Tips for removing fleetside bed on finished truck?

[Jemo]

I need to get the bed off my truck to work on the fuel tank and other things. How hard is it to lift? Where do you grab? How many people? Where do you set it? etc.

Thanks!

[_Ogre]

put a large sheet of cardboard between the cab and bed, unbolt and lift
use 4 guys and no one is straining a nut
use the cardboard when going back together too

and... poor planning if you have to pull the bed to work on the gas tank
while you have it off make the tank where you can drop it
i've had to drop my tank 3 times, once on the road

4 guys was easy to place this on truk



this was the on the road tank drop (in a friends kentucky garage).
had to buy jack stands and a jack to do it

[OrrieG]

8 bolts from bed to frame, if you are lucky not rusted solid, they are the ones in the wood with offset washers. Stock wiring harness has a connector in drivers side frame rail near the back tire. Like Ogre said 4 guys and protect between bed and cab.

[mr48chev]

I'd suggest setting the truck on jack stands and pulling the rear tires so you don't have to lift the bed over the tires too.

Since I almost always work by myself and don't have enough money to spring for beer for my buddies all at one time I use a chain hoist hung from a gantry (A frame) on one end and a cherry picker on the other end. You could run some 3/8 eye bolts though the same holes that the bed is mounted with (just block it up high enough to get nuts and washers on.) and lift it in a similar fashion with a helper balancing the bed. We lifted the body off my 51 Mercury coupe's stock frame that way a few years ago and set it on it's new frame.

[OneOffStroker]

I remove mine by myself all the time. I drop a ratchet strap down the stake pockets at each corner and use old t-shirts to pad the corners at the top, and then connect all the straps to each other at the center, making an X. I connect my engine hoist to the center and lift. My bed isn't finished, so I don't freak out if the hoist bumps into the tailgate, but I'm sure you could protect it with some cardboard and blankets.

Good luck.