Tearing down the Stepside bed..

[62step]

Hey everyone
I am about to send my bed off to get soda blasted and I was wondering whats a good way to take the stepside fenders off? I noticed they are a little rusty and what not, but I want to take the fenders off so they can blast behind that seem..

Should I try with a handheld impact driver (one you hit with a hammer and turning at the same time), or should I get some nuts and weld the nuts on the end of the phillips head screw?

Once I get them out (if I get them out) do I just re-tap the insert with the correct thread, or will I have to replace the hole that it goes into...

Hopefully this makes sense... lol

Any advise will be appreciated!

Thanks, Mike

[1963c-10]

Personally I'd just drill the heads out from inside the bed and install new nuts/bolts if they are that bad. Did mine a few years back and only took 1/2hr to do both sides.

[Clyde65]

have you soaked them with PB Blaster??>I would soak them in that everyday for a week or more. that allowed m to remove a lot of screw that were fairly rusted.

Good luck!

[62 Barnfind]

Originally Posted by 1963c-10

Personally I'd just drill the heads out from inside the bed and install new nuts/bolts if they are that bad. Did mine a few years back and only took 1/2hr to do both sides.

I did the same to mine when I tore it down. I also used my die grinder to cut from the inside. It's faster to cut them out than trying to turn them.

[62step]

Ok, so I will try to soak them with pb blaster, if nothing else fails and I have to cut them off, I can just replace with a bolt and nut, no certain fasteners or anything? Just correct size bolt and nut and washers?

Thanks

[1963c-10]

Correct, there are no welded nuts. Just plain nuts and bolts will work. I do recommend stainless or grade 8 personally, but its all a preference. Originally they had clutch heads if you want the original look and if you get something with a larger round style head similar to the carriage bolts they are a little more user friendly if the truck is used. This way nothing catches the heads of the bolts when loading or unloading the bed.

[62step]

Thanks everyone, I finally got them off. I had to get my 4.5" angle grinder out to hurry things up. I was using a small air angle grinder..

I'll probably go with some grade 8 bolts to put them back on.

Thanks again