Hi all, so I repaired the entire underbody of rusted 2005 4.6L V8 XLT F150 and wanted to install braces to avoid too much body rattling. However, I'm not sure how the braces I purchased are to be installed and if I even have the correct braces for my particular model. I can't find any pics or diagrams online for my specific model to see how the braces look when installed. Can anyone help? I have pics of one of the braces in the attachments.

 

Doesn’t your second pic show one already installed ?

sidenote/question: did you remove your box for the repairs you did? If so, can you describe any issues or tips on how the bed bolts came out and/or if you installed new ones ? Thanks

 

Hi, yes I had to remove the entire box. Actually one of the most difficult parts of the entire process was removing the old rusted bolts. First I had to cut circles around the liner covering the bolt heads. Then I had to get a T-50 torx to remove the bolts. Before that I soaked them with a penetrating oil through the head and under by the threads. I also then used a my torch lighter to keep some head on them before I tried removing. To remove I used a breaker bar for leverage and tapped the torx socket down into the top of the bolt head for a better more secure fit. And I slowly applied pressure to break each then I re-tightened the bolts a bit as I was removing so they would be sure to come out with ease. So loosen about 2 full turns then tighten down again one turn until I got to a point that it was easy to fully remove the bolts. However, 1 bolt in particular was completely seized up and broke 2 of my torx sockets. So had to get a high temperature torch from my neighbour to head that bolt, he then welded a large nut on top of the bolt head and then used breaker bar and large socket to fit the welded on but to remove that one. The bolts and locking washers were too rusty to reuse so I purchased a set from eBay with a alan heads and slowly screwed them in with a breaker bar and torque rachet so i could speed up the process. You just have to be careful to line up the holes properly and guide the gas tank tube through the hole in the box as you are bringing back in place to reinstall. I used a hoist and chains to remove it but used 6 guys to reinstall just cause it was faster. Let me know if you need any other info? Hope this helps!!