I gave it the old college try (funny because I didn't go to college) to get the nuts off the bed bolt and my 18v 3/8 impact couldn't budge them. Need to get my 1/2 air gun out but only have a few sockets in 1/2 so gonna get a set.

I am checking to see what others have done once they get the bolts off. If you managed to not torch or grind them down to nothing, do you reuse them or go with something else? I feel like using button cap bolts with hex drive rather than relying on the carriage bolt style is the way to go. Especially if you are gonna take the bed off again in the near future.

 

Usually you can't get them loose. It may turn a couple of rounds but then the head will get loose in the bed and start turning. Unless they are in pristine shape, you will have to grind the heads off. And once you do that, they still won't come out, you will have to lift the bed straight up off the bolts. Then cut the bolts again. Once you do this you will realize these are special shoulder bolts. They made them this way so when they cranked down on the bolts at the factory, they would not crush the thin tubing welded to the underside of the bed.

But the factory bolts can be hard to find or expensive. Me being cheap, I always use 1/2-13 regular bolts (the stock ones are metric). The first truck I had, I bought carriage bolts with the rounded head, bought very large washers that would fit around the square under the bolt head, and then ground two flats on the round head for a wrench to fit. That worked ok, but took some prep work and I started to see no advantage to using the round head bolts. So the next truck that I have now, I just used regular hex head bolts. A lot less work, and easier to deal with. I don't seem to have any problems with stuff hanging up on the hex heads. I had to use very large washers again, the holes in the bed are very large for the shouldered part of the stock bolts.

P.S. I seem to remember two of the bolts are shorter than the others. Can't remember for sure though.

 

That's me in this case. Thanks for the size too, I will see what cost differences are for bolts at the hardware store. Good to know about the hex head not catching on things since that is what have me thinking about the button head bolts.

So if I need to grind, feel like I should be grinding the nut but not sure about room to do that. Might try welding a nut on the head of the bolt to get a wrench on it. Either way looks like I will have some work to do.

 

I am most likely not the one to say but I reused mine but it was because they were covered in LineX bed liner.
There were 4 I had to remove from the liner, 2 rear most ones and think the 4 front most ones.
The vary front ones had to be removed as it was going on a short bed and the next set back I don't remember why?
The rear 2 because I had to rework the rear sill area to fit the flare side panel.
So the front & rear sets you can see the heads even after I put a coat of liner on the bed floor but the 4 in the center you can hardly make them out.

As part of my rebuild and knew I was going to use part of the long bed I sprayed the nuts & bolts for weeks.
I also used my air impact and they came right off but again they were held in place from the bed liner till I cut the ones out that I needed to.

Just know the shank under the bolt head is oval as is the hole in the bed floor to keep it from turning.
So what ever you get you will have to deal with them from turning.
Dave ----

 

Oval you say? Interesting. I am hoping to get one complete bolt off to see if I can match up to shoulder bolts at the hardware store. I frequent their bolt section a few times a month, nothing beats seeing the size in your hand or match to something you already have vs trying to get something cheap off Amazon.

 

Yes the shank under the bolt head and the hole in the floor and that is what keeps the bolt from turning.
DaveF was grinding flats for a wench in the round head bolts.
Wonder if you can find pan head bolts that use a phillups screw driver or Torx and a large washer?

Someone also said about the bolts being different in leanth and I believe that is right as the floor is flat on top but the frame dips in places same for the bed cross braces.
Dave ----

 

I reused all of mine. This was the worst one.

 

I plan to eventually replace mine with the later style torx bolts with speed nuts on the frame. I haven't measured, but I think I can get by with just the longer bolts on all of them. But if I remember right, that's going to be a bit spendy.

 

What are some thoughts on rivenuts crimped to the top of the frame rail? I have a rivenet crimper and there is 1/2-13 anvil. Can anyone think of them not being as strong as flanged nut? Would be a lot more convenient with getting a hex or torx headed bolt in from just the top.

 

I got tired of going under the truck to undo the bed bolts everytime. I had the bed off 4 times last season and it is always a pain to get in there with an opend end wrench. So while I was rebuilding my truck, I just welded a nut to the underside of the frame, where the bolts pass through. I dont see there being anything wrong with that, structure wise. Since the bed is laying on top of the truck, and the bolts just keep it from sliding around. I don't know enough about those rivet nuts to have an opinion on their strength though.

 

Several years from now, if you ever have to remove these bolts again, you will be cursing yourself, even more so than usual.

Strengthwise, property crimped rivnuts should be fine. Unfortunately, they don’t have much resistance to spinning. Usually not a problem with clean threads at installation. But add a little dirt and corrosion down the road? That’s a recipe for disaster. Expect some of them to spin. You’ll be underneath trying to grab the slippery little buggers with Vise-grips, before you give up in frustration and cut the bolts.

If you don’t want to weld nuts inside the frame rails, you might be able to fit clip nuts:

https://www.mcmaster.com/Clip-Nuts

Unfortunately, I don’t see 1/2”, but this might give you an idea for searching. You might even be able to fabricate your own with a 1/2” nut welded to a strip of sheet metal. Doesn’t have to be pretty. Just needs to loosely hold the nut in place as you tighten the bolt.

 

I think that would be a cool idea .Should have thought of that before welding the nut to the frame

 

These were the fasteners I was talking about. Had a '92 Ranger that used this style. https://www.lmctruck.com/1997-14-for...nting-hardware

 

Which ever head type fasteners you choose, hex or carriage, I highly recommend installing a heavy duty corrugated bed liner. You won't have worry about stuff hanging up on bolt heads. I use my truck for hauling sand, gravel, cord wood, lumber...you name it. I had the dealer install it when the truck was spanking new. So the original condition bed is under there! You do have to secure some loads to keep them from sliding, maybe more so than a bare bed.

That hasn't been a problem for me. I have plenty of ways to secure loads. I like that stuff goes in and out easily. It came with a tail gate protector as well. The dealer offered it to me installed, for 100 bucks. Best hundred bucks I ever spent!

Maybe someday I'll take out the bed liner and see what the original bed looks like? Not!

My liner does not go up and over the sides of the box. Tucks in under the bottom of the sides. If you use your truck for hauling it's a must IMHO.

 

Two things I didn't like about the bed liner. It takes up cargo space, and it does move around and wear the paint off the original bed. Other than that they are great. I got mine from the junkyard for $20. It fit under the bed rails also. It had a few screws in the back tailgate area. Once you take them out, just put your hand in the center rear of the bed in the tailgate area and lift up. The liner will bow up in the middle and slide right out from under the bed rails.

The only reason I say the liner takes up bed space, I had a 48" cut cub cadet mower I used to haul. It fit right inbetween the wheel wells. Didn't think nothing of it till next season went to haul it again and with the bedliner it lack a inch on each side of squeezing between the wheel wells.