Bed bolts replacement

2009 and the bed bolts (6) had major rust and flacking under my Tacoma bed mat so I pulled them out today. Cost about $10 each online OEM part # 64189-0C011 and head is T-55 star if you can get ahold of it. For the worst one the bolt head hole was a mess and the T-55 was loose/stripping so I used my Harbor Freight cutoff wheel to make 2 flat sides and then used a large pipe wrench and out it came a half turn at a time with major torque applied. The bolts are threaded in at least an 1" and you have about 0.25 inch hanging out below the frame nut that is really a rusted mess to get past. I used rust remover to clean around the holes and a screw driver to ream the major rust crap out of the metal insert in the bed followed by penetrating oil in the nut. Anti-seize was applied to the new bolts and they easily screwed back in. A pain but looks good now and no dripping rust anymore.

 

Nice work. How does the rest of the truck look?

 

Way easier to just weld a 3/4" nut on the top of it and take it off with a 1/2" impact, for future reference

 

Will the heat from welding melt the bed plastic?

 

Nope, it didn't on mine and I welded the nut all the way around in one bead without stopping, too. If you were worried, tho, you could weld a small bead, let it cool, weld some more, let it cool, etc.. but like I said, didn't do a thing to mine. I hit the nut with an air gun to knock the dust off, soaked it in PB blast overnight, welded a nut onto it and zipped it right off. And mine has been a farm truck for 7 years, so it was real boogered up and rusted.

 

Rest of truck. Painting the hood and roof today. Sanded all the peeling clearcoat off and primed last week so will post pics of that in a painting thread after.
As for welding a nut on great idea but no welder so this was tools at hand. Pulled my shell off too to reseal the front and will post pics of the front seal and Tacoma open seam that allows most to leak thru later also.

 

Bed bolts on my 2008 are rusty too, and I've thought about trying to clean off the rust and treat them with some type of anti-rust coating. Think I'll just replace them now...

 

Considering the cost vs time it'd take to properly sand/prime/paint, you're better off just replacing.

 

Any suggestions for a preventative rust treatment for the new bolts above the threads? I'll probably use anti-seize on the threads too.

 

I painted mine the color of my truck when I installed the d-rings a long time ago. I'm sure it helped delay some rust. But considering our trucks are 12 years old, you could probably leave them bare and not have to change them again until 2030.

 

15 years of browsing car forums online and I've come to the conclusion that part of getting a welding machine is from that point on assuming that EVERYBODY ELSE has a welding machine too.

 

I made sure to apply anti-seize when I did my body lift with the new hardware.

 

Curiosity got the best of me. I wanted to see how bad mine were and this is one of the rear ones.... Looks like I pulled something off a ship wreck lol

 

I was going to pull mine this weekend but don't have a T-55. I'll have to pick one up.
My bolts aren't rusty on the top but they probably are underneath. I'll be a little proactive on this one and grease them up well before reinstalling.
On another note, this is a good thing to do with the skid plate bolts too. I replaced mine with grade 8 bolts a while back and grease them every time I remove them. This is one of the best mods I've done yet.

 

Dude. This looks like one of the pictures the dentist would show me as a kid to get me to brush my teeth. It worked!

 

FYI: The new bolts have the washer captured on top with 0.5" of thread so not sure how to put D-rings on them as had installed them on previous factory bolts that allowed the washer to come off. For the front I drilled holes about an inch above the bed bolt on the side and mounted them there and bed is a plastic reinforced mesh - while not as good as under the bed bolt its to keep my bed tool box from sliding around only.

 

You have to cut off that washer. Thats how all the factory bed bolts are. I remember doing it to the stock ones. Just take a dremel to it.

 

While you are there , might as well check your bed mounts and take care of that nasty clunk
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/tacoma-loose-bed-design-flaw-explanation.388873/

 

Aye the only reason I took mine out in the first place is I took all the tools and boxes out of my bed (my bed stays 90% full all the time, crossover box / air compressor / 36" Montezuma box) and noticed a thumping noise. I never really noticed it - or rather, I had thought it was some of my junk bouncing around.

Turns out my bed had been rubbing against the frame so long it had worn down about half an inch. I had a thick piece of rubber off my combine, i drilled a hole in it just big enough for the bushing to fit in, slid it between the bed and the frame, and installed the new bed bolt after having to weld a nut on the old one to remove it. All good to go now. If you don't do a lot of driving off road it prob won't be bad, but my truck lives off road.

 

I smear rtv silicone in the threads before i screw it back in. Keeps loose rusted threads from vibrating on each other and keeps moisture out. Stays in there until you remove it and keeps parts from seizing up together.