I never asked them to remove the bolts. I have no reason to think I'll need to remove the bed, so it's a non-issue for me. If I were to need to remove it for any reason, I'm sure it's not a huge deal to do it.

 

You can cut around the bolts and remove them with little effort. Most places won't spray bolts and screws so it's odd they did.

 

haha agreed. Awesome pics guys (nice trucks too), and thanks for the advice. Looks like i'll be going over the rails, making sure the bed bolts get removed.

 

mine looks identical to KLC's

they come easy. any tape can be removed with your thumb. even if he uses an excato knife, it gets covered so i wouldn't worry about "goo gone" and yes it's worth the extra $50 or so. they fall off in time anyways so man up early.

something else to think about, he's gonna sand down the paint/clear anyways for a good contact surface. my guy also said that if i didn't get the bedrails done, the tailgate and bedrails wouldn't line up or match.

tribefan, it looks like your guy half assed it. when i had mine done, he sprayed the crack between the bed and tailgate and the top part of the area between the bed and cab. plus he took the tie downs and bolts out and even told me that the dealer supplies the ones for the tailgate since he took the crappy plastic one off the tailgate. the screws are slightly taller and stick up. sure enought the dealer gave me the requiered ones for no charge.

 

I was hoping I could request them to spray in farther down into the tailgate and bed opening. I almost wish I could get one of those Line-X machines and a franchise. I'm sure the markup is ridiculous and a decent money maker.

Another question I have is with the few spots of bubbling paint that happened under the drop-in bedliner that I had in....should I sand/grind those out and shoot some primer on them before I take it in to get sprayed? I'm not sure how thorough their sanding process is and I'd rather not have that rust festering under the spray in.

Morris, I'd like to see a pic of yours please

 

I'm sure they will do whatever you would like done. They will prep the surface, but if you want to fix some stuff yourself there is no reason why you can't.

 

here you go.







i only took shots of the areas i was talking about and since KLC has that fullbed shot.


i've had a fridge cut mine and the guy touched it up. mind you it was a tube of the stuff and it hasn't faded yet so you can still see where the damage was done. i've got to go back and get a couple other spots touched up. i had an areator and the tynes or tymes tore a couple spots.
he sprayed in the crack and to the bottom edge of the tailgate and the back edge of the bed (virtical part where it meets tailgate) as a precausion and it makes sense if you haul rocks, sand or anything that can get down in there. i've had that garden stone that is like charcoal, dirt and wood get in there without worring. he also said it helps the fullsize guys who use their trucks for salt spraying.

 

Over the rail! I also wish that it had occurred to me to have them remove the bed bolts first. If I ever want/have to remove the bed (fuel pump) I'm screwed!

 

If you've already got the bed caps just do under the rail..i had a line-x'd bedliner done the same way...loved and it wasnt worth the xtra money to have them do over the rail..if you dont have a tailgate cap then have them do over the rail on it to match up with the bed caps..and make sure they dont spray over any bed bolts or screws!!




just make sure on the tailgate part they sand down the edge of it or it will bite the crap outta your thumbs when you drop the gate down..lol i have scars!!!!

 

Thanks for the pics everybody. Was going to get it done this week but they were booked up, next Wednsday is when mine goes in. I'm going over the rail, and down to the bottom of the inside tailgate lower lip like Morris has. Going to work on the bed-bolts myself this weekend in attempt to at least get them loosened. All 4 places I called said they would attempt to get them out but on an older truck like my '03 they can be hard to get it. As usual, I'll just get it done myself so they wont have any excuses. I can get them loosened after I go buy a T-55 bit or two tomorrow which I dont have in my star bit set.

BTW, is it OK to use an impact on the T-55 bed bolts?

 

yeah its ok..just be sure to get a good bite and dont go wide open at first if you know what i mean...lol just make sure it grabs good before you torque the hell out of it!! lol and a lil bit of PB blaster a few hrs before will go a long way since you have a northern truck!!

 

Got them all loose and out. The impact wrench wouldn't budge them (maybe a little) so I soaked them with PB blaster and used a huge half inch drive torque wrench. Unfortunately, Sears only sold the T-55 in a 4 pc set that was $40!! The Craftsman bit was good, managed not to break it. I soaked them again in PB blaster and re-installed them for now. Now they cant tell me they cant get them loose!

Only had one instance of knuckle damage when the nut clip on the very back bolt spun around the rear of the frame while I was twisting on it full force and resulted in a nice punch to the side of the truck bed. If anyone has done this you know what I mean. A few seconds of cussing and bleeding and all was well.

I have always been bothered by an uneven bed to cab gap from the sides since I got this truck. There is alot of play once you get the bolts loose and I got that all evened out. Looks much better. I also went ahead and sanded and primed the few bubbled up rust spots on the bed. I know they sand down the bed before they spray it but I wanted to make sure those spots were done thoroughly.

 

HAHAHA!!! oh yeah and try that with line-x already in it!!! good deal man..yeah you'll appreciate the bolts not being lined over..i promise!!!

 

Getting done tomorrow, I'll take some pics when I get home from work.

 

good stuff. the line-x guy should have the tools to remove your bed and hooks.
i've still gotta go and call mine so he can touch up.