Need quick tip! Replace entire bed or bedsides on 2003 Taco stock??

Hi all!

Newest member here as of 10 seconds ago lol.
I got an older but good shape Tacoma bed - entire unit to replace my rotted out 2003 bed.
The tailgate on replacement is rotted but rest is solid aside from one small hole in bed itself.

Should I replace the entire bed unit as a one piece and swap tailgates OR
is it possible / should I replace the bedside pieces only?
That's where all the rust is and it will flunk inspection in NH.

I don't have access to a welder of any type and need to do this today - right now. It's my only day off for another 2 weeks after working almost 6 weeks in a row.

Thanks!

(Again, it's the two side panels / bedsides that have holes rotted behind the wheel wells, and a lot of rust over them that need to be replaced / swapped. I got the entire bed from another late 80s Tacoma for about $200. It's a different color (battleship grey / black and going on a silver truck, but we don't care - need to get this truck on the road. I'm also replacing the rear shocks which are blown and the 02 sensor which is causing a MIL today as well).

 

Swap entire bed

 

Ok, thanks.
That seems to be the best plan. I had looked up any articles / DIY posts and found people swapping panels on later models so made me question what was fastest / best plan.

I've gathered this is pretty simple. I have PB Blaster, a propane torch and angle grinder with cutoff wheel on standby. I think those bolts will be a battle for sure.
The gas tank is almost completely rotted through in the NE salt roads.
Only 80K miles but a lot of rust damage AND the frame was swap under the recall thingee already too (!)

IF there is any article about the swap please feel free to link it and it would be much appreciated!

 

photos of start

 

Dam I like my dry Arizona weather. With frame being replaced already maybe the bolts will be easy to get off. Swapping it out should be pretty straight forward. Unbolt bed and fuel filler and unplug wiring harness.

 

Thanks. I got 1 of 4 bolts loose. Final turns won't go yet due to probably rust at end of threads.
Had to borrow a neighbor's 220 ft/lb electric impact gun to try other 3 - there's no clearance for cheater bars etc...
Got wiring all disconnected, tail lights out, cap off, liner out, and PB blasted bolts 3x so far...
Going back after lunch break to try w impact gun.

 

well… update. the neighbor’s tool broke free 3 of the bolts.
And then…
it shattered the rear frame cross member that the bolt goes into. Like TORE it apart. The female insert or whatever it is broke free and spun loose and went wild and tore a hole in the frame… while the bolt is still rock solid in the stupid insert. So the bolt head goes round and round... and won't release.

So I will HAVE to cutoff wheel the bolt head at this point, and the bed body is looking to be only attached at 3 of 4 points from here on - with a hole in the mounting frame member to atmosphere.
F-ing lovely eh?

I am not sure what I else I can do short of welding with tools I don't have, or simply placing a nut up in thru the hole in the frame and winding a new bolt into a nut - something ghetto like that. Sheesh.

 

Sucks...

What'd they haul in that truck...ocean water? Never saw rust there even in this part of the rust belt.

 

Your bed is in better shape then mine.

If you were close I would buy it save myself building a flat bed

 

yeah.... it's in worse shape up close. not horrible, but not great either. I would sell this one dirt cheap.

I think it's 2nd owner had it in VT on a farm, low miles, semi hard use... and stored outside on ground so no vapor barrier like in a garage or even hard top pavement... I think water hung around all the time, and salty road in Northern VT... plus guy must not have heard of a car wash... so there you go.

Slightly good news... it turns out it's not the frame of the Taco I shattered, but rather the subframe / ribbing under the bed that's part of the bed that the long metal insert just spun right through it. I finally got that bolt out anyway, but having the silly at the end of bed phillips screws not releasing.

 

OH! and selling the cap / top which is in very good shape too. Fortunately it's fiberglass and was not always used on the truck.

 

That's a nice cap. I have an ARE MX, also silver which came off an older Tacoma I owned. The MX is a bit higher. I love it. Keeps the snow out, but not the rain so much. I need a new gasket on the rails.

 

A question: What did your new bed come off of? You said late '80s Tacoma, but Tacomas were born in '95.5.

 

yeah... I might have got that wrong. It might have been a 1998 model.

Wow, I got really pissed at this project. everything fought me all day long.
I sledgehammered the bed 3x and a cloud of rust dust engulfed the garage.

New shocks are in, but the bolts are in sorry shape and need to be replaced.
There is no way the 02 sensor is coming out. Obvi never replaced. Looks like a f-ing Grimace from Ronald McDonald of rust. Like a gumdrop of rust. there are no cut facets to the 'bolt' at all. What freaking size are they? At first a 12mm socket couldn't fit over it. Two baths of PB Blaster and chipping away with screwdrivers and fingers revealed some sort of contour - kind of. what a rusted out p.o.s.

 

I have fought with O2 sensors on all four tacomas I've owned. The rear one is by far the harder of the two to remove. The nuts rust away to nearly nothing. But I have always been able to force on a smaller 6 point socket which bites into whatever facets are left on the nut. Hang in there, and don't bugger up the studs.

 

Bed off after 6 hours+ of fighting.
what an awful rust heap.
the simplest thing was a battle royale.
New shocks are in. Just waiting on new bolts to finish that task.

 

So if you can confirm... are the front 02 sensor nuts really 10mm sized?
It's extremely hard to tell.
Only time I touched an exhaust was a '95 "Teg" (Integra) I put a catback in after about 10 years of rusting in NH.
Hacksaw all the way on that one baby.

 

On the O2 sensor nuts that are fubared, I picked up the Irwin specialty removal socket deal, on a recommendation from here. Wow, what an absolute difference. The sockets are fluted and cut into the rusted or rounded bolt head or nut. This made the rear O2 sensor easy. And the nuts you want to get to replace the rusted ones are 10mm x 1.25mm thread pitch, IIRC. Also you want them to be copper. Exhausted nuts should be copper so when they rust they don't fuse to the studs, worse than they already do. I used the exhaust manifold bolts from the old vw beetle engines. Same size and just easier to find, it seemed.

 

Great! Thank you for the tips and clarifications. I will try to locate that tool and wrote down to get copper nuts.

Happy New Years all!

I have to go back to the ultra grind job today for the next week, so the truck is not getting put back together today.
Had a helper looking (in vain) today to find the shock bolts...
Don't quite know when I'm going to have a few moments to button back up the truck and not sure I can get those 02 sensor nuts out at all.

I also guess I will need some sort of gasket material to put back the replacement sensor with.

 

Good tip. I like the suggestion of using copper nuts. I went with OEM nuts from the dealer. Don't know why I thought they would be any better the second time around.

OP, now that you have the bed off, hows the frame look under there? There have been mixed reports on the replacement frames. Some seem to be rusting.