Well, I got my paws on a '17 F150XL 4WD, 5L, 6-speed tranny, with 68K on it. The only real point of contention is where someone prior failed to secure a load properly and the laws of inertia took over. The front of the truck bed (at the floor) took the brunt of the impact and it has pulled away from the bed itself. While there is still clearance up top, it almost touches the cab at the bottom of said panel. In random web searches, I am gathering instead of drilling a hole, bracing, and pulling to the rear, that bed removal and beating may be the most viable option. Most of the search results that I came across are instances of front panels bent at the top/middle just not where this owie knot happened.
I just don't want water having direct access to the frame in that way. This is a part-time vehicle for procuring building materials or hunting. Are there any more experienced recommendations regarding a fix? Any prior experience?
TIA

 

If I were to do it, I would remove the bed. I don't think that it would be more involved than removing the bolts, fuel filler tube and some wiring which should be minimal (tail lights maybe a camera...). A gantry crane or a few friends would then do the trick.

Now, that being said; frames usually rust from the inside out from debris accumulation holding water. If you are worried about your frame, try to clean it inside, make sure draining holes are not plugged and use a rust encapsulator of some sort inside and out. The frame is exposed between the cab and the bed anyways.

So, in short, I would likely not fix it. I would condition the frame though, living in the salt belt it is a must.

 

My last truck was an F-150 Heritage and the bed rusted out bad so I replaced it with one from Texas that was rust free. Brought it home on my utility trailer and used my homemade gantry crane to remove the original bed and set the new one, all by myself.
Four 4" X 4" eight foot long were the legs and a 10 footer was the connection bar. Used a 0ne ton chain fall and had no problem making the switch. Jim.