Removing bed bolts

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Mar 17, 2005 | 02:14 PM

imlowr2

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From: Santa Clarita

Removing bed bolts

I'm planning on replacing the wood in the bed of my truck. I've been attempting to remove the bolts that hold the steel strips which hold the wood down. The bolts are frozen after 50 years of road crude and rust. I used an impact but it strips the square hold holding the bolt. I tried to use a vise grip, but since the bolt is a half round, you can't get a good bite on the bolt. I'm replacing all the bolt with SS and the strips also, but what's the best way of removing these bolts without using two people.

Mar 17, 2005 | 02:33 PM

51PanelMan

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From: San Jose, CA

Dynamite!!!

Mar 17, 2005 | 02:34 PM

Randy Jack

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From: Riverside, So Cal

Lower -

Where I couldn't just loosen them, I overtightened them till they broke.
Where they were stripped, like yours, I used the cutoff wheel to cut a slot in the top of the carriage bolt and a screwdriver to hold it.
Where that didn't work, I just cut the heads off with my trusty cutting wheel.
I wasn't going to reuse the wood or strips either.
Sounds like an episode of "Home Improvement", doesn't it?

Mar 17, 2005 | 03:07 PM

redlightning

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Joined: Jun 2004

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From: Winchester

I replace the wood in my 83 f-100 about a month ago.I did everything mentioned above.My father advised bolt cutters for next.

Mar 17, 2005 | 03:09 PM

Earl

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From: Waynesville, OH

If you don't want to mess around, just drill the heads off. The socket drive hole in the bolt heads helps keep the drill bit centered as you go. Got a big Milwaukee 1/2" drill and a nice, sharp cobalt drill bit. No problem at all.

Mar 17, 2005 | 06:11 PM

rogerf100

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Joined: May 2001

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From: Owasso Oklahoma USA

Most of the wood in my '55 was rotted away so it was easy to cut the bolts with an angle grinder with a cutoff wheel. If I could not cut the bolts from below I cut the heads off and they dropped out. The bed strips were so rusty they could be bent over and break in two. The only bolts that were hard to get were the ones in the front bed corners. Since the wood was almost gone, I pryed the heads up enough to get an air chisel on the bolt to knock the heads off. I was done in a couple of hours.