Thanks guys. I got them off and there was indeed some rust which I will hit with epoxy primer. However, not quite sure what is the best way to replace them. I could buy new steel ones and plug weld them on but it seems like that is a recipe for more rust in the future. I see you can buy nice stainless ones, but how to adhere them to the bed side without welding? Aren't they structural?
I read a thread here where someone drilled out the stainless strips and used 1/4" bolts to fix them to the bed side, but I am not sure if I have enough clearance between tire sidewall and inner fender well. Also, i'd be limited to bolting only in the fender area (for appearance) which leaves a length of the angle strip ends unsupported...which might be just fine. Seems hard to get away from welding. Is there something I am not considering?
Thanks!
Quote:
Originally Posted by 1971Stepside
I went with new bedsides and the steel angles are spotted on them. In your case, I would remove them and replace with the pretty ones as you probably have rust hiding there. My angles did not come pre-drilled for the bed wood holes. At this point, I am not going to drill them or put those bolts back in.
For the fenders to bedside bolts there aren't a lot of options. You can order polished phillips head bolts like the stock bolts or you can order a kit from Brothers that uses the allen head and washer. I went with the Brothers kit.
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