Good Day All!
I have a question about bed bolts & would be grateful for your opinions.
The fuel pump on my 2000 Sierra 2500 Short Bed is deceased. The fuel tank straps are rusted and there are rusty brake and fuel lines to attend to. Some wiring is cracked & brittle. So, I decided to (try to) remove the bed.
(The previous owner didn't take too good care of my baby.)

I soaked the bed bolts in PB Blaster by reaching the extension into the square tubing. It sat for a few days, Six bolts came out, but two just spin. They are the driver side front and the second from rear on the passenger side. It seems that instead of nuts, there are round cylinders that are threaded inside. They are, or were, welded to the tubing.

I tried chuck wedges under the washers to jam the 'nuts' from spinning to no avail. The bed sides prevent me from sending a bar or screwdriver into the square tubing. I looked in the tube with my brother's colonoscopy camera (don't ask!). I can see that the two trouble makers broke free of the tubing & are free spinning.

I have resigned myself to cut the bolt heads off tomorrow. But, after my repairs are completed, how important are these two bolts? Can I safely skip them?

If not, my options are-
Flip the bed and weld rod couplers where the 'nuts' were, then cut them off flush.
This assumes I can flip the bed alone.
Try to find good metal to drill & tap, using only the square tubing as the 'nut'.
Use large toggle bolts into the tubing through the old holes after the bed in in place.
Drill through the bed & put nuts and long bolts (last resort).

Do any of these options make sense or should I skip the two bolts?
Also, what do you all think about using anti-seize on all the bolts to stop rust and add lock washers to prevent shake-out?

Thanks for your ideas!
Enjoy Today!
Paul

 

You have all very valid ideas and thoughts about it, but if it were me personally, I would try my hardest to get a torch up there and shop the tops of the bolts off before I get too extreme. If this cannot be done, I would take a cut off wheel to the top of the bed and carefully make a flap above where the suspect bolt is. Then tend to the bolts. Once they are removed, I would put a good grade 8/10.9 bolt back in there, and weld it back to the box so that the nut stays just like the factory one would. Clean and paint the area, fold the flap back over, weld it back into place, paint again. Then just for kicks, shoot rubberized undercoating into the bed rail tube that you just worked on, so that everything that you just messed with wont rust out any more.

That's the "fix it right" way, if you were to ask me. Your other alternative, is to get a good size high strength J-nut from a hardware store, and once you've removed your old nut and rusted fastener, just throw that J-nut into the old hole and call it a day. If it spins because the hole is round, put a tack weld on it and paint it.

But if you're asking me if those bolts are important to replace - yes absolutely. The 6-8 bolts that hold that huge bed on seems like every singe one of them are necessary. I personally wouldn't trust the bed if those bolts weren't there.

Also you'll definitely need at least 3 people to move the bed off of the truck and flip it without bending the fenders and lower edges of it.

 

Thank You NullHead for your thoughts.
Last night it was bothering me to skip the two bolts with loose nuts. GM must have them there for a reason.

Great idea to cut the flaps!
If I had a bed liner (which I recently gave away- Oops), your idea would be today's jackpot! The liner would hide my Captain Clump welding skills.

I still may do your flap plan- liner or no liner.
With your flaps, I could easily then grab the round nut with vise grip style pliers to hold it still while turning the ratchet. The bonus is that I can then use plain old nuts & bolts, removing the tack welds for access next time. Or, weld new nuts on the channel from the top. (I assume there will be a next time for the fuel pump. I understand they don't last too long. I also found out that the external strainer is no longer included with the pump assemblies, perhaps hastening the failure.)

First I'll try to chop the heads off of the offending bolts, perhaps starting with a reciprocating saw or angle grinder. They are loose enough to get a long & flexible blade under the head. One's next to the fuel fill hose, so the torch makes me uncomfortable.

Once the bed is off, I should be able to extract the pieces from the end of the channel.
Then, with the bed still off, I'll look into J-Nuts first. I think (but am not sure) that is what holds some Ford beds on.

