Hey guys sorry for this silly post but i was just wondering what is the easiest way to remove the bed bolts? I'm thinking about replaceing a few items that would be easier with the bed off. Also i have a body lift but I'm not quite sure I want to put it in.

Thanks,
Brian

 

If they are rusted really bad and cannot be removed I have grinded the heads off in the box and replaced them with grade 8 hardware.

 

well i've been having trouble I tried to grind them off and drill them out but they fall down and get stuck and i also tried to weld a nut on the top. I think the next idea is to gridt a slit in the top and hold it with a chiles (flatblade on steroids) think this would work?

 

My truck is an 88 but I dont I dont think yours would be much different.If you grind the tops and use a heavy drift and pound the bolt back down into the frame it should work.There is probably a lot of rust holding the bolts.If they have fallen into the frame you should be able to lift the box up then you can remove whats left. It is a little slow with the grinder but I have done this a couple of times so it should work.I used a 4 1/2 grinder with a 1/4 thick disk for metal. Dont forget your eye protection and some thick work gloves wouldnt hurt either.Keep me posted I will check later.

 

If the bolts fall into the frame thats you want.There should be 6. Takes about 10-15 minutes or so the grind the top off of each bolt.If you get underneath the truck you should see the end of the bolt with a nut on it sticking through the top web of the frame.

 

alright so when the bolt falls down it doesn't actually hold the bed on anymore it's just rest on the frame correct?

 

I've not had any trouble getting the bolts loose on the couple I've done but dont they make a "nut splitter" that you could use, thus saving the odd shaped bolts?

 

Like this one........... http://toolprice.com/c=*/category/au....nut_splitter/
or this OTC one on ebay,
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Nut-S...QQcmdZViewItem

 

Yes when the bolts fall thru your there . The bed should come off without any problem.Buy some grade 8 bolts and start fresh. I wouldnt bother trying to save the old hardware unless it is in good shape and intact but usually not the case.

 

If you havn't already done it disconnect the wiring harness at the back of the truck,and gas tank filler.

 

mississauga</ST1lace said, "If you grind the tops and use a heavy drift and pound the bolt back down into the frame it should work. There is probably a lot of rust holding the bolts. If they have fallen into the frame you should be able to lift the box up then you can remove what’s left.</FONT>

<FONT color=black>I am in the process of changing the gas tank in the truck I bought a month ago. It also has some rust on the chassis that I want to take care of so I told my wife that the bed needed to be removed for the gas tank. (Just a little white lie.) I have grinded the tops of the bolts since they were pretty rusted and pounded them down and they dropped free but I can only lift the bed a couple inches until they grab. Do I just keep pounding on them more? I would cut them underneath but with a leaking tank I felt that that was pretty dangerous. I don't want to be a <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com[img] /><st1:City w:st=[/img]<font color=" /><st1:City w:st="on">Darwin</st1:City> dumba**.</FONT>

By the way I am putting in a 38 gallon tank since all I have is a rear and I fill up more than I have ever. It is steel so I am going to rustproof it before it gets installed. I got it from lmc.

 

I have done a 1988 and a 1990 this way. If your vehicle has the the same set up, the original bolts have a square shank at the top and if there is a lot of rust they are a little stubborn. Sounds like the rust is holding them in still.I pounded mine until they basically fell right thru. Check underneath just to make sure you are not pounding the bolt into something important. I found you really had to give it a couple of real good blows. When they came out there was a ton of rust on a couple and some were so badlly rusted they were unrecognizable as to what they were used for.Yea I saw the tank in the catalouge. You have to relocate the spare.

 

OK I took a breather and then went back out. I pushed up on the bed and wedged a 2x4 to keep the bed slightly elevated but not pulling on the bolt. Then I took another hevy swing. Presto the came off. I was trying to figure out how to get an oval bolt through a round hole. With the bed resting on the frame there was no where for the bolt to go and it was fighting the round hole. Man I feel smart right now. Something actually worked. The sad part is that is only the beginning.

Thank you guys for being brave enough to do these things on your own, it really makes me feel like I have support and answers when I need them!

 

I dant mind throwing the spare in the back. I have a bedliner and a tonneau cover. It is worth it not to have to get gas every five minutes!

Thanks for the help!

 

when i put the body lift on my 95, i had problems with rusted nuts not comming off. i found out that the bolts were tappered at the head to hold themselves in place i wasnt able to drive them out.