My bed floor supports are nearly completely rusted out, so I need to replace them. However, the floor is not in the best of shape and since the supports must be welded to the floor, I think it makes sense to replace the whole floor with supports. Now here is my question; Can anyone tell me exactly what is involved in replacing a bed floor in a 2005 F-250 (p/n BC3Z9911215B)? More specifically, how do the internal side panels fasten into the bed floor? Also, there is a support that appears to be just under the rear of the cab that is in very bad condition as well. Is this the same support as the front cross member of the bed floor or is it separate? Thank you.

 

I am/was dealing with this issue. I ended up with a "new" take off from Big Mikes Truck Stuff in Defiance Ohio. While researching, I found a few youtube vids. One (that I can't find now) showed about 200 spot welds on the underside flange that mates with the interior bed side panels. The repair showed the process using a "spot weld cutter" and a new Ford bed floor.

Another vid showed using sheet metal for the floor and then used angle iron and 2x2 square tubing to fab up the cross supports. The two pieces of 2" angle would be stitch welded with the 2" square tubing between (imagine two "L's" back to back with a two inch gap). The height of the cross support varies in each position and the saqure tubing was raised or lowered to meet the required height and then welded in place.

 

Thank you for that explanation. I was afraid that there may be tons of welds connecting the side panels to the center floor pan. Of course, once you cut those welds you have to realign and re-weld the parts back. That would make the job a nightmare. I have tried to find videos showing this, but found none.
How did you have the bed shipped and how much did it cost to do so? Driving to Ohio would be about 10 hours and I expect >$100 in fuel.
Thank you very much for your post.

 

I am also dealing with this on my 2003. I found a kit made by Dorman that I am now considering.

short bed: Dorman Products - 924-256

long bed: Dorman Products - 924-257

The kit has all the mounting hardware you need and at ~$300 is pretty cheap. I am seriously considering going down this route, I think this will be cheap, easy, and can last as long as the rest of the bed.

I crawled under the bed this weekend and was quickly able to pull one of the rusted supports off the bed using a pair of tin snips and pliers. There were only 6 spot welds holding it up. The other supports will need to be removed when the bed is off the truck.

The price for a new bed was in the $2000-$3000 range depending on whether you want the wiring, taillights, and tailgate. Shipping and body-matching paint will cost more. You can get a good look on ebay and craigslist (search for 'take-off bed').

Used beds can be obtained for less money but you would have to look at each one to see what condition it is in.

Let us know how you proceed.

 

They are only 3.5 hrs from me so I drove over. They loaded the new bed on top of the old bed with stakes in the pockets for alignment. I then used ratchet straps in the corners running them from tie down to tie down. If you can't make the drive, call them and see if they have suggestions for shipping. I would bet it will be more than 150 bucks though.

 

madscientist...have you gone through with the Dorman replacement kit? I'm curious how that might work as I'm in need of a fix. A full bed replacement was suggested to me, but want to believe that there's a cheaper option.

 

I bought the Dorman kit (from Rock Auto) to replace the bed supports on my dads 03' this summer. His is a short bed so I got the short bed kit. It comes with 3 supports, new bed bolts and new bolts/clips for the fender support rods. The kit did NOT come with the front most support of the bed, I had to fab that one and weld it in. I fabbed it out of 14ga stainless and machined some 1" stainless schedule 40 pipe for the weight supports at the bed bolt holes. The frame of the truck, underside of the bed and the supports were given several coats of rustbullet silver and black. I used the spring loaded center spot weld cutters from McMaster carr. I found it easier to drill a small .050" hole from the top of the bed through the center of the spot weld and then drill it out from the bed support side with the spot weld cutter to pop the spot weld. Use the old support to mark and drill the new supports so you can plug weld them in.

We found a badly rusted brake line which was replaced while the bed was off. We also replaced the fuel pump. The burn holes from spot welding the new supports in place was covered with a couple coats of Herculiner roll on bed liner.

The job was not hard, it was just a pain, especially in the hot summer. Luckily I have a forklift which made R&Ring the bed much easier.

 

I did, see the post here: https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...-supports.html

It worked-out great. The bed is rock-solid again. I would recommend the product.