1995 f150. bed needs body work done. I am trying to do it as good as possible. I do not have all the fancy tools a shop would. I know it will be a lot of work but It needs to be done. I work 12 hours a day so it will take a while. what is the easiest/fastest/cheapest way to get it done? any tips? Thanks ahead of time!!! *also, I need to replace my a/c compressor. anyone know where the cheapest kit would be?

 

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With dents, there really isn't a cheap and easy way. You will need a dent puller, either one that welds studs or one that screws into the metal. Once you got the bulk of the dents fixed, sand down the affected areas, slap some bondo on there, prime and paint match it. Really the only thing you can do without cutting, grinding and welding new panels on and paint the entire bedside.

As for the A/C, how do you know the compressor needs replacing? Is it seized or do you just not have any A/C at all? Put a socket and wrench and see if the compressor turns. If you do have replacing the compressor, you need to evacuate the system and either get a new or used compressor. New O-rings are strongly recommended so you won't have a leak.

Fill the new compressor with oil if it comes dry or fill the used one with fresh oil and bolt it in place. Then you will need to flush out the system and use a vacuum pump to get the moisture out. Once that is done you can fill it with refrigerant and you're set. If you want the A/C to work properly, there is no really cheap easy method to do so.

 

On dents that you can get to the back side of you can use a good old hammer / dolly set to beat out. Takes a lot of time. Otherwise what ^^^^ he said. Use the least amount of bondo as possible, the more you use the crappier the end product is. On a lighter note, I wish my bed looked like that, dents are much better than rust in my book!!

 

For the bed rails and tail gate you could do something like this. A previous owner of my truck put diamond plate on (no idea if it was purchased or fabricated). Those are two areas that are going to get beat all to hell if you actually work with the truck, no reason to fix the dents just to make more, you could cover them. I love mine, I abuse the hell out of it working around the yard and that plate protects a lot!

 

I love that idea with the tailgate and sides. I planned on doing it but I wasn't sure if any of the dents are too big and would end up showing through the ends of the metal. I don't see any way to get behind the dents to hit them out, I have tried but have failed. any suggestions?

 

saw the same thing today at a gas station in Chattanooga. asked where the guy got it, he said it was on it when he bought the truck. just my luck.

 

deezee makes them

part# DZ4131

 

for the dents, i heard there was some odd involving dry ice on a hot day. a big factor in this method is how big the dents are. other than that, you are screwed.

for those wheel wells, there are few different directions you could go, you could pound them out, you could drive it as it is (at least it ain't rust), or you could replace the bed (which is expensive, labor intensive, hard to get the correct color, however would take care of the dents).

 

hell, the paint isn't good. I did this paint job when I was 15 for the previous owner but now its worn from 3 years of work. it was a rustoleum paint job. about $100. I think I will try to use bondo or get another bed then paint the whole thing again. woop woop. ive got my work cut out for me.