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2001 To 2014 Bed Swap How To

53K views 11 replies 2 participants last post by  nils302 
#1 ·
Introduction

I had to replace the bed on a 2001 F250 that the wife and I bought. Here's what I was looking at when I lifted the liner:

Land vehicle Vehicle Car Pickup truck Commercial vehicle


I located a takeoff through a friend from a local truck equipment company. The one I picked was a 2014 with a sprayed-in liner that also came with the tailgate, tail lights, mounting hardware, and the rear bumper. If you find yourself in the same situation and you still have your old bed, you can transport your new one like so:

Land vehicle Vehicle Car Motor vehicle Automotive tire


Before I picked it up I cut some 2x4s to fit in the corner posts of the bed leaving about six to eight inches sticking up to engage the new one. The place I picked the bed up from was able to use a fork lift to put the new one upside-down on the old one; I was then able to connect them on the inside corner-to-corner with ratchet straps.

Vehicle Car


Back at the house, I used a 1/2-ton hoist attached to my carport along with a free-standing engine hoist to do each bed move. You can get away with moving them around with a boat-load of good neighbors, but if you're like me you'll want to take your time at each stage of the process. In my case I'd have to assemble the crew to lift the new bed off, send them home while I worked on unhooking the old one, bring them back to lift the old off, send them home while I prepare the frame, bring them back to lift the new one on, and then maybe bring them all back one last time when I finished up to throw the old one back on so I can take it to the scrap yard. I figured with a few hoists I could save a lot of hassle.
 
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#2 ·
Removal

Pull the tailgate and old plastic bed liner if you have one.

Use a T50 torx to remove the eight bed bolts (my long bed had eight bolts, the short bed may be six). Depending on how rusted everything is you may have to cut some of them. I was able to get five of my eight out, but after breaking two T50 bits I decided to bust out the cutoff wheel to move things along. My bolts were so rusted that even after removing the bed, I was unable to unscrew the studs with Vise-Grips, heat, lubrication, pipe wrench, or anything else, so I had no choice but to cut the clips. Keep this in mind if you're planning on reusing your old clips. Anyway, I had to get three replacements from my local Ford dealership to use when it came time to install (I would have replaced them all at $6 each, but all they had in stock was three and I was too impatient to wait for more).

Wood


After the bolts are taken care of, you need to sever the fuel and electrical connections to the bed before you can start your lift.

Behind the fuel door are three bolts holding the fill and vent tube assembly to the sidewall of the bed. Unscrew the fill cap and stuff a rag in the tube. Remove the three bolts -mine were 7mm- and then push the tube back to release it from the bed. Finally, since it'll probably be open for a while, I suggest removing the rag and replacing the fuel cap. Disconnect the lanyard holding the cap to the old bed, and reach underneath to pull the rag and re-cap the line.

Auto part


Moving on to the electrical. The connections are at the rear of the bed on the frame. The wire harness travels from the cab down the driver's side frame rail and connects to the bed on the rear facing side of the spare tire. Disconnect the six-wire connector coming from the main line to the bed that controls both tail lights:

Auto part


If all you're doing is swapping the bed, then you can skip the next step and start hoisting. If you're also replacing the bumper, then you have to remove your trailer light connector bracket and one more connector that powers the license plate lights… maybe.

Evidently Ford changed their wiring methodology at some point between the 2001 and 2014 model years. On my 2001 truck, the wire harness that has the two license plate lights is attached to the frame of the truck on the rear brace that holds the spare tire. In 2014, the harness is attached to the bumper. So on my older truck, to remove the bumper you should undo the lights from the sockets and let the bulbs hang by the wire on the truck. On a newer truck, you would undo the connector and bring the harness and lights off with the bumper. I didn't notice this initially when I was removing everything, but it caused a moment of confusion on the install side of the job when I realized I had two harnesses attached, and neither of them were working.

