trying to put bed back on truck

[jasonroman]

so a while ago i decided to take the bed off and do a little body work.
when taking bed off, bolts spun and then i needed to cut them off to get bolts out and bed off.
ordered new hardware..lmc..
and now only the 2 long ones are holding down my bed.
so 2 out of 8 are working.

what should i do to get the other 6 to help keep bed in place?
thanks for any possible help here fellas.

no welder here so tacking the heads in place will not be an option. unless thats the only way to solve my problem, then ill need to take truck somewhere to have it done.
if so, should i fear bed moving in transit??

[old Rusty C10]

if you have two on the front and two on the back that will hold it down long enough to bring it somewhere to have it tacked, as long as you arent driving a hundred miles to get it done.

[bharrison1]

i had problems with my bolts spinning so i just took a grinder and took the heads off the bolts and knocked em thru

[78 Chevyrado]

I saw somebody was using bed bolts out of a newer model truck because while they have the flat round head like a carriage bolt, they have a hex for an allen wrench, but you'll need two people to install them.

When the body shop did mine, they tacked the ones that turned and we just left them tacked to the bedfloor. they still are tacked now.

[bharrison1]

i just went back with some grade 8 bolts with washers

[benoit454]

I've seen guys cut a slit in the heads for a flat head, tack them to the bed, and I personally cut both side on them across from one another so I could use an open end wrench on them, worked perfectly. As for newer model bolts I heard fords have torx head carriage bolts to use on some of their beds.

[jasonroman]

alright. so having them tacked is what i need to do i guess.
dont need to cut em off.. thats done already.
i dont have 2 in front and 2 in back. i only have the 2...second row from cab...the 2 long ones. holding the bed down.
guess ill see if i find someone to tack em down for me. thank for help guys.

didnt know if there was another way to do it.

you suggest going to body shop to have it tacked down?

[48cj2a]

Back in the early 80s when body lifts were first coming out we just went and got carriage and hex bolts as needed at the hardware store nothing fancy.

[jasonroman]

thats what i was thinking when i took bed off. home depot+hardware and done.
but then i thought if i got parts thru lmc, they would be right parts, right lengths etc.
so the new bolts are in...just need some tacking...

[benoit454]

It would make it hard to get back off but what about this...


Have someone put the bolts thru the holes, stand on them, you get under and start the nuts and much as you can and hopefully the nut goes on enough for there to be threads showing under the nut, that way you can grab them with some locking pliars and then turn the nuts with a wrench until they get tight.

[jasonroman]

beds back on. thanks for the help fellas.

[SCOTI]

Originally Posted by 78 Chevyrado

I saw somebody was using bed bolts out of a newer model truck because while they have the flat round head like a carriage bolt, they have a hex for an allen wrench, but you'll need two people to install them.

When the body shop did mine, they tacked the ones that turned and we just left them tacked to the bedfloor. they still are tacked now.

x2.