How to make Bed Cross Members
 

Ranger bed/boxes are notorious for having their cross member or braces rot out so heres a quick little summary of how I remade 2 of mine that needed to be replaced. There are many ways to make these, this is just how I did it with the tools I had. Its not going to be in super detail but I can answer any questions below.

First you need to drill out the spot welds to remove the rotted out cross members, this was easy for me as I removed all the bed floor around them as I planned on replacing it as well. Once you have the spot welds drilled out you can remove them from the floor and start measuring for where you need to make your bends with your new sheet metal. I have a cheap 3 ft brake but the cross members were 38' in length so I cut out with my shear 2 matching pieces of sheet metal in 19' in length and appropriate width. Once I measured and scribed where I needed to make my bends I went ahead and made them. Its a good idea to practice on a piece of scrap to make sure your bend measurements are right, also both cross members were the same length but all other measurements were different. Once both pieces are bent I fit them up and tig welded together. Once welded I ground smooth and made a template with tape on the old piece where I needed to drill all the holes and transfered it on the new piece.

https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.ran...12cf692a29.jpg
One half of one brace made along with some of the bed floor I need to replace
https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.ran...8b97338cee.jpg
https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.ran...f724550d62.jpg
2 halves partly welded together, ran out of argon halfway through welding
https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.ran...8d6bc19baf.jpg
https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.ran...c450dd41a9.jpg
https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.ran...2f967f40d0.jpg
https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.ran...55a4147b0c.jpg
Drilling out the spot welds
https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.ran...c729843d6d.jpg
https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.ran...58ba6da11a.jpg
https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.ran...4c332306fe.jpg
Bending up one half and it matched well
https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.ran...456a3dec77.jpg
https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.ran...9f3e26bb36.jpg
Tack welding together
https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.ran...83cdbffcb6.jpg
Both cross members completed
https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.ran...fa543ec600.jpg
https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.ran...27ea374777.jpg
https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.ran...030026faa6.jpg
https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.ran...0f86efbc12.jpg
https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.ran...c5ad5ebb1e.jpg

Very nice, good work :biggthump

Thanks Ron!

Gauge steel
 

Hey, love the post, as I am about to remove my bed and start working on some rust repair.

I was just curious what gauge sheet metal you are using for the cross members

thanks, have a great day

When you made them, did you happen to take all the measurements?