rusted out, I bet it'd be hard to tell the difference between a man-made hole and mother-nature-made hole...

Don't have an A frame, but i'm sure this hoist will work just fine. 1/2 tonne to 2 tonne settings... should be plenty enough lifting power.

Have you ever used the holes where the carriage bolts bolt up to the frame? It'd be more idea for me to use those bed-frame holes because they're not completely destroyed... yet...

 

No.....havent used those holes before but should work. Its not the lifting capacity of the cherry picker, its the reach. You need to be dead center of the bed and its best to come in from the back. Ive used em before, but like I said, not ideal.

 

What 78 PEB said.
The only difference in what I did was I used an engine leveling do-dad and put the ratchet straps to it. Since my truck is long bed and the bumper is welded on I needed a way to balance it back out. I picked it straight up, rolled the truck out of the way, and set the bed down on some saw horses.
I unplugged all my wiring near the bumper and had no need to remove the rest of the wiring going to the tail lights.

I have also used the method brian1080 described with the 2"x4" boards on a bed that I was trashing. Worked great.

 

Sounds good guys. I'll give er a try this friday... we'll see how she goes, or if she goes at all...