So if you're also swapping bumpers, pay attention and compare the two setups before you go pulling and cutting things. The easiest way for me to switch what I had would have been to remove the new harness and bulbs from the new bumper, and simply re-install my original lights into the sockets once the new bumper was in place. I ended up doing this part backwards; I removed my old harness from the truck and used the one on the new bumper, which required me to splice my old connector onto the new bumper's harness (I’ll show that on the install side). This is sounding more confusing than it really is. Just compare what you've got and it'll be obvious what needs to move from one to the other.

With the wires on the bumper sorted out, it can be removed by pulling two large bolts on each side where the bracket attaches to the frame. I don’t recall the size, maybe 7/8ths, and I didn’t get a picture of it while under the truck, but here’s what the whole thing looks like when you pull it. It’s pretty easy to find.

Vehicle Car Games
 
#3 ·
Removal (Continued)

Everything on the bed should be free now and ready to hoist.

I used a 1/2-ton chain hoist attached to my carport for the majority of the lifting. I position the bed so the hook is just forward of the wheel wells since it's heavier on the front side when the tailgate is out. Then I used two 20-foot lengths of tow chain with a threaded link to grab each inside corner of the bed. If you go this route, make sure you take the time to adjust your chain links so that you can pick the bed up evenly; this can be tricky when you’re lifting from a single point.

With the hook centered down the middle of the bed, count the number of links to reach either of the front points and insert the threaded link. Then count the same number of links to get to the opposite corner and secure it in the threaded link as well.

Chain Necklace Fashion accessory Jewellery Metal


Chain Fashion accessory Jewellery Gold Metal


Do the same for the rear corners. Take out the slack with the hoist and make sure everything looks even, then start lifting. As you come up, if either the front or rear is picking up before the other, and you can't stabilize it with some light manipulation, then the load is too uneven and you should put it back down and adjusting your chains.

Vehicle Car Pickup truck Truck Automotive exterior


By the end of the job we found it quicker to use the chain hoist to pick up the front side of the bed, and an engine hoist to pick up the back. I didn't get too many pictures of this part –mostly because there was several hundred pounds suspended from my carport- I did get one shot of the setup from the install side with the new bed:



You can see on the left-hand side of the picture that I also used an extendable support in the middle of the carport -this was used as a gage to see if we were stressing the frame of the carport too much. It was hard to tell if anything was moving while we were under it. The support is only rated for 130-or-so pounds, so it I knew that if it started to bow or creek then that meant that the carport was flexing. It held the weight fine though, even on lifts where we didn't use the cherry picker to hold the back side. The carport is 2x2 square channel, so it’s pretty stout. Once everything was clear I drove the truck away and lowered the old one back down onto some wooden dollies so it could be moved around.

There's other ways to accomplish the lifting too, depending on your equipment and how many helpers you have around. I've heard that picking one end of the bed and passing poles or wooden posts width-wise across the frame works well also.

Vehicle Car Commercial vehicle Truck Automotive exterior
 
#4 ·
Removal (Continued)

With the bed all clear, the next step is to take care of the remaining studs from the bolts that were cut. I fought mine for a while, but in the end I just cut the clips and pulled them out. I called a few local truck places, but in the end I had to get my replacement clips from the dealership for about $6 each.

Motor vehicle Vehicle Car Auto part Engine


Before the new bed can go on I decided to clean up and undercoat the frame, replace all my fuel tank hoses, and get the new wiring sorted out. One more thing to plan on -which I didn't and I'm sure I'll be kicking myself six months from now- but now is the best time to do the Hutch mod and fuel tank pickup screen replacement if you haven't done so already. I've taken my tank down to E, so I figure my screen is still good for the time being, however, it should have been replaced since it’s such a cheap part. But I didn't plan ahead, and was too impatient to wait for another weekend, so I proceeded anyway. I didn't cut the fill and vent tubes now either because I didn't want to risk breaking the inlet screen by opening up the tank.
 
