'76 F-250 and now that we got it running, it's time to start tackling some of the other things. One item up is the bed. It's solid overall except for the area that faces the cab as the seam has rusted through.

Would appreciate hearing suggestions on how to repair this and if there is anything that can be done to stop the damage from spreading as well. Here are a couple of pictures that show the damage.

This is definitely a project truck that my 14yo son and I are working on and learning and it will never be restored. Overall looking to make it solid and once we learn enough we may swap out for one that is a bit further along in the process.

 

The only way to get rid of rust like that is to cut it out and replace it with good metal.
With that said what tools do you have to work with?
A cut off wheel on a grinder and a sawzal can cut the bad out.
A welder is needed to put the new metal back in.
I dont like the "screw it in" as it looks like crap and would just leave it the way it is now.

It would be best to remove the bed to see what the other side looks like and can better get to for repairs.
On the ribbed floor you might be able to get part of a floor from a junk yard.
Maybe even part of that front wall?
If you can find a newer bed I believe the floors are the same but measure the ribs to make sure.
You will have to find one that the outside has been smashed and they could not sell the whole bed because of it.

I also believe a newer bed will bolt to your frame and just the outside sheet metal is different but again not 100 sure with out measuring.
This would be a little more work than just a patch but if done right would be a perm fix.
If the outside sheet metal was smashed and the floor and front are good you may want to get the whole bed.
If your bed sides are that good you could move them over to the newer bed floor.

The bed sides are spot welded to the inner walls / bed floor.
Start with the newer bed and drill out all the spot welds to remove the sides being careful with the front wall and how the rear is done around the lights.
That should leave the inner bed walls, front wall and floor of the new bed.

Now do the same to your bed but this time you have to be careful of the outer bed sides as you will reuse them on the new bed floor.
Drill out all the spot welds ending up with the sides you can spot weld on.
OR
I think you can buy new bed sides for you truck and skip removing your old ones and install the new sides on the newer floor.

BTW I used a long bed style side metal ribbed bed floor in place of my flare side short bed wood floor.
In my case I had to cut the outer and inner bed sides off leaving just the floor.
No one had done this before me so I did a lot of measuring to make sure the bed bolts would line up.
I did have to make the floor shorter and move the front cross brace. You should not if you get the same long bed to long bed or short to short.

I know it sounds like a lot of work and might be best to find a good bed to start with and not wast time or money fixing yours?
I like doing this type of metal work and I had the long bed with a crashed side and rust on the other but floor good.

Outer bed side cut off a style side long bed. I used a plasma cutter as I was not reusing the sides.

Floor made shorter

Most of the inner wall cut away.

Fitting my flare side bed sides to the floor


A little more work to get it to this point (ok a lot of work LOL)




Just think it out and it will work out.
Good luck
Dave ----

 

Thank you, Dave! This is detailed info that is very helpful and exactly what I wanted to know. We're mostly interested in the mechanical things and not so much on metal and bodywork. So this line from is perfect "would just leave it the way it is now."

I didn't know if there was something to do short-term just to keep things structurally sound. Since we're still learning I'll leave it and probably throw a block of 4" x 4" wood into the bed to cover up the hole when we want to haul dirt or debris.

Thanks again!

 

If you will be using it for dirt hauling and the wood works for you you can do that
or
if it is really weak up there then sheet metal bent in a L to cover the front wall and the floor and a few tac welds or worst case self drilling screws as it is a work truck after all LOL.
or
Put a tarp down to cover the floor & wall add dirt and use the rest of the tarp to cover the load like it should be,
The dirt up front will hold the tarp from moving and blowing out and cover the holes.

Oh the good thing about using the ribbed floor on mine and the way the sides bolt to it, this is factory bolted to the wood floor.
The front wall sits on top of the ribs so water and any junk from the weekly trash run I can wash out and runs between the ribs.
Also no water stays in the bed. I have seen some drill holes at the front of style side beds like yours to drain water and stop what you had happen.

Maybe others have a different way of fixing what you have I dont know?
Dave ----

 

FuzzFace 2 is right that all the rust needs to be cut out, but what you can do immediately is go buy some rust converter and get it on the rusty spots to slow/stop the spread. I don't want to be a Debbie downer but it bet it's a bit worse than it looks when it comes time to cut it out

 

Buy a rust free bed. you're in WA look on craigslist and facebook in eastern WA and OR they're not hard to find or expensive.

 

My '77 had some rust in the bed along the front wall to floor seam, not as bad but bad enough. I maybe goofed up. I bought a full 10'x5' sheet of steel, was about 3/32", was 11 gauge mild steel sheet. Thicker that stock, but was still under 1/8" thick. I got the steel shop to cut length to 8 feet there, then when home, I took carefull measurements to mark two "cutouts" to fit around the fender wells but overlap the bed sides by 6". I coated the underside with undercoat spray, then placed this sheet into my bed over top of the original, and used 5/16" short carriage bolts along the sides to attach it to the bed walls. Up front, I found that one long full width was over 5 feet, and that a full fit would not easily fit in behind the stake pockets in the corners like I wanted. I needed it to go in flat, not bowed because I had a 3" lip bent to overlap the floor. I bargained my one piece fot two shorter pieces, then got lips on them, and fitted each side in place with a butt weld up the center. I welded the overlap to my floor, and used carriage bolts along the top to fasxten it to stock. Plan was this was gonna be my floor, and I painted it white. I hauled a heavy player piano home over 100 miles , it scratched the paint but did not dent the new steel. Not long after, I was offered a drop in bed liner good deal, so I poured a gallon of paint in, let it dry, thenput the bed liner in. That was 1986 or maybe 1987.

In 2021 I removed that drop in. The paint was still there, but worn where the liner pressed. I found some minor rust where water had gotten in but could not get out. I added some 3/4" drain holes to aid drainage. I wire brushed it all and coated it with a gallon of Iron Armor from Harbor Freight. After my new outer bed sides were on and the truck painted, in 2022 I bought a new drop in liner and put it in (I was gonna reuse my old one, but I found a distributor locally, good price).

I used under lip drop ins both times, and used Pacer brand bed rail guards. My rear most bed corners each side of the tailgate are braced with some extra steel since the '80s, solid. I have a chart to locate my bed bolts if ever I need to since I covered them too.






That longish hole there at the edge of plate next to fender hump is about what was there so long ago.




I had not yet put the bumper back on here I see.

I know it looks like a lot of rust along the front wall, but it's surface rust mostly, and looking from underneath, the rust I was attempting to address so long ago has not spread much at all. I just decided there was no way to keep all moisture out from under the liner, so best to allow it's escape in corners.

I have put my front wall top steel angle reinforcement back, and new rail guards back since.

Added this, was my plan then, but buddy that has a fabrication shop where I buy steel suggested I let him "break" a lip into mine.



In real life, the gaps shown would about vanish. When I use carriage bolts like this because of the smooth, non snag head ... I test fit the carriage bolt in a drill gauge to find the hole needed to just grip the 4 corners of the carriage bolt, the nut with washer will pull the corners into the hole as tightened.

 

Thank you. Do you have a recommendation on the rust converter?

 

I used a wire cup brush in an angle grinder, then the black Iron Armor ... but one could use a converter. I have no favorites.

 

Eastwood products have a great rep.

https://www.eastwood.com/eastwood-rust-converter.html

https://www.eastwood.com/paints/rust...ce=google&wv=4

 

If you decide to get a replacement bed and can’t find one, I can vouch for Southern Truck’s replacement bed for dentsides. Not cheap, but newly made out of new (not thin chinese pressings) and used parts.