short bed

[hotrod24]

could i grind the head of the bolt and then take a screw driver and a hammer and beat it down through the floor

I used a cutting torch on mine ( after putting wet rags on the gas tank ) ... came right off!

A lot of help I am, right?

Sorry...here's the deal with grinding... if you grind the heads off, the bolts still won't come out because the square shank near the head won't fit through the hole.

I think your best bet is to use a cut off wheel on your grinder and cut them off from the bottom. 

Another option is to center punch them and drill the heads off. (again, you would have to keep going until you drilled the square shoulder off too)

Good luck!

[80stepsideguy]

If you got the time you can grind the heads all off completely but you`ll be going thru alot and i mean ALOT of grinding discs you figure what you got 8 bolts holding that bed on?Do this dusty i got my RYOBI sawzaw from home depot, i didn`t spend alot the biggest thing was the blades, its up to you man but i would cut them off with a sawzaw, by the time you spend the money in grinding discs thats the money you could've put into a saw and you will use that saw for many more things to come its always nice to have 1 when you need it.Heck i cut up more things with this saw(basically my whole 1st truck and scrapped it and a rear cougar clip from a car) then i can imagine.

thanks
pat

[frogman68]

If you got the time you can grind the heads all off completely but you`ll be going thru alot and i mean ALOT of grinding discs you figure what you got 8 bolts holding that bed on?Do this dusty i got my RYOBI sawzaw from home depot, i didn`t spend alot the biggest thing was the blades, its up to you man but i would cut them off with a sawzaw, by the time you spend the money in grinding discs thats the money you could've put into a saw and you will use that saw for many more things to come its always nice to have 1 when you need it.Heck i cut up more things with this saw(basically my whole 1st truck and scrapped it and a rear cougar clip from a car) then i can imagine.

thanks
pat

40 bucks not a bad deal

http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?storeId=10051&langId=-1&catalogId=10053&productId=100618263&N=10000003+90401+503174

[hotrod24]

ok how would i cut the nuts thay are flush with the frame so would i cut though the nuts becuase i could not get into the bolt

If you got the time you can grind the heads all off completely but you`ll be going thru alot and i mean ALOT of grinding discs you figure what you got 8 bolts holding that bed on?Do this dusty i got my RYOBI sawzaw from home depot, i didn`t spend alot the biggest thing was the blades, its up to you man but i would cut them off with a sawzaw, by the time you spend the money in grinding discs thats the money you could've put into a saw and you will use that saw for many more things to come its always nice to have 1 when you need it.Heck i cut up more things with this saw(basically my whole 1st truck and scrapped it and a rear cougar clip from a car) then i can imagine.

thanks
pat

[frogman68]

ok how would i cut the nuts thay are flush with the frame so would i cut though the nuts becuase i could not get into the bolt

You should be able to cut between the frame and the bed go slow and be carefull not to cut (or should I say cut to deep) into the frame or bed

[hotrod24]

ok thanks

ok how would i cut the nuts thay are flush with the frame so would i cut though the nuts becuase i could not get into the bolt

You should be able to cut between the frame and the bed go slow and be carefull not to cut (or should I say cut to deep) into the frame or bed

[80stepsideguy]

The saw that frog just showed is the exact one i got, it wroks great i never had a problem with it at all.

thanks
pat

[ccz145a]

Can't edit the last post, but found this splitter: $10.95

http://www.northerntool.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_6970_34573_34573

[hotrod24]

i might try that but i would like to know if i could use a 20 gallon air compressor on the nuts with a air wrench the ones that are just turning are in the front

[Bitzer!]

I think it looks rather kewl as a flat-bed!!

Hot-Rod, keep up the good work m8, some of it can seem to take ages then all come together at once 

[smitty77]

HELP IS ON THE WAY!!!!!!!!!!

I just did this exact procedure with my parts truck.  I needed to use the frame, the bed was TRASHED and the previous owner put a 1/4" diamond-plate piece over the whole bed, covering the bolt heads.  He did a nice job, cutting it to fit and welding it to the sides, but her should have removed the factory bottom first.  DOH!

If you remove the rear bumper, the rear 4 bolts are fairly easy to reach with a sawzall.  just zip through the nut and bolt.  It will take some time and a few blades, but it can be done.  For the front 4 (or all , read on:

1.  Find yourself a hole-saw big enough to get through the bed bottom.  I think it was 1 1/4", but you can go bigger.  Try to find one where you can adjust the centering drill bit up and down.

2.  Drill a small pilot hole as close to the center of the bolt head as you can get so that the centering bit of the hole-saw has a place to spin.  It will be a PITA to start a large hole without it.

3.  Once the centering hole is drilled (about 1/4" to 1/2" deep would be ideal), load the hole-saw in the chuck with the centering bit positioned so the tip sits just inside the teeth of the hole saw.

4.  Center the bit in your guide hole and start drilling.  The idea is to drill out the bottom of the bed around the hole, and the goal is to get enough of the outer hole started so that the bit can be run without the centering bit, which you'll need to do when the centering bit bottoms out in your guide hole.

5.  Finish off your big hole without the inner bit until you're through the bed.  Just be careful not to go into the frame.  This won't get you home, but you're almost there.

6.  With the hole drilled, the bolts may drop through the cross members enough for you to get a sawzall on the bolt shank under the truck.  All you really need is the thickness of a blade, so you could probably pound the head down the 1/8" or so.  Then get under there and have at it.

I just did this a month ago, so I know it works, and was a real pain in the balls for me because the bolts were hidden by that 1/4" diamond plate.

Smitty

[hotrod24]

well i worked on the bolts and i got one out with my grinder and 2 i got out with a wrench i am going to take out the rest with a air wrench there was two where the bumper is that just turned and the two on the other side where not striped so them was easy

[Captkaos]

Are you trying to save the bed floor?

[smitty77]

well i worked on the bolts and i got one out with my grinder and 2 i got out with a wrench i am going to take out the rest with a air wrench there was two where the bumper is that just turned and the two on the other side where not striped so them was easy

Good deal.  Keep working at it, and you'll get it.  I tried the nutsplitter approach before the drastic cutting I did, but those nuts were too tough for the splitter.  I fouled the drive point on a Craftsman one, and the one I got from Advanced auto didn't get through it.

Good luck with the impact wrench.  Just remember you can still have success with a good breaker bar and a BFH.  One of my cab mount bolts was ultra stubborn, the impact wrench didn't budge it at all after 5 minutes at wide open.  Ten minutes of pounding on the breaker broke it free, and I tugged on the bar 1/6 of a turn at a time for another 20 minutes before the impact would turn it.  I though for sure I would snap the bolt or round the head off before I was finished.

Good luck!
Smitty

[hotrod24]

well i finally done it i got all the bolts with a wrench except 2 i had to grind the heads off of them