after having to cut my bed bolts off i was just going to buy metric grade 10.9 bolts from Fastenel but i found the manufacture who supplies Ford with their crappy bolts. Gonna give them a call monday morning and see how much they will sell them to me for....

http://www.taptite.net/pdfs/PR-171.pdf

dealer list
reminc CONTI - Licensed Manufacturers and Suppliers

 

I'm going to guess they are proprietary Ford bolts and they don't sell them directly to the public. You'll probably have to go to a Ford dealer to get them. From what I read in that PDF, it seems the main purpose of these special bolts is to reduce assembly time. If it were me, I would use some hex head bolts. Much easier to remove if you ever need to take off the bed again.

 

Excellent job on finding out why you had so much trouble with those bolts. Hopefully we can put to sleep those people blah-blah'ing on about age and salt even being a factor, lol. This explains some trouble ive had with seat belt bolts in the past!

 

Very interesting find, makes sense how they would want a solution that would minimize assembly time and possibility for cross threading. Of course with the bolt tapping it's own threads I can see it being a real PITA to remove, as I would think the fit would be tighter than conventional hardware. For sourcing the bolts I'd suggest going to your local Ford dealer. I found out the hard way earlier this year that there's quite a bit of proprietary engineered fasteners in any vehicle, and it's best to get the right stuff the first time.

 

i just called a few of the suppliers and NONE of them sell the bolts they only make them for Ford. So after all that im still screwed out of bolts

 

yes but the problem is i had to cut off all my old bolts so i need the clips for the frame rail even if i wanted to install regular bolts in the bed. Problem is no one i called but the overpriced dealer sells the clips seperats so i might just buy a new take off set from this guy on ebay, im waiting for him to call me back today so i can ask him a few questions

 

Price them on Tousley Ford Part's Depot, they come in at about 50% of what my local dealer wants, on everything from bleeder valves for the brakes to complete oil cooler and headgasket kits.

 

i can get a new take off set of bolts and clips for 90 dollars with free shipping from this man on ebay. i was gonna go pick them up but a 5-6 hour trip i dont think so

 

i went to tousley ford and looked under parts and they have a request price only? no parts listed or prices?

 

E-mails and phone calls are almost free, they've been really nice every time I've called them... usually on goosehunts for parts numbers that don't end up with a sell right away.