Truck bed

[jdheff1982]

I am curious, is a fleetside, long-bed light enough for 2 guys to pick up and remove it from the rear? I'm really getting antsy about trying to fix the fuel sending unit and removing the bed seems to be my best option w/o dropping the tank.

Thanks!

[Altec]

Depends on how strong you are. Two desk jockeys, no. If you know how to work, probably.

Remove the filler neck, unplug the tail lights, and if your axle vent tube is hooked to the bed, take it off. Take the tires off can help if you are vertically challenged... That'll give you the best bet, short of taking the bumper off.

I always have a picnic table, or four 5-gallon buckets to sit beds on.

[TheWhiteElephant]

Originally Posted by jdheff1982

I am curious, is a fleetside, long-bed light enough for 2 guys to pick up and remove it from the rear? I'm really getting antsy about trying to fix the fuel sending unit and removing the bed seems to be my best option w/o dropping the tank.

Thanks!

Out of curiousity, why do you want to remove the bed instead of dropping the tank? If you just drop the tank, you can do everything by yourself. Just make sure the tank is empty or close to empty. I drained most of the fuel, removed the brackets, dropped the tank on my chest, and slithered out from under the truck.

[jdheff1982]

Originally Posted by TheWhiteElephant

Out of curiousity, why do you want to remove the bed instead of dropping the tank? If you just drop the tank, you can do everything by yourself. Just make sure the tank is empty or close to empty. I drained most of the fuel, removed the brackets, dropped the tank on my chest, and slithered out from under the truck.

Someone suggested doing that on another post. All I would need to do is unbolt the bed and slide it back far enough to get access to the sending unit. I just need to be able to see the wiring for the sender. I don't think it is grounded properly as the fuel gauge still works; however the needle points to 3 o'clock for full, Full mark for 1/2, and around 3/4 to 1/2 marks for E.

[Black 'n' Blue]

Me personally I would drop the tank, because that way you won't have to worry about damaging the bed, or the wiring. I use a quad jack for gas tanks, it makes life way easier plus you don't have to empty the tank.

[Davidmichael]

just drop the tank. it's a lot easier

[jitteryguy]

my girlfriend and my youngest son (18) just did mine last week, they drain'd it and drop'd it. my son said it took about 3 hour's for the whole job.
spray plenty of WD40 on the tank straps and it's not as bad as it look's.

[pig rig]

pulling the bed back is a lot easier the dropping the tank and it makes it easy to see all the wire's in their natural location
if you jack the truck up and pull the rear wheels you can slide the bed back about 3ft witch gives you plunty of room to work on the tank
if he's got a grounding problem he' probly has no idea of how full the tank is so he's better off sliding the bed back

[Rogue_Alphonse]

If you have an engine hoist, hook two ropes in an X-pattern from each corner of the bed, take off the tailgate, and hook both ropes where they cross to the engine hoist. It works wonders. Just be sure to have the hoist adjusted out far enough.

[78 Chevyrado]

We had four guys to remove my longbed. It wasnt too bad. the hard part with two guys is going to be balancing it, and then walking the bed rearwards past the rear wheels, though i have seen it done.

[jdheff1982]

Originally Posted by pig rig

pulling the bed back is a lot easier the dropping the tank and it makes it easy to see all the wire's in their natural location
if you jack the truck up and pull the rear wheels you can slide the bed back about 3ft witch gives you plunty of room to work on the tank
if he's got a grounding problem he' probly has no idea of how full the tank is so he's better off sliding the bed back

I do have an idea hoe full/empty the tank is, just the gauge doesn't line up where it needs to. Not sure if the needle can be pulled and repositioned or what the deal is actually. I've never seen a troubleshooting guide with my problem.

Gauge shows full around the 2:30 o'clock spot, 1/2 is around the Full mark, and empty is gonna be around 1/2 to 3/4 mark. Not sure what I need to do to fix this.

I tried testing with an ohm meter. the gauge showed 100+ ohms no matter where the needle was pointing. From the dash, I would see from 40 to 50 ohms up to mega ohms depending how I had the ohm meter hooked.

[tucsonjwt]

Step 1 - be sure that it is the sending unit that is bad. If you have access to a known good fuel gauge, you can swap the gauge out in about 15 minutes without getting dirty. Once you know for sure that your gauge is not the problem, then you can proceed to the sending unit. This assumes that you have checked the grounds already and found them to be good.
Step 2 - If you get an aftermarket sending unit (Spectra brand), then your gas gauge will move back and forth as you drive the truck. It will still register accurately when the truck is stopped, it will just move around when the truck is moving. Spectra sending unit is about $40, AC Delco sending unit is about $140. I can live with the moving gauge for $100.
Step 3 - If you remove the bed you might have a problem with the bed bolts. You must make sure that the bolt does not move in the bed hole when you are removing the nut or you will likely round out the hole in the bed. You can cut the nuts/bolts off from the bottom, then replace all of the bed bolts and nuts, or you can try WD 40/PB Blaster, etc., and work the nuts off that way. I have removed the bolts successfully without ruining the bed bolt holes but it is a slow process. If your bolts are rusty this will be a risky job.
Step 4 - If you don't remove the bed, you can put a couple of concrete blocks and blocks of 2 x 4s, 4 x 4s, under the tank. Once you have the straps removed you can remove the 2 x 4s one at a time until you have the tank down on the ground.
Here is a pic of the sending unit showing the location relative to the cab. You have some room to work but it is not really a straight shot. I have a dump bed so I have access to the sending units without removing the bed.

[jdheff1982]

Tucsonjwt, that is some info. thanks for the pic.
Posted via Mobile Device

[cjlinkster]

Last month, I changed my gas tank (20 gallon). I dropped the tank the 1st time, which was a BIG BIG BIG headache!

After 4 hours, I thought that I was all good to go. I soon discovered that I had kinked a rubber line. Argh!!!!

The 2nd time, I decided to lift the bed (actually just decided to jack up the front by 6"). If you use a little propane torch, removing the bolts are a piece of cake. Within 30 minutes, I had the 8 bed bolt/nuts removed. I placed the rear most two bolts back in the holes to keep the bed from sliding off the back of the frame. Next I just used a 4x4" with a jack to lift the front of the bed.

IMHO, It was a lot more easier lifting the bed.

[86ktwenty]

I had this same thing happen on my 1 ton, ended up being a voltage issue. The previous owner had a problem with the tank selector and permanently wired up the passenger side tank. When he wired it up, he used a thicker gauge of wire than what was already on the truck and it threw the gauge off in the same manner you describe. It would be something to look for. Dropping the tank is not that difficult, i used floor jack with a small rachet strap around the tank to keep it from sliding off the jack. Make sure its centered, and take the bolts out of the tank brackets, lower it a bit and disconnect the hoses. Intallation is the reverse order.

[cjlinkster]

The issue that I had with dropping the tank; is that it is nearly impossible to reconnect the hoses upon reinstalling the tank. To drop the tank took less than 30 minutes. I wrestled with reattaching the 3 hoses for over two hours.

I wonder if the 16 gallon tank allows more room to reinstall the hoses?

With the 20 gallon tank, I had about an inch to get my hand back up in there to attach the hoses, which I ended up kinking. It was a major PIA for me.

I will never drop a tank again. never ever ever.....

[86ktwenty]

I re-attached them before i bolted it back in, leaving it lowered an inch or two for room to work.

[kwin]

My friend and I picked up the floor and front panel with with no bed sides and walked it about 80 feet. It was manageable, with the bed sides on it would not be. I'm 260 and lift 180 plus at work on a daily basis and my friend is no slouch, a complete bed would be a 3-4 man job.

Good luck