Bed Alignment

[bikeshox]

Was working on the '07 today and noticed the bed is out of alignment with the cab. Is it possible to re-align the bed to make it more straight?

 

[SykoRanger88]

you gotta shim it in between the bed and the frame, then the bed bolts tighten down through the shims.

 

[bikeshox]

Any further instructions available?

 

[bikeshox]

I looked under the truck and it appears loosening the 6 bolts and moving the bed would fix the problem. It appears that the bolts go through clips that retain the whole thing and I am assuming the frame rail has slotted holes for the alignment. I did not see any shims nor did it appear shims are needed.

 

[jrboatin]

If I remember right, those C clips are really called J clips and the kicker, again if I remember right, they are a one time use thing.
Ford says never reuse them, again its been a few years but I remember say that to the dealer when I worked for Ford in Livonia Michigan at the FCSD catalog dept.

I am sure you can reuse them but as the bolt goes in the first time it completes the threads on the J clip, thats what the supplier told us.

 

[sparkdic]

Ford may claim a one time use on the J clips but I've always reused them with no issues, assuming they don't get destroyed when you loosen the bed up. Now for aligning the bed, depends how it is unaligned, side to side, up and down... Most likey it would be side to side, which is easy, loosen the 6bolts up about a 1/4 of the way and that will give u plenty of room to tweak it. From then on its a matter of checking down the side of the truck on both sides to make sure its even and adjust as nessicary. Once ur happy with the side to side check the gap between the front of the bed and the back of the cab, I usually just set it so theres enough room to stick my fingers in the gap. Next check the alignment of the rear to the bumper. Finally double check it all and tighten down the 6 bolts. Now if the bed if off as far as the height is concerned its a matter of adding shims to lift the bed up. A nice trick is to add some weight in the bed because I've found sometimes beds will twist and what looks good with the bolts loose changes quickly after you crank the bolts down. Once the level is set, adjust the side to side alignment and your good to go.