after market bed sides

[Jarhead79]

Ok next question, I am thinking of redoing my bed floor, and both bedsides, I know oem is best but who has used aftermarket bed floor and bedsides? Mine are ok but have had a ton of work is one to them like patch panels and square doors patched in and really needs a complete sanding and filler work, for the price of after market it may be easier to do that than redo the old bedsides again. So who supports the bedsides route and do you know the best place to get them? I have a localbplace I can get all of it from, it's where my tail gate came from!

 

[smoothandlow84]

It was gonna be close to $1000 going through LMC or the like to just to replace the floor of my shortbed. I opted instead to cover the entire floor with 14 gauge sheet steel instead. Made some patterns with heavy paper, and went to work cutting the steel. I ended up having the entire inside of the bed spray lined. It seemed that every donor bed I found had either roached sides and a nice floor, or a roached floor and nice sides. I opted for the nice sides, since bodywork on panels is far easier then the floor. Replacing the floor is a bitch and requires the entire bed to be disassembled. I went the easier, cleaner route. Everything else on my square has been smoothed out...so why not smooth the bed floor too.

Sometimes its easier to think outside the box...no pun intended.

Of course, you could accomplish the same, minus the tunnel for my rear 4 link setup. Just a thought....

 

[Jarhead79]

I have thought of the sheet metal floor yes, probably way cheaper than a stock floor. Biggest problem is finding someone around here that can do the fab work, I don't have the skills for it myself. Biggest concern I have now is whether or not to redo my bedsides or replace them with repop sides. Either way I have to do body work but wondering just how fitment is on after market. Was hoping someone has done new bedsides. The old ones can be fixed sure enough after I block them and redo some of the body work. So to me it's just a matter of fenders full of mud vs spending extra cash to replace the sides then do minor filling work

 

[Jrgunn5150]

Honestly, for the cost, if you can't do it yourself, you're better off to do a good used box.

I was quoted, year's ago, 1500 for a set of bedsides installed and primed. I bought a welder lol.

 

[Georgeb]

I bought a complete aftermarket bed for my Dads F-150. It wasnt bad but you could tell it was aftermarket. It wasn't made with the tolerances a factory bed was and it showed in some spots like the corners. I don't recall doing a lot of blocking to get it looking decent for a black truck. It really boils down to money and your skills and available time.

 

[smoothandlow84]

X2 aftermarket fenders never line up the same as oem...nor are they the same thickness and overall quality. It would be best to source a complete oem bed, even if all you can use are the sides, or bottom. As far as the sheet steel cut out for the bed floor, all you need is a cutoff wheel, grinder and some heavy paper and scissors to create a template. Believe me...the spray in bedliner covered a lot of the imperfections in mine. All of the edges were sealed prior to the liner being applied. You'll never learn how to do something if you never try. Don't be afraid to make mistakes...that's how I learned to fabricate. The steel sheet for my bed floor was $60...bedliner $325. Far less than buying the floor from lmc and time spent hacking apart the bed to install it.