3rd gen bed side panel

[RedRum]

So heres where I am at. I got a pretty good dent on the driver's side of my bed, it even kinked the top of the rail. Body shop said it would be around $3k to fix. I found a take-off bed from a wrecked truck for $800, but the overall quality of the wrecked one is not nearly as good as the one I currently have (some rub marks, paint chips, etc) My original thought was to just suck it up and swap the beds out. Then I got to looking at the body shop quote, and thought about just swapping the bed side panels, and eventually getting that re-painted.

So to any of you that have done this, or are in the body shop business...how hard is it to drill out the spot welds? Any special tools needed, other than just drilling out the welds? Would I be ahead to just spend the $3k? Basically what I was thinking is that if I can get the sides off myself, then I would take it into the shop for paint/re-install. Any idea of cost when going this route? Trying to get the truck to look as perfect as I can, while saving the most money.

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2007 3500 QCLB, 5.9, ISSPRO, AFE Stage 2, AF1 intake horn, Smarty, SB 3600#, Straight Piped with 6" Mitres, 6" lift, Bilstein 5100s/dual steering stabs., trac bars 37" BFG M/Ts, CUMMINS FORUM STICKER!May 2009 ROTM-Thanks to James @ RSD for stepping up!
2006 3500 QC Bighorn, 6 speed, No silencer ring, B&W turnover, other than that, stock
"I Caught that diesel thing, now it stings when I pee"

[sledneck696]

Box sides are just time consuming........if you got time then go atter! Get yourself a couple real good spot weld drill bits and just figure out where all the spot welds are and start drilling away. Try and line each one up really well, so it will pull apart easier and only drill threw enough to get the first layer of sheet metal free. Once you have them drilled out use a hammer and some sort of putty knife and work your way around to start freeing it up. That will get you started

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2001 q-cab 4x4 sport 6 speed swap, 3600SB clutch, SB hydraulics, B1/B2 twins, Mach 7's, Edge juice w hot, fire rings, ARP's, Rips Boot Kit, airdog, BD short shift, Hurst shifter, Dipricol Optix boost gauges, subs, dvd, Fabtech 5.5" dual shock lift, dual shock steering stabilizer, 5" curved top stacks

[RedRum]

Thanks man. From the looks of it, threre are about a billion spot welds. Do I need a special 'spot-weld' drill bit or will the regular ones work. The welds are probably pretty hard.

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2007 3500 QCLB, 5.9, ISSPRO, AFE Stage 2, AF1 intake horn, Smarty, SB 3600#, Straight Piped with 6" Mitres, 6" lift, Bilstein 5100s/dual steering stabs., trac bars 37" BFG M/Ts, CUMMINS FORUM STICKER!May 2009 ROTM-Thanks to James @ RSD for stepping up!
2006 3500 QC Bighorn, 6 speed, No silencer ring, B&W turnover, other than that, stock
"I Caught that diesel thing, now it stings when I pee"

[sfd74]

They make a special drill bit which has 1/8 tip and then the rest is 7/16 ( i think). Basically, take some cleaner and wipe along where all the welds are and they will show up pretty good. Drill a 1/8 hole all the way through each weld, then follow up with the special bit but only going through the side that you dont want anymore, take a chisel and carefully seperate the two metals,once you have them seperated take a grinding disc and clean up the leftover welds on the good piece, paint with weld-thru primer (but do not spray over where the line of the old bedside met with the bed- you will use that line for mating up the new bedside) Once everything is mated- put your tail gate on to check your gaps and adjust accordingly. Weld away and then gring the welds to flatten. Spray with primer and then rubberized undercoating. Apply seam sealer to the inside where the new bedside meets the bed- Its sounds like alot to do but its not that bad- search in the internet and you should be good-

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2005 cr-3500 4x4, predator programmer-so far

[black Ram CTD]

I have done 3 3rd gen bedsides in the past month. you will be wasting your time trying to remove that bed side off the used bed without bending it or screwing it up somehow. They don't come off as easy as you think they would once you drill out all the spotwelds.They run a fat bead of glue allong the entire top of the bed rail about 1/4" thick. By the time your done getting that loose the bed side is a mess. If your going to go through all the BS of drilling the spotwelds just buy a new bed side and do it your self. It can be done in a day and I believe you can get the bed side for the same price your going to pay for the whole used bed. Hope this helps ya out

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BLACK 2004.5 QC SB 5" skyjacker with 1" spacer and 2" rear block 37" MTR's on Extream Alloy Wheels. Edge Juice. Fass 150, MBRP 4" Duels. Afe Stage II intake with Torque tube.

[RedRum]

Thanks for the input. Yeah I decided to go another route. I'm in the process of doing a little body work on the whole bed that I got from the junk yard. Gonna fix the dents myself (nothing too major), shoot a new coat of primer, paint, and clear and call it good. It'll be a fun little project. Forgot to take pictures of how the junk yard bed looked, before, but I will try and get some pictures as the project unfolds.

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2007 3500 QCLB, 5.9, ISSPRO, AFE Stage 2, AF1 intake horn, Smarty, SB 3600#, Straight Piped with 6" Mitres, 6" lift, Bilstein 5100s/dual steering stabs., trac bars 37" BFG M/Ts, CUMMINS FORUM STICKER!May 2009 ROTM-Thanks to James @ RSD for stepping up!
2006 3500 QC Bighorn, 6 speed, No silencer ring, B&W turnover, other than that, stock
"I Caught that diesel thing, now it stings when I pee"

[black Ram CTD]

Originally Posted by RedRum

Thanks for the input. Yeah I decided to go another route. I'm in the process of doing a little body work on the whole bed that I got from the junk yard. Gonna fix the dents myself (nothing too major), shoot a new coat of primer, paint, and clear and call it good. It'll be a fun little project. Forgot to take pictures of how the junk yard bed looked, before, but I will try and get some pictures as the project unfolds.

On another note, I have a buddy that lives out in Durango. We were just out there this past april to do a little Wheelin. What a beautiful place

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BLACK 2004.5 QC SB 5" skyjacker with 1" spacer and 2" rear block 37" MTR's on Extream Alloy Wheels. Edge Juice. Fass 150, MBRP 4" Duels. Afe Stage II intake with Torque tube.