Drain holes in first generation bed

[chrisser]

Been working on the underside of the bed. Got all the rust and holes taken care of, then epoxy primered it, followed by rustoleum and then spray on undercoating. Came out pretty good.

Bedsides are off. I now have the bed flipped over and it occured to me there aren't any drain holes in the bed.

I noticed that where the bed floor meets the front panel, there are gaps especially on the high spots of the bed corrugation. I suspect this is why I had to replace my front support under the bed - it had corroded into a rusty skelton. Also had rust in the bed floor up front that I had to repair by cutting out and replacing the first 6" of the center bed panel.

So I was thinking of putting some seam sealer there so water doesn't drain and ruin my new support, but then I would think I need a place for accumulating water to go - was that gap Ford's idea of a drain?. I have a plastic liner insert I'm probably going to put back in, so I don't want water trapped underneath.

Anyone put drains in their bed? Just curious what you did, how many and where you did it. Just a simple hole, or something more elaborate?

All ideas welcome, including that I'm overthinking this (although once you fix rust, you want to do everything you can to make sure it doesn't come back)

 

[Mark_88]

I thought about this quite a bit and flip flopped between drain holes or future rust issues...I finally resolved my issue by making a point of parking on an incline once in a while to let the water run out by it's own force...

I also have one of those plastic bed liners that I think are the best thing for the bed, but it has a few holes that make it necessary to remove it once in a while and power wash the bed...

 

[chrisser]

Glad to hear I'm not alone in pondering this.

I think I'll eventually get a tonneau cover for it. Beats letting snow accumulate in there. That should keep a lot of the water out too.

I'm leaning towards not worrying about it. I can always drill holes in the bed later if it becomes a problem. I'm going to run out of nice weather shortly.

I'd like to get paint on the bed and get it back on the truck before winter. I had hopes of painting the rest too, but it's not looking like that's going to happen this year.

 

[Mark_88]

I had a tonneau cover for a while, one of the fiberglass ones that held up under heavy snow...it was OK until I decided I wanted to to go with the extended cab. I like the open box for when I was working but may need to look for covers...either a cap or tonneau.

Also had a cap on mine previously and did not experience any leaks at all...it depends on what seal you use between the cap and box on these and I guess I lucked out because it fit perfectly and sealed nicely even after not having a cap on for a while.