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The front ones wouldn't be too difficult, the rears are a bit more complicated. It's mostly a matter of drilling out the spot welds, cleaning and prepping the base metal on the bedside and spot or plug welding the new pocket in place. Since you're replacing them, I'm assuming it's likely due to rust, so be prepared to do some rust repair on the bedside, too. The rears are also connected to the rear bed crossmember (which is actually part of the bed subframe on the early models that use the curvy stake pocket) and all connect together to form the structure at the back of the bed that frames the tailgate. There are a couple of pieces that brace the inside that all need to be connected back together. Those connections always rust out which is why the bedsides always want to fall over and feel loose. Be prepared for more repairs inside there to be needed before you can put the new pocket on. Beyond all that, easy peasy.
Yes you do! While you have it all apart, you might consider taking some 1" square tube and making a 3 sided box that would slip up the sides and across the bottom, all hidden inside the crossmember and stake pockets, to give extra support to the sides. Weld that all together with the subframe and crossmember and you'd have a pretty stout back end.
Way back when, I built my own lower bed piece. I bought the stake pockets. I then took some 2x3 rectangular tubing and ripped one side off, I nestled that over some round tubing to mimic the rear crossmember. My transition from the lower piece to the stake pockets isn't the smoothest and could have been done better. If I were doing it again I'd buy the right parts.
My bed isn't exactly stock though. My bed sides and tailgate are stock, but I used the be floor and front panel from a 2005 GMC.
I would rather spend my money on getting it running. How concerned should I be with the rust on the bed sides? I would rather keep them than buy reproduction sides. Could I get away with treating the bed sides with a rust inhibitor?
As long as there's enough metal left to hold itself from falling off and onto the street, you'll be fine if priority is function over beauty. It took 70 years to get this bad, it's not going to get significantly worse in the next few. No worries. At this point, though, any rust inhibitor or treatment is a waste of time and money.
As long as there's enough metal left to hold itself from falling off and onto the street, you'll be fine if priority is function over beauty. It took 70 years to get this bad, it's not going to get significantly worse in the next few. No worries.
