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40-70 ft pds for the stock bolts. They’re a 1/2” carriage style bolt with nuts (smooth head). Not sure about the above mentioned method of cutting around them though. Unless there are different styles I’m not aware of on these years. The later models used the torx head with anchor/clip nuts. These (pics below) you can grind the heads off and push/tap the shanks down and pull the box up and off. You may have to turn the bolt once it’s through the top floor section if they turn on you to line it back up, other than that it should just pull straight through. They have an oblong / oval shoulder on the shank that captures the bolt.
I couldn’t find stock new bolts anywhere, only the torx style with clip nuts. I bought 9/16” G8 bolts. (EDIT: The 9/16" bolts don't really work very well. I ended up using 1/2" G8 Bolts and nuts.) You end up with a head on the top though - I’m using a plastic liner, so doesn’t affect me. On the 8’ bed it uses 3 different lengths, for a total of 6 bolts on mine (8’ srw bed). I picked up 3.5”, 4.0”, 4.5”. There are various shims as well, when you remove the bed keep track of where they went. You might end up using them in different spots, or not at all if replacing with a different bed. You can also just slot some large fender washers, and ‘mill’ them down as required for height to adjust the bed.
A few pics for future reference. And a copy of the FSM, it’s a very short section.
Stock bed bolts.
Stepped shank, the shoulder fits into the bed floor and captures the bolt from spinning.
I'm a little concerned that I might have over tightened something. The box looks a bit crooked, the tail gait is extremely difficult to close, and 40-70 ft. lbs. is easy to pass by with the air gun I used. Before I start dismantling anything, do you think over torque might be the cause, or did I make some other mistake?
You'd have to be an order of magnitude over torque to cause misalignment via over-tightened fasteners, unless the underbed support structure is just rusty swiss cheese.
Chances are you may need a shim or two, between the box and the frame.
North Dakota seems to use very little salt, despite 5 months of winter. Frame still has half to most of the original paint, and when I undercoated it with used oil to seal it, I could read original painted numbers on the frame. No swiss cheese, outside the lower body panel of the club cab.
That 3/4 gun on low setting will easily do 150+ plus with a few slugs. That's why i was worried when I read that 70 maximum number, and I probably used the wrong gun to reattach. What kind of shims should I be using? Kinda a stupid question, but better to ask and know then mess it up!
Honestly, whatever you want. Plain old steel ones are obviously going to potentially cause rusting issues, I'd probably use stainless or aluminium. They don't have to be anything fancy, and if the tailgate is the issue, it might just be the two rearmost ones that you've got to play with in the first place. The bed alignment on these trucks wasn't ever exactly a precision affair.
Honestly, whatever you want. Plain old steel ones are obviously going to potentially cause rusting issues, I'd probably use stainless or aluminium. They don't have to be anything fancy, and if the tailgate is the issue, it might just be the two rearmost ones that you've got to play with in the first place. The bed alignment on these trucks wasn't ever exactly a precision affair.
Id wonder if the panels on bed are fastened right to themselves
Loosened all the bolts, torqued them down to 70 ft. lbs. The driver front bolt was a bit tight, but all the adjustments did nothing so far.
The only issue is that the driver rear part of the box is crooked/high, the rest of the box sits flat as it should. So it would not be a shimming here and there, but rather trying to equal out the other five bolts for one part of the bed that seems to be high.
Inspected what I could see easily, but cannot find any obvious defect. Rails and frame seem good. Nothing seems crushed or sitting high.
Loosened all the bolts, torqued them down to 70 ft. lbs. The driver front bolt was a bit tight, but all the adjustments did nothing so far.
The only issue is that the driver rear part of the box is crooked/high, the rest of the box sits flat as it should. So it would not be a shimming here and there, but rather trying to equal out the other five bolts for one part of the bed that seems to be high.
Inspected what I could see easily, but cannot find any obvious defect. Rails and frame seem good. Nothing seems crushed or sitting high.
has the truck been moved since the bed was fitted at all? because it could be how the frame is sitting
has the truck been moved since the bed was fitted at all? because it could be how the frame is sitting
After replacing the fuel tanks and pumps, I took it for a few test drives in the yard without the box. After the box was put on, more test driving. The box sitting high and the extremely tight fit of the tail gate seems to be a problem no matter where in the yard it is in. It is all hills and grades, so every vehicle sits an an angle on the grass or on the gravel. I don't think that would explain the entire rise.
After replacing the fuel tanks and pumps, I took it for a few test drives in the yard without the box. After the box was put on, more test driving. The box sitting high and the extremely tight fit of the tail gate seems to be a problem no matter where in the yard it is in. It is all hills and grades, so every vehicle sits an an angle on the grass or on the gravel. I don't think that would explain the entire rise.
Maybe its bent. how much did you fight it to take it off?
Maybe its bent. how much did you fight it to take it off?
Can be misleading, the bolts came easily, but the high power air wrench makes quick work of anything. It did seem to make the air gun work, but that's a pretty rough indicator. The bolts themselves were perfectly usable, but I would not say there were perfectly 99% straight like from factory. We lifted the box off with the Bobcat and with chains hooked through the holes on the top.
When we remounted it, a chain was positioned wrong and made a small bend to the driver side front of the top of the box, but this was a minor bend and was quickly hammered back into shape. Not enough to twist the back end up? That and I had to loosen and remove the bottom bolt of the bed panel support so I could get the rear tank filler hose into position. Perhaps I bent it pushing it around before I reattached it? I thought it would never go back into place unless it was in proper shape.
Can be misleading, the bolts came easily, but the high power air wrench makes quick work of anything. It did seem to make the air gun work, but that's a pretty rough indicator. The bolts themselves were perfectly usable, but I would not say there were perfectly 99% straight like from factory. We lifted the box off with the Bobcat and with chains hooked through the holes on the top.
When we remounted it, a chain was positioned wrong and made a small bend to the driver side front of the top of the box, but this was a minor bend and was quickly hammered back into shape. Not enough to twist the back end up? That and I had to loosen and remove the bottom bolt of the bed panel support so I could get the rear tank filler hose into position. Perhaps I bent it pushing it around before I reattached it? I thought it would never go back into place unless it was in proper shape.
if you can I would go and loosen the mounting bolts a bit, then take an impact and loosen the bolts that hold it together a decent amount and see if it cant "rest" or maybe rubber mallet. im wondering if it didnt get some binding when that center bent
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