All the OCDs went out to measure their trucks. Ha ha. And yes, I did too. Bed is perfectly fine; just 1/16" difference. And same with the bumper. Unnoticeable. What needed adjustment was my freaking hood; it took an absurd amount of force to close. Went all the way up on the bracket, but was closing too easy, so ended up about halfway, and now it closes with moderate force, like it should. My truck was built in Dearborn as well.

 

LMAO on that! OCD's scrambling! I'm pondering what to do about my bed......go to the dealership to try to get them to fix it, fix it myself which would mean it'd be done correctly, try to ignore it.........yeah that's not gonna happen bc it's driving me crazy already. The only thing giving me pause to do it myself is that I have the OEM sprayed bedliner and since they sprayed over the bed bolts it's gonna be kind of a pain to deal with that. The more I think about it the more aggravated I'm becoming. UGH
Anyone have any experiences with getting something like this fixed by the dealership? Or are they going to act like I'm crazy?

 

I have an answer for all these issues. When I first got the 01 SCREW, me and the MRS went on what we called the NAFTA tour. Started in Organ Pipe literally at the southern border and finished at the Canadian border near Glacier. Did a total of about 700 miles of it off road and the trip took over three weeks. Any concerns over minor paint flaws or body alignment imperfections became a non-issue for the following 18 years of ownership.

 

I feel your pain brother. Ha ha. You know, I can guarantee you any dealer will f*** up something. For people like us, if you want it done right, you have to do it yourself. I've given countless dealers the benefit of the doubt, and 100% of the time have been let down. The most aggravating excuse, used most of the times, was 'it was like that already. We didn't do anything'. That pisses me off to no end. If at least they owned it, I'd be less pissed off. So learned my multiple lessons the hard way. Therefore, you only have 2 realistic options: leave it alone (I'm getting better at that now that I'm 56. Ha ha), or do it yourself. If you go that route, I don't know if the bed bolts have nuts or you absolutely have to use the bolts on top of the bed. If you absolutely have to use the bolts, I'd first find a suitable 'touch-up' replacement first (plasti-dip, etc), spray it on a piece of cardboard, and determine if the repair would look good enough for you. If yes, then proceed to adjust. Should be piece of cake once bolts are a little loose. Find out the correct torque beforehand too. If it's not obvious from the distance, I'd probably leave the bed alone for now, until you get your new truck more banged up. Ha ha. Good luck brother. Keep us posted what you decided.

 

While you're out there, check the rear wheels are equally spaced to the outside of the wheel opening.

 

 

You are correct. I'm 59 and found out a long time ago that if you want it done right, you have to do it yourself. So, I'm just going to fix it myself so it's done right. After looking at everything closely, my bumper lines up with the bed perfectly and since the bumper is a fixed point to the frame it's obvious that the bed is askew at the front a tad. This should be a somewhat easy fix as I have all of the necessary tools and skill.

 

I still have my 1999 Lariat and everything fit perfectly new and still does. Hopefully my 2018 will be as good of a truck as my 99 has been.

 

Your Bumper will adjust also, but FWIW I told my dealership that I purchased it from the bed was not aligned with the cab and they said they get a lot of that and just to bring it buy and they will correct it. So when I went by on Saturday for my free oil change they also corrected the bed to cab AND in doing so they realigned the bumper to the bed, took them about 45 min. I did not measure anything (and I am not going to since it is only looks that are concerning, if is looks straight then it is. It is amazing though that Ford cannot get a handle on installing a bed and/or bumper correctly.

 

I could be mistaken, but I seem to recall that the bed bolts are a one-time use item. Once loosened or removed, they are supposed to be replaced. Anybody else recall this?