assembly tricks

[fuelpump]

So I take the wood out of my bed to clean it and revarnish it. It was easy enough to take out with a socket wrench and an extension. But now I go to put it back in and I can't find an effective way to hold the flat washer and lock washer on the bolt so I can get the nut back on. There is just not enough room to get both hands up in there. So how did you guys do it?? A magnetic socket would probably do the trick but I've never heard of such a thing. I thought maybe put a dab of silicon sealent on them but that would make a mess when it dries. Heavy grease might do the trick but then you run the risk of haveing the nut come off. So whats the trick??

[LILRED66]

A deep-well socket with paper stuffed in the end will get them started and they can be tightend with another socket without the paper in it. You can also use a nut driver (llooks like a screw driver with a socket head on the end) to start them and some have a hollow shaft, so you can tighten the nuts, as well.

You can also magnetize your socket or use a magnetic nut driver.

You can also make up stacks of flat washer, lock washer and nut by applying a very small amount of clear silicon to the mating surfaces and letting them dry before installing. This method keeps the mess to a mininum and allows the dried silicon to flake off during installation, to avoid the mess.

Good luck with your bed wood installaton project.

[mbgmike]

You can buy the little socket magnets to go inside. you can use just about anything that will stick. Its like a stock car wheel lug. they just glue them on. They used to use scotch tape

[Chevy Fleetside]

I stack the flat and lock washer on top of the nut and use my two fingers to put it on. It takes practice but you get the hang of it after years. Now my fingers just cramp up...

[fuelpump]

Well after revarnishing the wood I decided to see how many of the nuts could put on from the top. I wanted to minimize the amout of time on my back on cold Michigan concrete! I used silicon to glue the flat washer,lock washer and nuts together (which worked really well) and was able to start all of the ones inside the frame.When I got down to the last piece of wood I just started the nuts on the last two metal strips and slid the wood under the metal lips from the back. So the only thing I had to do from under the truck were the nuts that were outside the frame. And I did those without jacking up the truck.


before



after

[LILRED66]

Good solution and nice results.