how too remove bed?

[jrsmith_2010]

hey guys, im needing to take off my bed, is the only way to get the bolts off is with an impact? is there another way? thanks

[chemsearch]

Don't know what the rust situation is like in kansas, but when i took my bed off i had to drill the heads off of the bolts with a 5/8ths bit. Could also cut them out with an acetylene torch, or if you're really desperate heat them (for a long time) with a propane torch and try to turn them with a breaker bar. Im in Jersey though, and im guessing kansas is not such a rusty state, so maybe it wont be as difficult for you as it was for me. What's your reason for takin the bed off?

[bigblock73]

soak them several times in penetrating fluid over the coarse of a few days...should help them come out easier. If they fight you, and all your "removing rusty bolt" techniques fail...just cut them out. I would hate to see you put soo much torque on them you round the square openings in the bed floor. Seen it happen.

[chemsearch]

very true bigblock. i forgot about that, but when i pulled of my bed i managed to mangle a few of the holes. i wasnt too worried about it cause the bed was already a piece of junk, but sometimes i fail to realize that some people actually have "nice" trucks haha.

[Rollinsqrbdy]

Dont forget to invite a couple of buddies over for a drink or two if u aint got a hoist set-up. hahaha

[Chlsnk]

Jr I just did this the past weekend, I found an impact universal to be the ticket. http://buy1.snapon.com/catalog/item....re&dir=catalog Went to snap on for the nice picture the one I used was MAC.

[Turbo85GMC]

Originally Posted by bigblock73

I would hate to see you put soo much torque on them you round the square openings in the bed floor. Seen it happen.

I can vouch for that, rounded three of mine! I had to drill a big hole in the head of each of them and use a large E-Z-Out with a 3-foot pipe on the handle.

[mr48chev]

Soak the nuts Lots of PB Blaster first, but don't get it in your eyes or on your clothes. The stuff stinks but it works. Good six point sockets instead of 12 point help keep the nuts from rounding off too.

[whiskeydented]

You can grind the heads off too, I've done it that way before.

Mike

[jrsmith_2010]

thanks guys for all the advice, i just got done trying to manually take them out, but the PO has had the bed off before and the square holes were now round and there was no way that i was going to be able to get them off. so i resulted to a cut-off wheel and just cut them out. i am taking it off my 83 so i can bag the rear now that the front is done and on the ground now i need some buds to help move it lol thanks again guys!

[old Rusty C10]

I bought a dremel with the swivel neck on it and using cut off wheels i cut through the nuts as they were so rusted. I tried the Bigblock73 suggestion of using several coats of PB Blaster and liquid wrench over several days but they wouldnt budge. Air will prolly round out the holes and as i didnt want to do that i just did cut off the bolts that way.. A blue tip wrench will also work but i decided against that with the tanks right there
It took me just a few hours with the dremel and I used a couple of chisels to expand the crack i cut into them when i got totally through the nut.. I used regular galvanized carriage bolts outta home depot to put the bed back on

[jrsmith_2010]

the only thing that sucks is that i need new ones now when i put it back on lol but they rnt that much, plus i will be redoing the bed so i can make changes if need be

[old Rusty C10]

then try the dremel thing it works better and is safer than most other suggestions

[jrsmith_2010]

ok ill try that tomorrow, i just need to find mine lol its got to be around here somewhere..

[pig rig]

myself I don't like screwing with stuck rusted up bolts I just take the torch to them
if your taking the bed off yourself if you jack up the truck and pull the rear wheels off then put jack stands under the frame and let the rear end hang you can almost slide the bed off the back I built a stand out of 2x4's to set the bed on that was almost as high as the top of my framerails

[AirMale]

I've welded a nut on the top and had someone hold a wrench on it.

[Chlsnk]

A pair of vicegrips clamped on the exposed section of the bolts works pretty well to hold the bolt in place if the holes are rounded.

[jrsmith_2010]

ok guys, i have grounded out the heads off the bolts and they r now threw the bed. but do i need to cut the bolt itself from the nut to take the bed out completly?

[willett]

i ground the tops of my bolts off with an angle grinder.

a new set from LMC was dirt cheap




*ed
i just saw your last post...


if you have ground all 6 heads off you can probably use some good upward force and lift the bed off of the remaining studs.
i have seen guys use floor jacks if they have no helpers.



if you dont care about the square heads on the box floor you could probably use a breaker bar and give the nuts on teh bottom side a good yank to loosen everything off...

[68 TT]

A new pair of vice grips can grab the perimeter of the carriage bolt head to keep it from spinning so you can break the bed mount bolts loose.

This works great for the smaller bed side mount bolts on the earlier trucks too.

[bigblock73]

If the heads are ground off, they should not hinder any troubles removing the bed.

All fleetsides are held on with 8 bolts BTW.

[jrsmith_2010]

well i didnt try to take it off tonight, but i will tomorrow after i get out of school. what im going to do is use a jack and blocks and jack up under the middle of the bed and see if it comes off the frame without hitting the bolts that are still in it, and if it does ill just cut them and yank the bed off to add to my pile of truck parts

[68 TT]

I used my engine crane to pull the bed off my trucks when I had to do it by myself. It's a little had to do without damaging anything but it can be done by yourself.

I even used it to lift the cab off the frame on my 67 C-10.