Truck Bed Repair

[ehmcfarl]

I am going to pull my Reese hitch and replace it with a Super Glide. Since there is probably no way the 1/2 inch holes used to mount the Reese hitch would match up with the Super Glide hitch holes, this means I will have 10 holes in my truck bed and bed liner. Does anybody know of an easy way to patch these holes?

Buddy

[stiles watson]

I wonder if there aren't some body "buttons" made of plastic that will fit unassigned holes?

[mgdg]

Try going to one of the Car dealerships and ask if they have a rubber plug that fits the size hole in the truck bed. They look like an upside down hat _/ \_ We had them in many sizes in the plant, they are black in colour and work great and lok nice.

[richfaa]

When I traded in my 05 and took out the hitch for installation in the 08, The hitch installer just used the bolts from the hitch to fill the holes and ordered a new set for the new installation.They covered them with the same stuff as the bedliner and you could barely tell there was a bolt there.

[Waynem]

Leave the holes. Water drains faster.

[ehmcfarl]

Hey Wayne, is that "drains in" or "drains out"? I like the idea of just putting the bolts back in the holes. Snug them up with a rubber washer against the bottom of the bed and it should be water tight. I have a lay in bed liner so when you snug the bolt up just a little it would collapse the bed liner just enough to recess the carriage bolt head. A little black paint on top of the bolt head and it would disappear against the bed liner. Geeez, sometimes the simple solutions are the ones we just don't think of first. Thanks Rich.

Buddy

[Waynem]

Buddy,
If you are in water up to your bed, you either need to get out of the house, or drive in shallower water.

Also, use some undercoating on the underside of those bolts to keep them from rusting. Use Machine Head bolts so the bed side will not have any square (octagon) protrusions for items to bang against when you are loading the bed. They'll slide right over a round machine head. You can even buy some of that spray bed liner to cover them up with.

I still think you need to let the beer cooler drain through the holes.

[richfaa]

Wayne is correct about the round bolt heads and rust protection on the under side.

[Waynem]

And not the beer cooler drain??!!?? Come on!

[ehmcfarl]

What would you use, just a spray can of undercoating? Good idea, I had better spray the new bracket bolts also. Hey Wayne, I just had a better idea. Why not replace one of the bolts with a radiator drain, that way I could use the whole bed as a beer cooler... and drain off the water as the ice melts. That cool water could be used in the radiator too when ole Betsy runs hot out in the mountains.

Buddy

[richfaa]

A of that undercoat stuff will do just fine..I did that on the new installation on my 08 Ford. The beer drain hole are not a bad idea.. In our MUCH younger days we would go to the Practice runs and time trials at The Indy Speedway in May (The snake pits)..Fill up the back of the Pick um up with beer and Ice so we would not dehydrate in the hot sun and by the end of the day the bed was full of water..

[HughM]

Naw....You guys have got it all wrong. Fill all the holes but one. Use the last hole for a radiator drain. Now fill the bed with hot water (I'm in it all the time at my house) ...fill it with hot water...Ah La...Instant Hot Tub.
Hugh

[Waynem]

Buddy,
If Betsy runs hot, you might need to take advantage of that! It might be your only chance.

AND I'M NOT SAYING ANOTHER WORD!!