holes in bed

[William123567]

i have holes in my bed and i was wondering if yall know if i have to get a new bed or if i can get some metal to replace it the holes are near the cab pretty much under were a toolbox would of sat at. there is a lot of them.

[Galaxie64]

Depends on how big they are. There are aftermarket replacement panels for some spots or you can just weld in a piece of metal. Is this on top of the bed rail?

[William123567]

all of it is in the bottom of the bed i found out that the rust was from some sand that got trapped under the toolbox and it got wet and ate up the bottom of the bed.

[fordman]

yeah you can get patch panels for the bed.

[William123567]

alright thats cool seems like my project truck is a never ending project...

[Fake Name]

I just got a line-x sprayed bedliner for mine, and they can fix all the holes easily before they shoot it. Mine had then in the bed, the tailgate and all along the top of the rails. I'm not restoring mine- it will be a worker, so I had them go over the rails with the liner. Fixed all the holes (probably over 15-20) looks great and is much quieter as well. They just tape over the holes and then shoot it with the liner, they did not charge me at all for it.

fn

[fordman]

tape? foil tape?

[Fake Name]

Nope. Masking tape. It just stops the goo from going through the hole, and then the goo builds up to full thickness. Worked great. Probably not for holes over about 1.5 inches, but the stuff's about 1/4 thick.

fn

[fordman]

what happens when the masking tape comes off or rots through did they say?

[Fake Name]

Hmm. I'm probably not explaining this very well.

The liner is sprayed on as a liquid, and when it set, it's actually thicker than the material used for drop-in bedliners. So, the tape is immaterial- it's just there to keep the liquid goo from running through the holes until the liquid congeals or dries or sets, whatever chemical term is appropriate.

The liner stuff is real strong- plenty strong enough to bridge a typical hole in the sheet metal.

Make sense? It's not just a thick paint topcoat- it's probably 1/4 inch thick.

fn

[William123567]

that has to make it weaker around those holes or something man besides i have like 2000 holes i tried to remove rust and they just appeered as the rust went away it was then that i realized that this will cost a lot of money

[Ford_Doctor]

These trucks are a labor of love, even though sometimes if feels like more labor than love! Just keep working at it. Your'e two choices are to remove the bed for a long time to properly remove and weld in patch panels or clean it up, and apply some rust killer to delay the inevitable while you search for a better bed. Keith has a lot of experience with this!

[Fake Name]

that has to make it weaker around those holes or something man besides i have like 2000 holes i tried to remove rust and they just appeered as the rust went away it was then that i realized that this will cost a lot of money

Well, think about it this way. If you were to use a drop-in bedliner- you know, the molded type- would you be afraid it was too weak? Even with the 2000 holes? Yes, of course if the bed is not structurally sound, this won't help you.

Just trying to suggest an alternative with which I'm both confident and satisfied.

fn

[William123567]

i wouldnt ever use a drop in ive seen what they do to a bed my sis had one on her truck and it rusted it all to hell and then when she was going down the highway it flew out.

[Rayster]

I ordered bed panels for my '68 f250 to patch a few holes. The panels that arrived did not match the rib pattern on my truck - not even close enough to muscle it into place. The panels were made in Taiwan and I suspect they were either severely flattened during shipping or just inferior to begin with. Is there a company out there that sells a good reproduction bed panel?