Sliding Bed back away from Cab

[Craig 85]

I'm 56 with a bad back and did this a couple of months ago to replace fuels lines on the tanks. Just had to remove my rear bumper and slide it back.

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[Inman789]

Thanks everyone, I really appreciate your input. Working on the lower bedside patch panels right now. Replaced both doors and the tailgate. Very happy with how the AMD doors fit.

 

[Inman789]

Thanks @Craig 85 , great pics!

 

[DoubleDingo]

I'm 56 with a bad back and did this a couple of months ago to replace fuels lines on the tanks. Just had to remove my rear bumper and slide it back.

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I need to do this. I am guessing the gas caps stay on the fillers? Remove the bed bolts, bumper, disconnect wires, and slide it back?

 

[Grit dog]

I need to do this. I am guessing the gas caps stay on the fillers? Remove the bed bolts, bumper, disconnect wires, and slide it back?

Basically.
There is also (should be) a ground from frame to bed and the rear diff vent hose.
Gas caps can stay on the fillers but the filler necks need to be disconnected from the bed. I forget if I pulled and re-installed with the filler necks on or off.
And if you can lift the bed or at least the back half of it while sliding it back, the bumper can stay. I removed the bed before the bumper and reinstalled the bumper before reinstalling the bed.

 

[Grit dog]

And as much of a b!tch as the bed bolts might be to remove, I would 100% move the bed to replace/repair/refurb gas tanks, senders and hoses, in favor of dropping the tanks and trying to make all the connections with the bed in place. It will also make dropping the tanks and reinstalling MUCH easier if you actually need to remove the tank(s).
A new set of bed bolts is $11.99 and they can be removed "permanently" much easier than fighting with all the connections with the bed in place, IMO.

 

[DoubleDingo]

Basically.
There is also (should be) a ground from frame to bed and the rear diff vent hose.
Gas caps can stay on the fillers but the filler necks need to be disconnected from the bed. I forget if I pulled and re-installed with the filler necks on or off.
And if you can lift the bed or at least the back half of it while sliding it back, the bumper can stay. I removed the bed before the bumper and reinstalled the bumper before reinstalling the bed.

I forgot to add disconnect the fillers from the bed in my list. This sounds simple enough, and is something I have put off doing because it seemed like a PIA job. I can see it being a day to get the bed slid back and replace the hoses, and then slide the bed up, and button it up the next day as long as the project goes smoothly. But, I have learned to never put a time frame on a project, just do it and when it's done, it's done. Every single time I put a time frame on a project it took at least 5 times as long.

 

[Grit dog]

I forgot to add disconnect the fillers from the bed in my list. This sounds simple enough, and is something I have put off doing because it seemed like a PIA job. I can see it being a day to get the bed slid back and replace the hoses, and then slide the bed up, and button it up the next day as long as the project goes smoothly. But, I have learned to never put a time frame on a project, just do it and when it's done, it's done. Every single time I put a time frame on a project it took at least 5 times as long.

That's not just you...I'm a pro at taking 3 hours for a "quick 20minute deal." LOL
However, aside from rusted bed bolts, I can't think of any other probable pitfalls or time sucks.
And as mentioned above, I would spend very little time trying to coax bed bolts off before I employed tools that didn't ask the bolts nicely if they wanted to cooperate!

 

[DoubleDingo]

That's not just you...I'm a pro at taking 3 hours for a "quick 20minute deal." LOL
However, aside from rusted bed bolts, I can't think of any other probable pitfalls or time sucks.
And as mentioned above, I would spend very little time trying to coax bed bolts off before I employed tools that didn't ask the bolts nicely if they wanted to cooperate!

I'll give them some shots of either Aero Kroil, Knock'r Loose, or something good for rusted fasteners. If they don't turn, I have a nut splitter. When I had to disassemble the bed on Mean Green after the rollover, I had to use the nut splitter on probably 60 to 70 of the bolts, and there is something like 118 bolts on those beds. This being 8, it should be easier if they decide not to cooperate.

 

[Craig 85]

@DoubleDingo @Grit dog I was one of those fortunate California guys that didn't have to worry about rust. You can see how terrible it was. My bolts were still in great shape. Just sprayed some WD-40 "just in case." I built a wooden dolly that was frame height to slide the bed onto when I originally replaced the tanks and senders. Two of us were easily able to slide the bed onto the dolly. Now that I moved to TN, I had to do it by myself.

Double Dingo, you will have to remove the plastic cups around the filler necks to give you a little more wiggle room, but it's only 3 more screws per side. There's also a ground strap, on the neck that you need to unscrew. The recent bed removal was done over 2 days, due to my have back and carpal tunnel issues.

2017

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[Grit dog]

@DoubleDingo @Grit dog I was one of those fortunate California guys that didn't have to worry about rust. You can see how terrible it was. My bolts were still in great shape.

Same here! Woohoo! In fact the only bolt I messed up, I painted all the nuts and bolts while painting some part of the truck and when re-installing, the paint goobered up on one and locked up the threads and spun the carriage head square out of the truck bed.
At the risk of screwing up the bed, I would think real hard about even attempting to remove the nuts on rusted bed bolts....at all.

Not bragging, actually I am bragging...lol. Every single factory connector for anything I took apart during the rebuild came apart just like it should. Nothing stripped or snapped or was missing.
In fact, I can't even think of ANY new fasteners I've had to buy or find for any OE connections on the truck! (Except was missing one screw for the upper valance under the windshield and then found the missing screw or one just like it in the shop.)