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1996; 2.3; 4x4; XL; Removing the bed...


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1996; 2.3; 4x4; XL; Removing the bed...

Hi again,

This truck just seems to want to nickle and dime me to death but oh well...

Long story short my fuel delivery tube is leaking gas whenever I go to the gas station, otherwise the fuel system doesn't leak anywhere else so I'm not in a big hurry to replace this for now.

I found a video on YouTube.com on how to replace this and once the bed is off it seems pretty simple to replace but the video skipped from "We are now removing the bolts" to "Now that the bed is off..." and skipped everything in between.

So I was just wondering has anyone had their bed off and is there is anything weird or difficult about getting if off?

I'm assuming that I'm probably going to have to drill out at least half or all of the bolts due to rust, so I'm going to order a bolt kit before hand so I have those ready to put on.
 


sgtsandman

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1996; 2.3; 4x4; XL; Removing the bed...

Hi again,

This truck just seems to want to nickle and dime me to death but oh well...

Long story short my fuel delivery tube is leaking gas whenever I go to the gas station, otherwise the fuel system doesn't leak anywhere else so I'm not in a big hurry to replace this for now.

I found a video on YouTube.com on how to replace this and once the bed is off it seems pretty simple to replace but the video skipped from "We are now removing the bolts" to "Now that the bed is off..." and skipped everything in between.

So I was just wondering has anyone had their bed off and if there is anything weird or difficult about getting if off?

I'm assuming that I'm probably going to have to drill out at least half or all of the bolts due to rust, so I'm going to order a bolt kit before hand so I have those ready to put on.
When I had to do a bed repair, I had to cut some of the old bolts out and order new bolts and clip nuts from the dealer. I used an angle grinder with a cut off wheel. Others I was able to remove with a torques bit and some penetrating oil.
 

adsm08

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There really isn't much to removing the bed. The bolts are the hardest part.

Remove bed bolts, remove tail lights and fish wires down through, unbolt filler neck. That's about it. The tailgate weighs almost as much as the bed itself, so I like to take the gate off.
 

tomw

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If you poke around on youtube, you can find several demos of bed removal. If you have limited muscle available, you can prop up the front edge of the bed on 2X4 timbers, or use cribbing to gain enough room for access to the filler neck tubing. In other words, you do not have to haul the bed completely off the frame to get the job done. I may be stating the obvious, but sometimes one gets so enthused about complete removal that you ignore the easier route.
tom
 

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I just removed my bed. 6 bolts. Took about 20 minutes. 10 of those minutes I was looking for my nephew, who was there to "help" me. My bolts were in good condition, snapped on of the clips tho.
 
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Its pretty easy if its anything like my 91 ranger 2.3. I had to replace fuel pump and upon trying to take the tank down i realized Its just 4 or 6 bolts for my year and removing the tailamps which only took 30min, bed was heavy and tailgate seemed to be heavier than the bed itself. Mines used a torx bit I forgot what size.
 

scotts90ranger

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Well hello local... I'm in Hopewell...

If the truck has been in Oregon and not on the coast it's whole life, you're not going to have a problem getting the bed off, the bed bolts on my '90 are just now getting grumpy, bed has been off about 5 times in the last 15 years...

That said, it's easy, take out the 6 bed bolts with a T55 torx bit, remove the 3 bolts holding the fuel filler in (7mm heads most likely, and take the gas cap off) and disconnect the connector for the tail lights just over the drivers side rear bumper mount and get two people to lift the bed off, simple as that.
 
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Thank you for the replies everyone, this sounds like its going to be pretty simple.

I was already able to get the three 7mm screws loose from around the top of the filler cap before I realized the nightmare waiting under the truck.

My only remaining question for now is... does anyone know where I can get a bolt kit for doing this that doesn't cost $45 - $65 (which to me seems like highway robbery) ?
 

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Is it rusty? have you tried taking the bolts out? get the socket and an 18" breaker bar and they should come out... I only have one or two grumpy bolts and that still works. Even if you broke two bolts the bed is still fine with 4 bolts until you get replacements...

I don't know of any cheaper than the $45 amazon kit
 
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Is it rusty? have you tried taking the bolts out? get the socket and an 18" breaker bar and they should come out... I only have one or two grumpy bolts and that still works. Even if you broke two bolts the bed is still fine with 4 bolts until you get replacements...

I don't know of any cheaper than the $45 amazon kit
Hello neighbor! Yeah I'm only like 30 minutes or less from Salem.

Regarding my truck... its seen lots of Willamette Valley weather but I don't think much of any coastal weather, the body is fine but everything on the frame is just rust everywhere, so I'm probably going to have to PB Blast all six bolts the night before I want to remove them.

I saw the $43 kit on Amazon but at a "2.7 stars" review rating I read the reviews and long-story-short nobody was happy with them and mainly so because the nuts are not even attached to the speed clips so like what's the point?

I did find another kit but the only other one that I could find that Amazon verifies is compatible with my truck is $65, oi, oh well gotta have it.
 

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Yeah, the Red Hound kit is junk. I used the more expensive Dorman 924-310 and was happy with it, but still felt it left something to be desired over the unavailable OEM parts.
 

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I know where Mac is, went to high school there 20 years ago :), work in Tualatin. I'll change my profile to Dayton since that's where my address is... it's been 5 years since I lived in Salem.

Next time I'm at the junkyard I should probably grab a spare set of bolts and J nuts then... didn't realize they were that expensive...

By rusty, how rusty? if you're just talking surface rust but still smooth on the side of the frame rails that's normal and your bolts will probably come right out, if rust is flaking off the side of the frame then yes you are going to have troubles...
 
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Yeah, the Red Hound kit is junk. I used the more expensive Dorman 924-310 and was happy with it, but still felt it left something to be desired over the unavailable OEM parts.
Yeah the "Dorman 924-310" is what I'm going to order.
 
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Pulling the bed off to replace the filler tube was fairly easy, it kind of ended up being even easier than I thought it was going to be.

The three little 7mm bolts that hold the top end of the filler tube on were kind of a pain to get loose but they finally came out, the six giant bolts that hold the bed on came loose with the assistance of an "Earthquake" torque gun, one bolt was so bad though that I had to use a long breaker bar to break it loose first.

We have an overhead 1,500 pound winch that lifted the bed up in the air like it was nothing.

I am really glad that I ordered the bolt kit before doing this because the bolts were so rusted that they were trashed.

A couple things that I figured out while doing this...

1. You do not need to remove the fender support rods, despite how it looks both ends are attached to the bed.

2. You do not need to remove the rear tail light assemblies, once you raise the bed up in the air about four inches there is a cannon plug right to the left of the license plate that unplugs that separates the bed wiring from the frame wiring.

That was it.
 

BobH

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Hang bed for a one-person job

I'm a little late on this, but I have a suggestion for working on this by yourself. I took off the bed of my '89 about a week ago to replace the fuel-gauge sending unit. The bed is hanging in the garage.

I have four eye bolts in the garage ceiling and four tie-down straps from Harbor Freight. After removing the bed bolts, I slipped a couple of 2x4s under the bed crosswise. Then I looped the tie-down straps under the 2x4s and cranked them to lift the bed so I could drive the truck out from under it.

As others have pointed out, you need to remove three screws for the fuel filler and unplug a wiring harness near the bumper to disconnect the tail lights from the wiring in the frame.
 

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