Removing truck bed

I was thinking of removing the bed of my truck before winter so I could paint the frame with a bed liner. Has anyone done this? Is it a big project taking the bed off? And also how heavy is it, is it something 2 people could lift?

 

Not that big a job and yes 2 people can easily lift it off. 6 bolts, 1 electrical connector as I recall and remove the gascap, lift off.

 

Nevermind!

 

Mine is a 98 so I'm not sure I havnt looked at the gas neck but under the bed of the truck I was looking the other day and there are either brake lines or fuel lines clamped to the underside of the bed. Obviously those have to be undone. Any ideas what those are?

 

on my 98 there are 3 lines there that run to the gas tank, they are fuel lines

AFAIK the brake lines and everything else runs along the frame so those 3 lines are the only other things to remove but naturally if you see it on the underside of the bed then it has to come off

 

Yeah I didn't look to indepth to where they went I just gave it a quick look under there. What is there for the tail lights just some sort of quick connect?

 

Should be anything other then the taillights, gas neck, and bolts in the bed. When I took my body lift off I never had brake lines or anything bolted to my bed

 

Is there any trick to getting the bed bolts out I hear it is a real pain

 

Not really, crescent wrenches and sockets haha some take a little longer since you only have room to barely move the ratchet

 

I will hopefully be doing this on Monday. Sunday I will probably soak everything down with liquid wrench. I currently have a plastic bedliner in so obviously I have to take that out are the heads of the bolts in the bed torques head? I just want to make sure I have everything before I start I won't have much time to do it on Monday but I want to have it done in the little time I have

 

Don't remember I'm pretty sure they're regular bolt heads though I'll confirm when I get off work

 

Quote:
Originally Posted by Yfz 450
I will hopefully be doing this on Monday. Sunday I will probably soak everything down with liquid wrench. I currently have a plastic bedliner in so obviously I have to take that out are the heads of the bolts in the bed torques head? I just want to make sure I have everything before I start I won't have much time to do it on Monday but I want to have it done in the little time I have


I have taken the bed off of multiple first gens
And you do not have to remove the Bedliner.The four front bolts anchor to the bed without nuts. The furthest two bolts by the bumper also have special nuts that do not need wrenches on the other side.
Also impact wrenches really speed up the job although I have done it by hand.

Hope this helps,

Charlie

 

Sounds good thanks guys hopefully I will have this done Monday. I was planning on using herculiner to coat the frame. Would that be a sufficient rust preventor?

 

Only if the frame is rust-free and in good shape to begin with. And it will only do the outside. Herculiner will create a moisture-proof barrier, sealing water out, but also sealing in any moisture that may already be present. It is NOT a rust preventative.

Try to find something to spray inside the frame as that is where the rot starts.