#5 ·
Frame Preparation

Here's the frame after some shop vacuuming and wire brushing, be sure to remove the bed bolt clips and four rubber pads from the top of the frame before moving on to pressure washing:

Land vehicle Vehicle Car Trailer Lawn


After pressure washing:

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After everything dried, I applied Ospho with a spray bottle to treat the surface rust. Here's a shot between coats. I did some light scuffing to remove the white scale and then did another spray of Ospho before proceeding with the undercoat:

Land vehicle Vehicle Formula libre Motor vehicle Car


Finally, I used a few shaker cans of Bondo Rubberized Undercoat as a final layer of protection:

Vehicle Motor vehicle Formula libre Car Chassis


Motor vehicle Tire Vehicle Automotive tire Chassis
 
#6 ·
Fuel Lines

As mentioned before, I didn't go into the tank during this job. But I did take the opportunity to replace all the rubber lines while I had the access. This is all by-the-foot stock from the Napa store, so cut your old pieces off and bring them with you to ensure the proper size. The main fill tube is 1 ½ inches and the vent line is 3/4. The 38-gallon tank also has a vent that connects the front side to the back side (I don’t know if the 29-gallon tank has this). Each end connects to a plastic coupling with a length of 3/8ths line and 7/16ths line. Make sure you replace everything with fuel hose and not heater hose. I went to Advance Auto and Auto Zone first, but neither had the large 1 1/2 fill line.

I went with three feet each of the main fill and vent lines, but I probably could have saved a few bucks and gotten away with two. I bought two feet each of the smaller 3/8ths and 7/16ths lines to finish it all up. I think the small 3/8ths lines may have been a special formed hose from the dealer because the ends that attached to the tank side would not fit very snug. I managed to get by with a small hose clamp that secured it just fine though.

Leave the main fill and vent lines attached as shown for now; you'll cut them to size once the bed is in place (stuff some rags down the ends in the meantime).


Auto part Vehicle Engine Automotive fuel system Pipe
 
#7 · (Edited)
Wiring

My truck used a circular six-wire connection at the rear of the bed to control the tail lights, but the new bed used a rectangular one. Ford also changed their wiring colors since that time too, so I had to match them up one-for-one in order to transfer my old round connector from the old harness to the new one. I don't know if this will help anyone, but if the colors you're trying to match are the same as mine, then here's how they lined up from 2001 to 2014:

2001/2014
brown / yellow-blue
black-pink / blue-white
green-orange / white-yellow
orange-blue / purple-pink
green (not connected) / blue (not connected)
black / black-white

Electrical wiring Wire Electrical supply Cable Electrical connector


The other connector I had to wire was for the license plate lights that go to the bumper (skip this if you're not messing with the bumper). As I stated above, the easiest way would have been for me to remove the new harness from the new bumper completely, and just pop my old bulbs back in once the bumper went on, since the old harness stayed with the truck. However I didn't do this and instead I had to wire both connectors back in (because I already completely cut out the old harness). It's a straightforward two-wire harness though, so no matter how badly you screw it up, it won't slow you down for long. When mine was complete I ended up splicing the license plate light connector into the bed harness where I spliced in my round six-wire connector. I added it to the existing splice at the black and brown lines of the trailer connection (those are ground and parking light power).

Wire Auto part Vehicle Electrical wiring Automotive lighting
 
#8 ·
Bed Install

With the frame prepped, the fuel lines replaced, and the wiring harness connectors all sorted out, now the new bed can be put on. Before lifting I had to flip my new bed right-side-up (it has been upside-down since I transported it back from the trucking company). If you have to do this, it’s an easy two-man job: the bed can be flipped along the front side without risking damage to the lower sheet metal corners -they're strong enough to hold the weight of the bed while you bring it back down to rest right-side-up. I would put some towels or moving pads down to protect the pain on the corners, but the edges are strong enough that they won't buckle.

Furniture Roof Machine Metal Building


Now hoist the new bed just the same as you did when you pulled the old one off. Again, I had the 1/2-ton hoist on the front of the bed, and the cherry picker on the back. Get the bed airborne, bring the truck back under, and slowly lower into place.

