Front bed panel
 

I want to replace this panel! I believe I can get to the bolts behind the cab.
It's the bolts on the bottom. Will I have to remove the bed to get these bolts out? 86 chevy c-20 dual fuel tanks. Any help would be appreciated!
Thanks Phil.
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Re: Front bed panel
 

ive never tried it any other way.. i think that it wou ld be a real problem at best to get the bolts back in when you have the old one off...

Re: Front bed panel
 

I can see how you could get to the ones in the middle, but don't know how you could get to the ones on the outer edges above the tanks. It looks to me like those rectangular nut plates holding on the screws might fall out when you remove the screws - then how would you thread them back on with no access? If you can remove the bed without rounding out the square holes in the bed then that would be the way to go. You might just cut off the bolts for safety sake and buy a new set of bed bolts and nuts. Removing the bed is not very involved - just the light harness, gas tank filler necks, I think maybe a vent for the differential attached to the bottom of the bed (maybe other stuff). I have seen all of the connections disconnected and the bed jacked up from below and placed on sawhorses high enough to clear the truck frame and tires - then the truck driven out from below.

Re: Front bed panel
 

You will have to remove a good number of bolts along the bedsides/bedfloor too, as they have to come out a little to get the front bed panel off. Not as easy as it looks.

Re: Front bed panel
 

I am going to have to replace the same panel on my truck.

When I did my gas tank a couple of weeks ago, I took the bed bolts out and just jacked up the front of the bed. That should give you enough space to get at the panel bolts on the bottom.

The trick with removing the bed bolts is to use heat. I used my little propane torch, and I had all of the bolts out within an hour.