Bed Repairs

I just need some advice on what i should do here. So i live in FL and a few months back i smacked my rear passenger quarter panel in a light pole, and as of recent i picked up a bed from the salvage yard to repair. I’ll add photos but the only issue is that i hit the corner of the original bed so the taillight brackets are done and would need to be reconstructed and as well as that whole corner for it to be back to exactly how it would be. On the other hand the bed from the salvage yard has some dents, but are easily accessible and seem to be easy for a body shop to dent back out. Now mainly the question would to be which bed should i put the money into. The original bed is color matched so the whole thing wouldn’t need to be painted just that corner, while the salvage yard bed would but has easier repairs body wise. Again, i will attach pictures of what i’m talking about so it’s easier to understand.

 

Oh yea sorry and the context of being in FL is that almost all of the used beds that are even in semi decent condition are all in Cali or further which i would be paying at least 600-700 dollars plus shipping being another 800-900. So, the salvage yard was my best bet as it’s local and was only 200 buck.

 

If you're OK with the scratches, I would do the color matched one. You can always bondo and repaint sections the body shop can't pull. But it's sheet metal so they should at least be able to get it back where a taillight can mount

 

I would probably ask some local body shops their opinion and get pricing to look at both options.

The paint matched one is paint matched, but needs more work to get it straight.
The salvage yard needs painted, but the metal isn't as damaged.

 

I'd buy a bedside from toyota and have a body shop hang it on your original bed. I bought bed sides right around 5 years ago and at the time they were like $450 per side. Sell that red bed you have to recoup some of the money.