Ooh, that listing showed clip nuts, available separately, too. No mention of the size, though.

I looked at Rock Auto for bed bolts for a '97 F250. That led me to Dorman 924-312, advertised as 14mm. That's just a little over 1/2", so these may be the diameter you need:

https://www.dormanproducts.com/p-64874-924-312.aspx


No idea if the length and other details would work, but at least clip nuts can be found in such a large size if you go metric.

 

Oh man, you have a good point there. I did plan to use some anti-seize on them bolts, but I sure that stuff only lasts so long.

Welding is the right choice for sure. Was liking the thought of taking the easy route.

 

Far as bedliners goes... If I where to go that route, would go with a spray style. I don't like the idea of "space" between the liner and bed.

Wouldn't do a bedliner until after a future restoration where at that point I would not mind if the bolt heads get covered.

 

The spray on has its plusses and minuses. In the plus column it takes up minimal cargo space, looks great and has a good non skid quality.

The shell liners run the gamut of great fitting to total misfits. There's the over the bed edge type and the hidden top edge. The hard thick corrugated bottoms allow you to slide in heavy items easily. When you have a canopy you appreciate that feature. That's where the non skid of the spray on is not as good.

I have to say the dealer supplied liner I have is a tight fit and the hidden top is great especially with a canopy. I haven't seen too many like mine. There's no brand on it. Was back in the day when they first became popular and mine is a dandy fits the F series perfectly.

As for scratches from the liner to the bed they will be nothing compared to the scratches from shovels and rakes off loading crushed gravel. Many loads of all types. The paint in the bed would be gone.

Not sure how the spray on liners hold up to crushed rock and shovels and rakes.

Really will depend on your intended use of the truck on what liner to choose...or go stock naked...

 

My dad had his 2002 F150 crew cab Rhino lined shortly after buying it new. He treated that truck like it was a 3/4 ton with all the gravel loads and hauling around his tractor. The Rhino line held up really well. Though I do agree the pains of not having things slide, he did have a canopy on it. Sweeping it out too was tough.

 

Think it was last August I pulled the bed off the 86 F250 to replace the rear 19 gallon thank
for a 38 gallon tank.
The Bed Bolts would not come off with my 1/2" air impact gun. They were kind of like welded
on with the rust.
I ended up using my 4" grinder to grind off the Bolt heads thinking they were just carriage bolts,
and would just drop on down and out. Wrong.
They are oval shape under the head so they don`t spin as mentioned above, and the hole the
bolt shaft goes through is too small for the oval part to drop through.

I thought of cutting off the Nuts under the frame rail, but with the plastic fuel lines near the L/F
bolt, I just decided to grind off the heads.
I used my Cherry Picker and HF ratchet straps hooked to the 4 corner to lift the bed. tI wasn`t
coming up easily and was straining the straps, so added one hooked to each wheel arch, then
started to rise.
Then used the torch and cut off the bolts between the bed and frame, and drove the truck forward.

I did a lot of searching for new Bed Bolts. NLA from . But LMC has them in stock, sit down
when you price them out.
The picture show 8 bolts, but there is only 6 installed.
https://www.lmctruck.com/1980-96-for...e-bed-mounting

So I bought regular hex head bolts, large washers and Nyloc Nuts. Also slathered the thread good
with Never Seiz when we put the bed back on.
I also cut some rubber pads to put between the bed and frame out of some 1/4" rubber I had. Had
to punch some 1/2" holes in the rubber.
My Wife was using the Impact Gun, and I was under the truck with a Box Wrench , going to have to
use two people to tighten her down unless you have some long arms...LOL

I have a rubber mat on the bottom of the bed that offered back in the day.
Plus the bed has that thick spray on rubber bed liner.
If you are concerned about shoveling out dirt and gravel, throw down a sheet of
ply wood or some sheet metal.

After using the HF ratchet straps, those made me a bit nervous. I bought one of those
"H" shape frames to lift the bed. Vertical piece down the center with two that adjust out
to fit under the bed rails, then use your Cherry Picker.

Happy lifting, be safe.

Charlie

 

Here's another option if you don't want to weld nuts inside the frame rail. Personally, I'd be hesitant to weld in close proximity to the fuel tanks or lines.

Cut some short pieces of flat bar stock, maybe 1/8" thick x 1-1/2" wide. 4" long would be good. Round the ends so there are no sharp corners. In the middle, drill a hole large enough for the bolt to easily pass through. Weld a nut to this piece, centered over the hole in case I have to be specific.

Put the bed bolts in place as normal, and then put these pieces inside the frame rail with the bar on top. You'll need a helper to turn the bolts from above to get them started. Then you can finish tightening the bolts from above, with no need to hold a wrench underneath.

You will thank me next time you remove the bed. Just unthread the bolts from above, no need to get underneath.

If you don't have a helper available to help you install the bolts like this, you could loosely secure each nut/plate combo somehow, such as with construction adhesive. The bond strength isn't important, it just to briefly hold the pieces while you get the bolts started.

I made something similar for the upper bellhousing fasteners on my old Jeep. The components were originally installed to the frame before the body was installed. This left virtually no room for a wrench on the nuts on a flange at the back of the engine block.

 

I am liking that idea Karl! Just might roll with that one.