Removing Box

[seanm]

Spring is around the corner and a man's thoughts turn to bodywork... or something like that.

I have severe body rot on the box on the drivers side. There is really no good way to get at it without removing the box. However, the truck is my daily (and only) driver, so I need to keep it on the road.

I assume if I remove the box the filler cap will stand up by itself (let me know if I am wrong), but how hard is it to prop up the rear tail lights? And how hard is it to remove the box?

I have a garage with an overhead crane, so I am not really worried about the lifting, just realistically how long it would take to remove it.

 

[adsm08]

Ideally it should not take more than 2 hours to remove the bed. That is with a drop-in liner and assuming none of the bed bolts strip their heads and none of the nuts spin.

In reality, I'd expect it to take most of a day for you.

And yes, the filler neck will stay more or less in place by itself. You might just need to tie it over with some wire to keep the soft section from collapsing.

 

[Mark_88]

Yes, and it also depends on power tools and having replacment bolts in case you happen to snap a few off...like I did...having a good hammer drill will help as would a long ratchet with a few of those Torx sockets (I think it was 55 but now I can't remember)...I managed to strip at least two in the process of removing my original box.

Cutting torches may come into play at some point as needed also, but do not use them unless you are really good with them because the metal in the box blasts away much faster than the heads of the bolts...

And maybe pick up a few of those clip on bolt fasteners because I think all of the bolts use them but very few survive the removal process...unless you crawl under and saturate them in penetrating oil the night before, during, and after the process...

 

[seanm]

Wow! Thanks for the quick replies.

I do expect some of the bolts to be bad.... salt and winter really play a number on them.

How about the lights, is it easy to prop them up? Maybe a piece of metal temporarily welded to the fame?

I currently don't have any gas for the torch.... maybe a good thing if I don't get any

If I do take the box off it will be off for a while. I need to fabricate a new box corner and I will mainly be doing it after work. So getting new bolts and such shouldn't be a problem.

 

[adsm08]

The bed bolts are T-55.

Last time I had to take some off I found the best way to deal with stripped heads is to drill them out to the diameter of the splines, down 1/4 to 1/2 inch, and then pop the heads off with an air chisel. Doing that helps another way. Once the bed is off you can zip the J-nuts apart and the bolts will just fall out of the holes.

They are thread-locked in though, so getting some gas for the torch might not be such a bad idea.

 

[Mark_88]

I'd imagine you could fab up something to hang the lights off of till you finish the box work...not sure about regulations for that but the road spray from the back wheels might be cause for concern in wet weather...while you're welding up a light stand maybe find some inner fenders or something to put on to keep the spray under control...or even fab up a short term flat bed!

 

[martin]

Just bolt a sheet of plywood on the frame while you do the work. You could easily attach anything to it, lights, mud-flaps, etc.

 

[Schnot]

Just duct tape the lights to the bumper. Or if you have a trailer plug, get some magnetic towing lights and pop them on the frame.

Be careful driving around with no bed. It makes wet roads seem like ice.


Sent from my iPhone.

 

[Schnot]

Oh and get a good quality bit for the bolts. Preferably an impact socket because they're harder. I've broken many bits trying to turn out stuck bed bolts.


Sent from my iPhone.

 

[97RangerXLT]

it took me and a friend about45 minutes to pull my bed last summer. about a half an hour of that was removing the bedliner. I did not have any issues with rusty bolts tho, and I had a 24" breaker bar which broke the bolts loose nice and easy. Once they were broke loose, I switched to a half inch drive ratchet and worked them out.

Your filler neck will flop over once it is out. if you are going to drive like that for any lenght of time, I would definitely wire it up like ADMS said. you might consider replacing the filler neck while you have the bed off. easiest time to do it.

http://www.therangerstation.com/forums/showthread.php?t=137494 has a picture of my truck w/ the bed off and the filler neck sagging down.

AJ

 

[chrisser]

I'm on my first Ranger, but not my first pickup.

I think some may disagree with this but...

Whenever I have to remove the bed, I carefully mark it for where the top of the fuel tank is.

Then I pick up a marine hatch/deck plate, cut a hole in the bed and install the hatch so I have access to the fuel pump and sending unit.

Something like one of these

Usually around $25 for a 10-inch diameter pry-up hatch with flange. There are other types - twist lock, hinged, square, etc. I like the pry-up ones 'cause they're cheap, nearly flush, and you need some kind of tool to get them open.

When the fuel pump goes (and they all do eventually), you'll be able to replace it in minutes, instead of it being an all day job, and if it happens on the trail, it's even more convenient (assuming you have a spare pump). Best part is, you can change it even if the tank is full, without having to wrestle the tank out or pull of the bed. It becomes so convenient, you can even change the pump when you just suspect it's bad, rather than putting it off until you know it's bad (when it dies and strands you).

If you have a bed liner, nobody will even know it's there.

There's probably a small security risk, but if someone's going to pop that plate off and pull the sender assembly out to get your gas, they'd probably just as likely puncture your tank and drain your gas into a pan anyway.

I'm going to do it to my Ranger - we have isolated rural property and getting stranded with a dead fuel pump would be a long walk.

Could probably make your own version with some sheet metal and screws that would work just as well, but the marine stuff is pretty inexpensive for what you get.

MHO, FWIW...

 

[MrRangerSir]

Now that is a great idea! Thanks.