What to do about rusted wood bed parts...

[COBALT]

Spent last weekend under the bed cutting and breaking old carriage bolts and fasteners and replacing them with ones that I can actually tighten (lol). The bed has been increasingly getting more and more loose, and the bolts that hold it to the frame, and the straps to the bedsides are completely rusted, stripped, and bent. Having the old rotten wood falling out doesn't help either! With new fasteners I can easily take it apart later...

My Q is this:

While I was doing this I was inspecting the bed sides, the wheel "tubs" or fenders, and the back of the bed where the wood meets the metal. All of the edges are in BAD shape. Rust has made them thin and weak, and the movement of the bed over time has reamed out the holes where the fasteners go. Has anyone here cut the bottoms off of their bed panels and welded on new bottoms to take the bed fasteners?

I don't want to just go buy new panels when the tops seem to be ok. The fenders (or "tubs" as some aftermarket guys call them) are almost ruined, but I think if I could repair the bottoms I could save some money...

Your thoughts?



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'69 3/4 ton C20 2wd w/ 350ci/400THM and a wood bed!
'69 3/4 ton Custom 20 2wd w/ ORIGINAL 350ci/4sp Manual and a wood bed (parts beast).
Seattle, WA.

*See pics of my trucks and project at www.webshots.com!


[This message has been edited by new69owner (edited April 04, 2002).]