how much does a bed, rear fenders, roll pan and all the wood weigh on a 53
\
j

 

I think you'll need 4 guys to lift it off, or 2 young strong guys. With the fenders on it makes it harder to lift with 2 guys because their arms have to extend out from their body.... if you know what I mean.

 

I can't answer that question myself but I bet the good folks at Mar-K or one of the other vendors who manufacture/sell/ship these items could tell you.

 

You could always lift it off with your engine hoist John...

 

Yea John, that's how I put it on !! I got a 800# 120 volt hoist for Christmas and am in the fabrication stage of building the mounts under my lean too to hang it.. Plan is to back the truck out of the shop and under the lean too...lift off the bed then roll the truck back in to do the rear end work... the bed will be lowered onto my bed dolly till the work is complete then reverse the plan... John, I'd like to see your bed rail "clamps" up close up if you have a picture or two

j

 

Not sure if I have any pics now but can take some tomorrow. All they are is pieces of angle iron with a loop of 3/8" round rod welded to them with a slight bend to make it hook under the rails and rubber glued to them to protect the paint..

 

John, I took rhe bed, tailgate and fenders off my chassis last fall. I had the luxury of using the hoist to separate it from the truck but we moved it off the dolly to stoage by hand. 3 of us(2 strong bodies and me) accomplished it but a 4th would have been ideal. The centre of gravity makes it a bit awkward too.
I like mechaical advantage, more controlled, easier on the body.

edit: just thought a set of truck camper jacks might work too.

 

What's going on John? I thought you were done. Still not just the way you want it?

 

hi Tom and +1 on mechanical advantage. I spent today installing a 2" pipe "beam' across the middle of my lean too to support
the hoist I got for Christmas. The plan is to roll the truck out under the lean too take out the four bed bolts and replace them with
EYE bolts...attach chains/ratchet straps/something to the eyebolts and then to the hoist I'm also considering using my engine balancer between hoist and the bed rigging to keep it level......then raise it enough to clear the frame and tires
(remember to disconnect wiring !!!!)

Tom , I'm assuming the bed is tail heavy since the tailgate probably weighs more than the front panel

Then, roll the truck back into the shop for the work to be done... The bed will go back on it's dolly (glad I saved that) and pushed out of the way
till the rear end work is done

B.J. I broke a bolt in my differential pinion cove. It's the very top one and quite difficult to get too with tailpipes and other stuff in the way and you can't get your
head up in there to see what your doing with a drill and punch. the bolt is broken off deep in the pinion cover.
AND we've (my suspension builder and I ) to rework the panhard bar and it's attachment to
the differential and it will be a WHOLE lot easier from the top than from the bottom.

All this lifting stuff is theory...but it sounds doable. Canada John was going to get me some pics of his bed lifting clamps (see above)so if that's easier I might make some and lift it from
the bed sides instead of the mounting holes

 

Duh I remember seeing your broken bolt dilemma and the suggestion to remove the bed. I'd guess with tailgate the entire bed would weigh 300-350 lbs. I bought a complete bed from Mid West Early Ford out of Ohio. I'm sure they'd know the weight. I picked mine up at the Grand Nationals (actually twice if you remember one of the bodyshops that had my truck sold the first one).

 

There you go John..

 

are your clamps welded to the two cross bars ?? and it looks like the front and rear bar have a spreader like an "H" ??

 

The lifting clamps just slide over the bars so they can be used on just about any box. There is an " H " welded between the two long bars and gets lifted from that. This picture might show it a little better