DIY Cab Corner Repair

[Shankem-Deep]

One of the things i've been putting off fixing for awhile is my rusted out cab corners. I wasn't looking forward to the body work that needed to be done. Then it hit me, why go to all that trouble when my truck will never be a show truck. My truck is a reliable rig that is going to get used but not abused. I'm not goint to be happy if I bend a fender but if I scratch it it's no biggie! I decided to romove the bed and undercoat the frame while I was at it. Removing the bed wasn't too bad except one of the carriage bolts broke when I was removing the nut. It was rusted pretty bad so no suprise, I'll just buy some new ones I thought....Wrong! Apparently 12" long carriage bolts are hard to come by in my neck of the woods! I ended up buying a couple 10" and 6" carriage bolts to make one 12". I cut them to lenght and drilled a hole in one and turned a stem on the other so it would be centered when welding together. Worked great!

 

[Shankem-Deep]

I fixed the carriage bolt problem first since I figured I would forget and not have the bolts when I go to put the bed back on. Then I moved onto the cab corners. I cut out all the rust area 1st then painted that area with rust re-former. Then I cut my cab corners panels to just go a few inches above the rused area. I used black RTV to hold the panels in place and keep water out later on. I then drilled the 1st hole for the 3/16 rivets. I did one rivet at a time and just worked my way around the panel. I used 1" spacing on the rivets. I think they turned out great! It kind of gave it a patched look. I then sprayed them with the rubberized under coating to help seal them up even more. More pics to follow!

 

[Shankem-Deep]

I got the bed back on yesterday. I just used Krylon Camo spray paint over the patches. I need to do a little more blending for it to match. Overall i'm pretty happy with the way it turned out.

 

[MarcusOReallyus]

Looks good!

How hard was it to take the bed off? I'm thinking I may want to replace some brake lines, and it would be a lot easier with the bed off. I could do some other cleanup in there while I was at it....

 

[Shankem-Deep]

I took the bed off by myself but be careful!!! I used a come-along secured to the trusses of my shop. I used rope anchored to each corner of the bed. All you have to do is take your tail lights completely out and pull the wires through the bed. Then disconnect the fuel filler neck from the bed. Take the vent line loose from the rear end if it's attached to the underside of the bed. Next take out the 8 carriage bolts that hold the bed to the frame and your ready to lift it off.

 

[Warthog]

And if the carriage bolts start spinning (many do), you can tack weld a nut to the top to hold it while you take the bottom nut off

 

[Shankem-Deep]

And if the carriage bolts start spinning (many do), you can tack weld a nut to the top to hold it while you take the bottom nut off

Yep I did just that on one of the bolts!

 

[sschaefer3]

I have all the bed bolts from my California M1008 if the ones you made don't work out. I built a flatbed for it.

 

[Shankem-Deep]

I have all the bed bolts from my California M1008 if the ones you made don't work out. I built a flatbed for it.

The ones I made worked! I bet someone will need them though.

 

[trukhead]

I heat the nuts to a dull red on the bed hold down bolts with an acetylene torch prior to zipping them off with an impact gun. It saves the box floor holes from the carriage bolts spinning and making them 5 sided rather than the original 4 sided.

The carriage bolts can then be cleaned and derusted if you choose.

Cab corner fix looks great! Like it!

 

[Zenk]

I bought all my bed carriage bolts at Lowes. I think I paid around $25 for the entire set. You will notice that the front bolts (close to cab) go through steel pipe to prevent the frame from crushing when tightening them down. I had Lowes custom cut pipe to length to replace them also.

 

[Skinny]

Wait you MADE bed bolts? You rock!

It is such a shame when you spend quality time making parts no one sees or even could care about.

 

[Shankem-Deep]

Wait you MADE bed bolts? You rock!

It is such a shame when you spend quality time making parts no one sees or even could care about.[/Q



Thanks Skinny! I had intended to buy new ones but couldn't find any long enough. Plus I needed to get my truck back together for a camping trip. I made new pipe spacers to, mine were pretty rusted.