demartino17

Have any of you guys used these? I see a few threads on them but looking for first hand experience on fit and finish?
http://www.jcwhitney.com/replacement...911y1995g128j1

ToddS

LMC Truck has the same panel for $40. I have not used either yet but I'm planning to get from LMC.

demartino17

i was wondering if they are worth it plus the labor to patch in, or if it'd be better to just buy a bed in good shape and paint it.

ToddS

Are you paying to have it done? How bad is your truck now? you probably need the inner panel as well which supports the bed side.

cutting and welding is going to be pretty straight forward, then get some color match paint and it's going to be good to go for years.

Beds around here are about $1000 or more.

inner wheel arch is part # 49-8747 from lmc $60

demartino17

Thats it now, both sides equally bad.

Beds can be had for 2 or 300 here in good shape

mmb617

I bought both side for my truck from these guys:

http://www.fixmyrust.com/Item/1987-1...ch_Driver_Side

I don't know how they can sell them that cheap. They are advertised as OEM gauge metal and were indeed quite heavy, and came with a nice black finish on them. They were much better than I expected them to be.

There is of course a fair amount of work involved cutting the old out, welding the new in and finishing them up. As a retired guy I had the time so saving money was more important to me.

If you can buy a good replacement bed for 2 or 3 hundred, that would be less work I'd think. Around here you won't ever find a good used bed for that money.

Chris_1

iTrader: (1)

Rust has a way of always coming back. If you can get a rust free bed for 300, that's the way to go.

melmitts707

I replaced both sides of my 1996 F150 six months ago using the LMC parts. The process was quite painless and everything matched up quite well. The overall quality of the parts is average or a little better as far as aftermarket goes...

94FordI6

I had my neighbour weld in a patch panel on my bed side then I did the body work. Since the box is such a long flat surface it's hard to hide it. You can see roughly where the box side was patched in and 5 years later now the bondo has cracked. If it's not gunna be a show truck and you want to cheap out weld in the panel, but if you want a nice straight bed just get a rust free one and keep the salt away from it.

choate

Let us know how it turns out. Right now I'm rust free but I do have to drive it in winter sometimes if I need a 4x4