Once you engage the corner bolts, you should be all set to rest the whole load on the truck and run the rest of the bolts down. Out of the eight bolts (or six maybe for short bed), there are two bolts that are shorter than the rest. The short bolts go in the middle holes, aligned with the forward edge of the wheel wells.

If you've got new clips, then you'll have fresh nylon inserts that have to be cut, so the bolts will fight you the entire way home. Run them down flush, and set them good and snug. If you're reusing clips then they'll go in easier, again make sure you take them down flush. Once you finish the job you'll want to come back after a day or two of driving around and check to make sure they're all still tight. I had a combination of five re-used clips and three brand new clips, and none of my bolts had loosened at all when I re-checked them a week later.

Motor vehicle Automotive exterior Automobile repair shop Bumper Vehicle


Next, install the tailgate then the bumper. With the tailgate closed, have someone stand back and eyeball the gap between the tailgate and the bumper while you tighten the four bolts for the bumper. You've got a little adjusting you can do before you snug everything up so you can make sure that the gap is consistent across the back of the truck.

Land vehicle Vehicle Car Motor vehicle Pickup truck


Connect the wire harness connectors for the tail lights and the license plate lights (if necessary).

Re-install the fuel filler tube assembly to the inside of the bed using the three 7-mm bolts. Be careful how much stress you put on this assembly as you size, cut, and attach the large tubes, the three bolts don't have too much metal to bite into. Once I had cut the 1 1/2-inch fill tube to size, I loosened the three bolts so I could move the rigid end around to tie everything together. Be sure to move the anti-chafing sleeve to the new hoses too and position them so they're covering the portion of the tube that passes over the frame rail.

The tube assembly is offset a few inches on the new bed since the current trucks have a larger fill area with a DEF fluid fill port. I was unable to get my fill hose attached without kinking it a little:

Pipe Auto part Automotive exhaust Exhaust system Exhaust manifold


If this becomes a problem while fueling, then I'll have to place a band or brace around the kink to squeeze it flat. So far I've filled up twice and it hasn't given me any issues as far as spilling or tripping the pump early. Hopefully over time it'll relax a bit.

I poked a small hole in the DEF blank off cap and ran my existing fuel cap lanyard through it so it'll still do its job.

 
#9 · (Edited)
Bed Install (Continued)

Reconnect the trailer light connector bracket to the bottom of the bumper if necessary.

And finally, if you've got a new bumper you'll have to drill a new port to allow access for your spare tire tooling. This whole area is plastic on the plain-Jane style bumper that I am installing, so a 3/4-inch spade bit went right through it. If you're replacing with a fancier chrome bumper, then you might have to spend some more time blasting through metal here:

Automotive exterior Vehicle registration plate Bumper Auto part Gas


That should wrap it up. Here's the old versus new bed.

Land vehicle Vehicle Car Pickup truck Motor vehicle


They really haven't changed much other than the definition in the crease over the wheel well:

Land vehicle Pickup truck Vehicle Car Motor vehicle


Land vehicle Pickup truck Vehicle Car Motor vehicle


Land vehicle Vehicle Car Motor vehicle Pickup truck
 
#10 ·
Wrap Up

If anyone can use these connectors PM me and they're yours for free. The larger is the bed-side connector for the tail light harness, and the smaller is the bumper-side connector for the license plate light harness.

Technology Cable Electronic device Wire Electrical connector


Let me know if you have any questions about the bed swap outlined above and I'll be glad to help out.

-Andy
 
#11 ·
Really good right up, also the hutch and harpoon mod would be a good idea while the beds off!
 
#12 ·
Thanks.

Yeah, I know I'm going to regret not waiting for those parts. At least with new hoses installed I shouldn't have to worry about ripping them all up when the time comes that I do have to drop the tank. The vent lines that I replaced from the front to the back of the tank were so rotted that they pretty much disintegrated in my hand when I went to pull them.
 
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