Thanks, too, for your idea of undercoating. If I have a brain, I should shoot all the rails where they meet the frame with it. There's a bunch-o-rust under my truck.

Does the plan of using anti seize with lock washers sound OK, or do you think the bolts will shake loose while driving?

Thanks Again & Thanks for the reminder to put ALL the bolts back in!
Paul

 

The way I see it, if you have access to a welder and an angle grinder, you have both of the tools necessary to both create a nasty looking weld, and a grinder to fix the nasty looking weld down so that it looks good and flat with the rest of the bed! Just weld it up, and grind it smooth. I really wouldn't worry about appearances because like I said, just grind them smooth again when you're done and apply some sort of primer/paint to seal it up.

Either which way you do it, I'm sure it'll turn out good for ya

By the way, you still have a fuel strainer on the new pump, it's just inside the plastic housing. I'm guessing they started doing that because people weren't changing out the old strainers, or they weren't putting them back on or something like that. Anywho, I'd always install a good GM pump. If you're going to go through the work, might as well put in a good pump and save yourself some work.

 

Thank You again NullHead for taking the time to share your knowledge!

I have the two bolts out. Your idea saved the day. I've written what I did below in case someone else gets in the same situation.

For the two troublemakers...
The one on the passenger side (second one from the rear), since it is in a small pocket created by the bracket, I was only able to get a Dremel tool with a cutoff disc. The diameter is too small to get through the bolt, so I cut as far as I could and used chuck wedges under the washers to put pressure on the nut by forcing it downwards. The nut gripped & the bolt then snapped off.
In actuality, I could have torched it off safely.

The one on the driver side (front most) was in a large pocket. I tried a reciprocating saw with various blades, even cobalt and grit blade for cast iron. Good bye blades!

The front one made me nervous to torch. The fuel stuff is too close for my amateur skills. And, there is a plastic component bolted to the side of the bracket.

I went with your access-flap idea, but ended up not needing a full flap (by pure luck).
The bed has what I'll call upper and lower channels (the ribs & valleys?). The bolt is exactly under the vertical side wall of the upper channel. Not under the upper, not under the lower. Under the dog-gone wall.

The valley on the outboard side of the bolt is wider than the next one inboard. So I used the drain hole in the lower as a pilot to cut a round hole. (I have a 2-7/8 hole saw for 2-1/2" conduit knockouts.) My plan was to make your flap, using the hole as a starting point. But, before I made the flap, I tried to wedge the 'nut' with various chisels, step blocks & the like. Needle nose vise grips slipped off. It was too round to grip.

I ended up using a flex shaft grinder with a cobalt burr that I bought at an estate sale last year. It was from a metal sculptor's tool kit. (Best $5.00 I ever spent) Reaching in at an angle from the hole in the bed, I ground a vertical flat in the nut. Now I was able to get needle nose vise grip style pliers to grip the nut & then I unscrewed the bolt like normal.
I cut too far, so I'll replace the nut. It is weak now.

With the bed off, I'll tend to the nut replacement job. I suppose I'll burn out the nuts and either weld in new ones from below or use your J-Nut idea.

To patch the bed my options are to
A) Snap a knockout seal into the hole, after painting the raw metal & be done. Or
B) Weld the slug back in, re-drill the drain hole and make an invisible repair.
I like Plan B (Do it right)

I will take your advice and use Delco or Delphi pump. I think I understood correctly that they are both made by the same company. If not, Delco will go in.

I was surprised to find a 1-connector TCU pump (No evaporative emissions connector). My brother has the same truck (same year, too) & he has a TCF (2 connector) pump. Goofy, huh?

I do have two more questions, if you don't mind them-
What is the plastic component on the side of the driver side front bed hold down bracket?
I'm just curious. I could not figure it out by looking at parts diagrams.
Are Delco & Delphi both good pumps or should I use only Delco?

