I'm way behind on updates - here's a big chunk of what happened after the bed repair was completed:
Rear frame
The biggest surprise on this truck was that there was rust damage on the frame. Before buying I specifically crawled underneath and looked at it, but I could not see above the gas tank. One cross bar that runs between the frame rails and over the gas tank was quite rusted at the bottom. Literally the bottom of this bar was completely gone just rust. There was one spot where the top of the driver side frame rail was rusted and needed a patch. Also the first cross bar under the bed on the driver side had a couple small spots that needed patched. All of this was due to basically the same thing – debris spills over the front of the bed and accumulates in the first cross bar, between the frame rail and the gas tank, and under the second cross bar.
The fix involved removing the wiring harness behind the bed, the spare tire and the gas tank, buying a pre-fabricated cross bar ($65), cutting out the old one, cutting out the rusted spots, fabricating some patches and welding it all back in. the replacement had side plates which allowed me to cut the frame a little big to get the new bar in. I measured to ensure the bar would go back in the same place. This prefit kit had the right dimensions on the bar, but the side plate that was pre-welded was not perpendicular to the bar and caused clearance issue with the tank, the side plates were too big and had to be trimmed quite a bit, and the gas tank strap bracket was a bit crooked.
- frame patching
- more frame patching
Also cleaned the rust off the rest of the frame behind the cab. I used a combo of body grinder, pneumatic descaler, wire wheels. The last prep task was getting the spare down. The hoist mechanism has a secondary latch that will keep the tire from falling off if the primary fails. The problem with the secondary system is it gets rusty and will not release. I figured out how to release it and then spent a bit of time freeing up the mechanism.
After that it was time for paint. I used my air spray gun to apply Rustoleum primer followed up by gloss black. The primer left brown dust everywhere but cleaned up easily. The weather was nice when I put the color on so I had the garage door open, but that stuff is a lot stickier for longer and it made kind of a mess. I used old bed sheets on the hood and roof and I still found a bit of residue under them. It’s minor but it’ll take a bit of work to clean off.
For good measure I made some shields to keep stuff from accumulating in the frame.
Back half mechanicals:
Having the bed off makes working on the back half of the truck super easy. I took advantage of this to address several things
Brake hoses
These are 15 years old and I’m thinking as a work truck the last thing I’d want is to blow out an old brake hose carrying a load and trying to stop, so I replaced them. Working on the rear brake hoses from the top was so much easier. All the steel brake lines are coated and look great. The flare nuts on the rear were a bit rusty on the outside but they turned freely on the lines. I also changed out the front brake hoses. The flare nuts on those were seized to the line but I could just spin the brake hose to remove the old and install the new.
Rear differential cover
This thing was rusted so badly I was afraid to knock the scale off for fear it would leak, so I bought a new one with a gasket and bolt kit. The old bolts were rusted quite badly. Originally 13 mm, most came off with a 12 mm and one required a bit of grinding to make flat surfaces and that required a 7/16
- new diff cover and some other stuff with fresh paint
- it's locker from the factory!
Gas line
The fuel line has slide on connectors to the tank. Well one of the little metal tabs inside the line was broken so I got a replacement for that.
Taillights and wiring
There were only two bad bulbs, but the lights didn’t work right – this turned out to be several dirty connections – two bulb sockets and the wiring junction box in the back. After I opened the box I saw the new taillight housings had wiring harnesses and bulbs. Good thing too since the backup bulb socket was bigger on the replacements. The new lenses have black around the outside which makes them look much nicer than what was in there before.
The plug for trailer wiring turned out to be a dummy plug, with the factory wire plugged into the back of it. For like $15 I bought one and the factory wires plugged right into it. It seems so dumb that they run the wire back there but plug it into a dummy on the base model.
- dummy trailer plug
Spare tire lift mechanism
The tire is held up by a wire and a bracket. To lower you are supposed to be able to crank the thing down, but there is a secondary safety latch that gets stuck when it gets a little rusty. With the bed off it was easy to remove the lift mechanism and free it up. While I was looking at it I cleaned the rust off and painted it. Also put air in the spare and checked for leaks it seems to be holding.
Rear bumper
The bumper had been hit lightly, and the metal part that holds the trailer plug was rusted badly. There was enough I could make a template of the hole size and shape. I used that and some leftover stainless sheet to make a replacement. I also pounded out some of the dents in the bumper. Finally the plastic cover had a broken tab so I secured that with a stainless screw.
Putting it together
To install the bed I employed the hoist again, though this time I was careful in the bed not to scratch it up with the chains. I was able to set the bed on myself, just putting the two bolts closest to the cab in a little ways, then lift the back of the bed up just a bit to fit the bumper into the frame.
It took a bit of adjusting to get the frame and the back of the bed to line up OK. It’s not perfect but the casual observer will not notice. Then 8 bolts and the fuel filler neck were attached, and the taillights went in. I made some minor adjustments to the rear post where the light attaches on one side to get it to sit in there decent.
For the gate, I had to adjust the lower hinge point on the bed since they were 1/8” too close. Can’t recall if the game was hard to remove, or if I moved something as I was fixing things. This truck had been hit on the left side (can see 1/4 panel was replaced long ago, and there was a bit of bondo on the lower left corner of the gate that has since cracked). It is possible this was leftover from the accident. Also the tops of gate opening is slightly smaller than the bottom of the gate opening. I don’t care the gate works fine.
The finishing touch is a black Silverado emblem on the gate. I bought a pair for $16 and they came with a template to align the letters. After I installed the first one I saw the template was actually crooked. I ended up peeling off the letters and using emblem adhesive to get them installed in a straight line.
The end is in sight.
