Got a bed kit today and assembly tips would help

[Peanut74]

Will do. Today's goal will be to get it squared up and work on the inner fender skirt fit up. If I have time I'll get the hole cut for the fuel filler. It's going to be tight to get the cap in there but it should just barely fit in.

Wish I could figure out how to rotate the pictures to the correct orientation. No matter how I take them the pictures rotate 90 degrees. If anyone knows how to fix it please let me know.

[Peanut74]

Well I got the LH fender skirt on. My far it was the hardest to get on the bed. The holes were so far off I had to shrink the one flange to get the one hole close enough that I could drill a new hole. Then like the LH I had to beat the one flange with a hammer to close up the gap between the fender and fender skirt.

Had to go a bit primitive to get the RH fender vertical and square to the bed. I did measure the diagonal's and were different. The only place you can adjust for the difference is at the front panel. The rear is locked in because the rear bed sill fits into the stake hole channel.

I did get distracted and put my new rims on the truck. I got them this weekend and wanted see how they looked on the truck.

[ItWillBeSlow]

Once again thanks for the updates and progress photos of this assembly.

How many labor hours do you think you have in the assembly and required modifications for this bed?

[72 tigger]

Making good progress. This will be nice when it’s together

[Peanut74]

Thanks guys. It is a painful process at times but I am making progress. Planning on putting on some color tomorrow.

As for the number of hours I have in it I would say about 120 to 160 hours so far. It is that I am using a repro bed as there is no rust to deal with and you can start doing test fits right away.

[4youngs]

I went through the same scenario with a new bed kit, and it came out great. The only issue I had was when I reassembled it after painting. The tailgate clearance was very tight, and I actually chipped the paint when closing it. After creating (grinding) more clearance and touching up the paint, it's awesome.

[Peanut74]

4youngs, yes I seen the same thing when I did my test fitup. Mine was not as tight as yours but I will need to tape the crap out of it so I don't run into the same issue as you did.

I was hoping to put it together this week but unfortunately I had a bit of a painting disaster and I need to sand down the front panel to fix it.

[Peanut74]

Well I go my honey do's done so I did some work on the bed. I got it all painted .and have started to put it together. I forgot to take pictures when I install the bed front. I didn't put any seam sealer on the flange but did seal the seam inside the bed. As for the sides I put seam sealer down on the bed and assembled the two. I did have to paint the bolts once I had them installed. I never have any luck painting them ahead of time. When I installed the wheel wells I put seam sealer on the wheel well flange that bolts to the fender. I also put seam sealer on the wheel well ends to make sure seam sealer was good in the corners. I tightened the inner wheel well bolts first starting in the center and working my way out. I wanted to make sure it pulled down evenly. Once they were tight the outer flange lifted up enough to get the seam sealer in the gap. Once ever thing was tight I went back and smoothed it all out. I also added an additional bead between the fender and wheel well in the bed. I also installed the rear wire harness clips on the rear rail. These were not included with the kit so I had to salvage it from my old bed.

[Peanut74]

Well today I got the fenders square with the bed, wheel well skirts and fender braces on. For squaring the fenders I loosened the two bolts in picture one so that I could move the fenders and get them square. For the right side I had to use a spreader to get it squared up. Once it was square I tightened the bolts back up. I then had to drill out the two holes on the rear bed rail. The holes were a half hole off so I had no other option. Got the bolts in and tightened them up. For the left side I used a come-along to get it squared up.

For the wheel well skirts I installed them the same way as stated above. Used seam sealer to seal up the seams and gaps. For the fender braces I had to use my old ones and the kit did not provide new ones. Also, had to dig up some fasteners to install them

[Peanut74]

Well I put the bedliner on today so I can check that off my list. Going to let it cure for a couple of days just to make it is dry. Then I'm going to put it on the truck and do a happy dance.

Currently debating whether or not to put Raptor on the gas cap or leave it green. What do you all think?

For the bedliner I used Raptor. The spray pressure range is 35 to 100 psi. I used 50 psi to give me a finish roughly the same texture as you would get from Rinoliner. I also sprayed the inner wheel wells and back side of the fender and wheel well skirts.

[72 tigger]

Nice progress! I vote for black

[ItWillBeSlow]

I also vote for black for the gas lid.

How do you like the raptor?

[67C10Step]

Originally Posted by ItWillBeSlow

I also vote for black for the gas lid.

How do you like the raptor?

Agree on the black. Make that cap disappear for the most part.

How hard was the raptor to work with? I am considering it for a few areas in my truck.

[Peanut74]

67, The Raptor is easy to spray. Believe me when I say if I can do it any one can. You just have to tape off areas you don't want Raptor on good. I used the blue painters tape and it works for me.

Well I got the bed on the truck. Today's goal is to bolt it down and get the tailgate on.

[Accelo]

Watch the bolts for the tail gate hinges and latch encroaching into the tail light area. I purchased new bolts and they were too long. I had to change them out to get the lamps in.

[Peanut74]

Forgot to mention that I think black for the gas cap looks best. As stated above the black makes it blend in and disappear.

I used electrical tape to simulate the color. That was so just encase I didn't like it I could just peel off the paint.

[Peanut74]

Well today I wrapped up the bed by putting the tailgate and latch on. The tailgate fit fine and I only needed to do a small adjustment to get the top of the gate even with bed sides.

The biggest hurdle was the gate latch itself all five I installed it. When I assembled the latch and rods I watched the Brothers video. Unfortunately some of the key details were not visible. Putting the electrical tape on to hold the rod in place was a good tip. I also found that installing the right side rod was much easier once I rounded the tip. I also had trim the backside upper tab so that it would not hit the tailgate. In addition I had to elongate two of the latch bolt holes so that I could get an even gap across the top.

As for the statistics of this process here they are:

Number of times
on and off Description
2 Taking the whole bed off and on
4 Bed bottom (To modify it for the relocated tank)
2 Front bed panel
3 Left hand fender
2 Right hand fender
2 Left hand wheel well
2 Right hand wheel well
4 Tailgate
5 Latch assembly

Also, the fuel filler cap is now black and does blend in and look better