Removing Bed
 

Good Morning All

im going to be removing my bed, 1966 short stepside
all the wood is rotten or gone
assuming it helps support

Can i just 4 strap it on the corners and lift with my engine lift
(worked ok on my 1972 long fleetside)
Or do i need to weld braces to keep from caving in on itself

Thank's

Re: Removing Bed
 

If the header panel is still bolted in and tailgate still attached, you will probably be ok. If you leave the cross sills, that are underneath the wood, bolted to the bedsides, you'll have plenty of strength to keep it from caving in

Re: Removing Bed
 

You'll be fine, but it's easier to just strap around the cross members under the wood and use the engine hoist. Easy to balance it.

Re: Removing Bed
 

Re: Removing Bed
 

That looks alot like how I got my bed removed.

Re: Removing Bed
 

I just sling em up and use my tractor loader with forks. Boom-off the truck.
Reckon I'm spoiled.

Re: Removing Bed
 

I literally just bolted the bed back onto my 62 today. When i took it off i was able to move the bed around with the rotted wood by myself. Not saying i am he-man or anything but was able to with the long bed.

After i put the new wood in, that was a different story. It was significantly heavier. I used an engine hoist and used the cross sills as my lift points. Long story short, I believe you will be fine lifting from the cross sills if i was able to with new oak when putting it back on.

Useful tip…. Take your wheels off and drop that sucker down as low as you can. Don’t have to lift it as high to get over the wheels.

I attached a picture if it comes through on how i strapped it.

Re: Removing Bed
 

I don't have an engine hoist and do everything with a fixed ceiling hoist. I used straps in the four stake pockets, raised it, and rolled the truck out. When I reinstalled it the box was painted and stake pockets were smoothed. I made a wooden frame that went under the box sides at the tops with 4 x 4's going across. No tailgate on but new bed wood was installed.

Re: Removing Bed
 

Here's my method using an engine hoist and a little lumber: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LmmyRs8tSU0