I plan to paint my truck this spring and will be filling in the drilled holes in the top of the bedsides. As i think about it more and more I'm very very tempted to just make some patches and weld all six stake pockets closed. I have not used them in the 11+ years i've had the truck. Anybody else done this? Any pros/cons that i need to consider?

 

I will be doing the same this spring. Only con i can think of is losing a place to hook tie downs. Pro is it is one less place for water to get in and rust things.

 

I use mine frequently so I wouldn't do it but other cons nothing comes to mind.

Of course as soon as you do it you will need them just a fact of life

 

I've got holes on the inside vertical walls of the stake pockets, so i think i'll permanently mount some bull rings on those before welding the tops shut. That will still give me six tie down points and a cleaner/smoother top bed rail look.

 

i did it to my truck the only con that i know of is you lose a spot to grab on to when your climbing in and out of the bed

 

Good idea well I think that closes all but the hand hold con out so lets see the pics.

 

I did it to a 79 I owned when I was 18, many years ago. I thought it made for a very clean look.

I don't smoke so I welded up the ash tray at the same time and that cleaned up the dash, I will do the same thing on the truck I'm building now.

 

i think it looks much cleaner. i never used mine either so when i did my new bedsides i eliminated them

 

Wow that looks awesome! I always thought about doing this but have never seen it done

 

Thanks for the inspiring pic.... I'm gonna do that to my 70.

 

aye great job I love it

 

I dont smoke either. I added a cassette player I literally yanked out of a mustang 2 at a junkyard. Just a little bending of metal and she fits snug and secure where the ashtray was.

 

oh ya, they're gonna get welded up for sure. That pic shows me how smooth and clean it can look. Thanks bassdude !!!

 

Great idea! Just another thing for me to do now

 

You can run water down the center stake pockets to was the dirt out of the common rust places.