Thanks Again for helping. I learned a lot!
Next = Tending to 'rusty everything' under the bed. Easy access now!
Enjoy Today!
Paul

 

I'm not quite sure exactly what it is that you're talking about, this "plastic thing". From what I know, in that area, there is a cab vent, possibly EVAP vent valve breather, filler neck .. un I don't even know. A picture would probably help.

And as far as I know, Delphi and AC Delco are not the same pumps ... I don't have proof of this, but all I know is when I go ask the parts guys at work (I work at a GM dealer), they always give me an AC Delco pump as an "O.E" replacement, and O'Reilly's always offers a Delphi pump ..

So what the heck does that mean? Beats me, Delphi makes parts for GM ... and AC Delco is GM's "after O.E" parts brand. Meaning, you can get direct off the assembly line parts, "O.E" parts, and then you can get "AC Delco" parts, which are continuously manufactured for who knows how long.

 

Thank You Again NullHead for sticking with me & my bazillion questions!

I attached two photos, crummy as they are, of the mystery part. It's no big deal, I'm just curious & trying to learn as much as I can while I have this great bed-off access. There's a paper tag on it that I could not read. (My eyes are showing their age!)

Thanks for the words about the differences between the pumps. I pulled my old pump today to be sure I am matching up a correct one (I'll get a GM pump on your advice). My bad one is a Delphi.

There does seem to be a difference between the construction of the Delphi & the Delco
One of my brothers gave me a used pump from his same year, almost identical truck. (His is the TCF & mine is the TCU). His is AC Delco, mine is Delphi. There are many visible construction differences ranging from the number of springs, the body of the pump and even the weight. His Delco looks to me to be a much more robust piece of equipment & certainly is heavier (Maybe a heavier motor?). It also has an external and an internal strainer. My delphi has only an internal strainer.

He said he averages about 70,000 miles from Delco pumps on his truck. He had the last one changed when he had to have the tank cleaned out from junk clogging the intake screen. The pump was still good. (A bit too much 6 & Livernois gas? I saw you're from Detroit, so you'll know what I'm talking about- Yuck Yuck!)

Thanks Again!
Paul

 

I think that's the vent valve, which is a part of your evaporative emissions system.

 

Thank You NullHead!
I learned something new today thanks to your reply. So if I ever get the code, I'll know where to look. I'm having a great time looking around under the truck finding & (trying to) identifying parts & components. I took lots of photos to archive, too.

Today's quest is to find out what the tube is that goes from the rear differential to the fuel filler neck. I thought it was a vent, but it has a cap on it that looks shrunk fit. Maybe it is a one-way valve cap. If it stops raining, I'll take a better look. (And weld in new nuts for the broken bed bolts.)

I learned something new about fuel pumps yesterday from a Delphi engineer & a guy at AC Delco. They both said that the truck came off the assembly line with a Delphi fuel pump. (GM was still proud owner of Delphi when my truck was built.) The Delco guy said that Delco parts, including pumps, are now all made by different suppliers. The supplier may vary from pump to pump and from time to time. But all MUST meet the original GM specifications. I would guess they are still fine pumps or dealers would contact them about come-backs.

The Delphi person said the pump we can buy now is not exactly the same as the factory one. There have been changes over the years. Improvements, I'd assume. So I'm pretty comfortable buying either pump. Locally, they are expensive so I'll order from Rock Auto. They've always been good when I buy stuff.

If nothing else, I am learning quite a bit.

Enjoy Today!
Paul

 

That tube is the breather vent for the differential to allow air to escape. It's for condensation type stuff that forms in there and makes your gear dope get all gooey and get while floater type gunk on top of it. Ever leave an oil pan out in the rain? That's what happens when condensation stays inside your differential. So that's breather cap, and it's by your filler neck so that it doesn't go underwater every time you go through a decent puddle :P

Interesting about the pump. I honestly didn't know. All I know, is stay away from the cheap aftermarket alternatives. I'd go GM, or Delphi at this point. Sounds like Delphi's pumps are at least GM's O.E spec.