Swims350
I'm Awesome
Where to begin, well first off YES I have removed beds before, but never have I had this much trouble or run into these problems. It's on my 88 k1500 short bed and yea somebodys been in there before, normally that'd mean it's easier to take off due to rust and it being removed once right? wrong. One bolt was missing by the gas tank where you can't see or get your hand in YAY!! made it easy for me, the DS 2nd one up from the rear is broke off, heads gone, no biggie, the fronts came out and the other side came out, but then we get to the back 2, oh joy oh joy. I got a hitch on mine, mounts to the lower frame and blocks the hole in the bottom of the frame that allows you to go straight up from the bottom with an extension, so I try to remove it, 3 bolts came out, one is stripped, damnit. The Ds had 19mm heads and 3/4 nuts, the PS had a 3/4 head 3/4 nut, and the back was 19mm or supposed to be and 3/4 nut, the supposed 19mm head was rounded off, and they all had thick steel plates like 1x1 inch instead of washers and on that side one was missing and a washer was in it's place. Well the thing is hanging in by one bolt of course, I can move it by hand enough with force to get it out of the way and get the DS rear bolt, sounds good right? it would if the bumper bracket wasn't in my way!!!!!!!!! The thing is pulled too far out so the big hole comes up by the head and won't let you get a socket on it. PS is the same way, well I figure take the bumper off right? Yea I wished, started on that, the 2 upper bolts on the outer brackets the welded nuts on the back came loose and started spinning and I tried to get in there and get a wrench on them, couldn't find anything to work, need a short stubby 18mm or a single offset, and mine was double offset(one offset on each end opposite of one another), one inner bolt wouldn't come loose, using impact on all this stuff and liquid wrench. PS I got off except for the little 15mm bolt on the very front of the inner bracket it wouldn't come off, now you're probably thinking why'd I try to get the bracket loose at the bumper? Some sombitch welded the outer brackets to the frame. You talk about being mad, they did the front of them and the PS were a bolt was missing. The rear bed bolt head has been spot welded to the bumper bracket too!!!!!!! I'm about to start rednecking it and cut something up. All this BS just so I can put on new cab corners and clean/paint the frame, looks like that might not happen and I have to ghetto fab some tin over my cab corners. I gotta get an inspection sticker by the end of sept. and it won't pass with rust holes, so it might sit parked lol.
