I would toss the whole bed IMO.

 

Those work well and would pretty much take you back to stock. The trouble is going to be that when you cut the old ones out......is there going to be enough good metal to mount the new pieces without blow-through? If you're rusted out to the point where there's holes in the bed floor.......I don't know.

If you're handy with a welder and want to have the experience doing the repairs yourself then go for it. If you're going to have a shop do it, you may be money ahead by finding a replacement bed.

 

It wouldnt be too bad of a diy job if you're capable of cutting and welding spot welds.....however im assuming this is rot from road salt, and the bed will likely have other issues.

 

The rest of the bed is solid. I dont know why the rails rotted so bad. Maybe had something to do with the plastic drop-in bed liner that was in the truck for its whole life?

 

All the small nooks and crannies underneath are filled with road salt and crud from the winter time, and don't normally get washed out....just leads to accelerated corrosion.

 

With the rails like that, I would assume that the fenders are not far behind on rusting between the inner and the outer fender. This can be covered up by fender flares.

 

unfortunately you are probably right on there, but you can save the bed if you have the time.

 

Seeing you are from mass as I am, the cross members are not the only rust, i am almost positive there is more you just can't see it yet. Easiest solution is to ditch the bed and buy a take off, lots of places sell them. My dad is in the same boat, surprisingly enough my bed is in really good shape...

 

I have the same rot but so far just the rails. I have been all under neath with it up on a lift. Fenders are fine...bed is fine...the cross members for and aft of the rear wheels are rotted at the ends. Also take a close look at your bottom door edges..these are really bad for rotting out. Man I hate road salt.

 

Like I said, rest if the truck and bed are solid. Just went under the truck, and noticed that there are 4 bed rails (Short bed). So why does the dorman short bed kit only come with 3?

 

I hate salt to. That's why I sold my 2002 and bought the 2006 out of Oklahoma. Spray down the underside and all metal with "Fluid Film" now. Seems to keep everything from rusting!

Not sure why that kit comes with 3. I know there are 4 of the cross members.

 

I know someday i want to throw a new style dually bed on my truck, and when i do i will go the fluid film route, im going to fluid film every common rust area on the body of my truck, like inside the doors that are prone to rot... In mass its not even the salt thats killing these trucks, its that salt water solution they spray the roads with...

 

I fluid film mine twice a year. I also bought a small Ryobi pressure washer and I get all medieval under there in spring and blast out every nook and cranny....drop the spare...jack up the rear end and lay down and get all funky with it. That small Ryobi with the turbo tip on it actually will remove any loose rust as well so it works great for prepping for the fluid film. Best $119.00 bucks...and I don't have to waste 10 bucks at a shot anymore at the local car wash...well accept mid winter but not much point in washing too much mid winter as the salt is right back on before I even make it home...although I do it....just pointless when its all caked with salt by the time I get home again.

The fluid film has halted the rust in the rails. If I can halt it then I am fine for a long while.

 

The most salt my truck sees is when i drop a french fry on the floor

 

Man, what a sloppy eater you are :rofl:

I'm really curious as to what "getting mideival" looks like Shughey....are you crawling under there in a suit of armor??

 

:grin::grin::grin:...pretty much. Its such a messy job I usually wear those disposable white tivek overalls, or a pair of clothes I am willing to chuck, and usually a face mask,,like what you would wear grinding.

All that fluid film and any loose rust...salt and grime just gets blasted all over me. To get it all out you have to squeeze into every nook and cranny and to do that I have to be right under the blast zone.

Yah I am a complete freakin mess but only need to do it once a year to that level....SPRING.

Oh its a scene man....>

Oh and I no longer keep the spare tire underneath during the winter...anyone who lives in the salt zone knows what it looks like after 5 years of salt. I just toss it in the bed....well its a 20" commercial tire so not really tossing it in...more like... dude give me a hand lifting this pig in the bed.

 

This is very interesting! I have been pushing off my flat bed project for years because of the same issue.

I may use these as my platform for the flat bed, thanks for posting this info

 

Dorman says the don't provide the front most rail because it requires removing the "front panel" as well. Not entirely sure what that means but I should be able to fab up my own using some 2"x3" steel stock. This thread shows this guy doing the same and being very happy with the results!

Replacement bed supports - Page 2 - Ford Truck Enthusiasts Forums

 

Please keep us posted on this. I am in the same boat (and from the same state), bed is solid, but cross members are junk. I was going to go to a steel shop and get cross members made. Looks like the kit includes the bolts as well and figure the bolts alone are like $80 from ford...

 

Will do, hoping to start next weekend (19th).

 

After I wire wheel/sand as much as I can off of the fram (while the bed is off) does anyone have any suggestions for paint to stop rust? (POR15 or similar).

 

POR15 will work great, just don't get it on anything you don't want it on

 

Got this done last weekend. Not too bad of a job. All 8 bolts had to have a nut welded on top to get them to come out as I snapped 3 torx bits on the first one (dumb design). This works better than cutting them out IMO. Used the dorman kit, and a piece of 3"x2" box steel I ordered from Summit and cut to length and drilled the holes. Getting the old spot welds out was a pain without a spot weld cutter. Def recommend that for this project. Also wire wheeled as much of the frame and other components as I could and then rustoleumed the whole thing. came out nice! Next is to Line-X the bed!

Sorry I didnt get more pictures! Here is a couple!

 

Looks cold! Glad you had a shop where you could weld it up out of that white stuff! Did you get it all done? How does it look now?

 

Did the kit you bought come with new bed bolts? After looking closer to the picture they had listed, they didn't look like bed bolts. Overall, how bad was the project?

 

yup. Came with new bolts, which have a recessed hex instead of the stupid torx design. Project was not too bad. Worst part by far was removing the old rails, which I am told would have been a breeze with a spot weld cutter. I have never removed a bed before and I had it off in 45 minutes including having to weld a nut to all 8 bolts.

 

Older thread I know, but I'm getting ready to do the same thing. How did you get the bed off the frame? Hoist or lift by hand? I thought about using straps hooked to the rafters to winch it up then try to flip it over on saw horses.

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