Should I Do a Bed Swap Myself or Pay Someone

See if you can rent a portapower from some place. It will be easier to get the frame put back where it needs to be.

 

Bed swap is easy, two strong guys can lift the bed. You might need the clips that hold the wheel liners in, zip ties to put the harness in place, and whatever holds the fuel filler neck in. Don't forget to swap the lock if it has one.

Where are you located?

 

I would secure the junkyard bed and go that route and DIY the install.

while the bed is off tho I think you should have the frame inspected.. just seems critical that the frame is not damaged in anyway that will, one make the bed install difficult, but more importantly have any safety issues.

 

As far as the bent frame... bent up, bent down ? A couple of chains and a 3 ton floor jack you should be able to either raise or lower the frame enough. A left or a right tweak, with a telephone pole and a chain fall you can do lots.

 

I'm more concerned about the frame than the bed. You might want to verify that its square before mounting. You don't want to be that guy that thinks its perfectly fine to run a dog-tracking car at freeway speeds.

 

Yeah so went to like a big time body shop. They all refuse to touch it because the frame is bent. I now understand why the shade tree guy exists lol. Apparently he’s been doing this for 40 years.

with first gens if the frame is bent you get an immediate total. Just FYI for everyone out there

 

Frame shops exist for a reason. Bent frames aren't an automatic total. My frame was straightened after a rear end collision in 2019. There may be other factors in these shops rejecting the work. Is the frame rust free?

 

Did you tell your insurance company about it?

 

If you wanna save money the bottom line is do anything and everything you can do yourself. Duhhh, Removing the bed is simple but you need 2 people who are not weaklings, kinda heavy but not its just awkward. Its just 4 bolts, the little shroud inside gas door needs to be removed, take bulb sockets out of tail lights easy peasy and some wiring that clips along the back end behind the bumper. Take off the mud flaps also so it can sit on the ground square. The bumper stays on. Install reverse order.

 

Yes, I told my insurance about it. The other drivers insurance admitted fault before I had the truck on the back of a tow truck.

 

One person can remove the bed without issue, it is only 200 pounds or so. I had mine off in less than an hour by myself. Remove all bolts and harnesses, gas lines, set up some saw horses behind the truck and shimmy it onto them a little bit at a time.
Once you have it off, cap your gas line and put some trailer brake lites on it and drive it to a frame shop to get the frame staightened out. drive it back home and put the new bed on. It will be an easy job. 5500 bucks is crazy, these trucks are too old to be taking to mechanics for stuff like this.

 

frame & sledge hammer, not sure how effective / efficient that would be...

 

Yeah honestly looking at it again I probably won’t have to mess with the frame. It’s ever so slightly bent where the bumper mounts to it. The bumper is wrecked it took the impact but I think I should be able to mount the bed to the frame without trying to bend it. Bumper is an easy fix

 

Denver area if you trying to help

 

No it’s rusted but it’s still got years before it becomes a problem

 

It’s ever so slightly bent where the bumper mounts to it. For all I know it could’ve happened before I bought this thing. It’s bent up. It’s the tail end of of the frame on the passenger side

 

That still doesn't guarantee a square frame. If its a corner that's aft of the axle, great news. I'd get it checked at a frame shop to verify the frame is straight and that the rear wheels are still aligned.

If you want to keep it, great. Take the total, buy it back from insurance, but verify that its going to track correctly. It will be a roly-poly death machine if you ignore that issue.

 

none of my business really but curious,
Assuming you were rear ended & youre not at fault im you just have liability coverage, why isnt insurance covering the repairs?

 

Oh, it’s square enough.