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How to remove a bed?


Eric

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Is there a picture available with all bed mounting points and how to undo them?

i need to take of a bed from a 620 but its on a location where i don't have a lot of tools available so i'd like to come prepared and have the right tools with me.

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I will tell you this... the bolt heads have an eccentric tab that spins and locks into position so the nut can be tightened. Add 40 years of rust so the nut won't come loose and the bolt head will over power this tab bending it out of the way and starts spinning. Good luck removing it now. Spray down the nut and the bolt threads with a loosening agent and let sit. Or heat with a torch because once it starts spinning the only way to remove it is to cut the nut off with a torch.

 

There are 8 mounting bolt points with 6 on raised sections on the outsides of the frame. The 2 remaining ones are at the very rear and directly through the frame itself. Pretty obvious really.

 

Don't forget to disconnect the filler pipe if '78 or '79 as the fuel tank mounts on the frame. Before '78 the tank is on the box so undo the fuel lines.

 

The rear lighting harness has a round 6 wire plug at or near the right tail lights. There will also be a black ground wire to the frame somewhere  near the license plate.

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I will be watching this thread as I need to do the same. My problem isn't having the correct tools, it is space and weather. I could be working on it now, but it is windy out there and blowing the rain and cold clear through. I grew up working in the raspberries rain or shine, cold or warm (usually in the winter so you know what I dealt with), so now I'm a pansy when it comes to cold and rain.

 

I spent just a little bit of time looking things over and it looks like either 17 or 19mm box wrenches and sockets for the 6 or 8 bolts that hold the bed to the frame. There is also the electrical wiring to deal with, and the gas tank and lines also. I don't know for sure, but I'm guessing that a phillips screwdriver,  flat screwdriver (or two for prying the gas filler off), and maybe a pair of wire cutters and/or pliers. If it is an early 620 the gas tank will be bolted to the bed and I think it is with 10mm bolts (maybe 12mm).

 

Most of this is guess work as I was getting cold and didn't take very much time looking things over, but it will be a start.

 

ps---DM is faster at typing and beat me while I was hunt and pecking.

Edited by 620slodat
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6 hours ago, datzenmike said:

 Only the nuts are accessible. Could be that large. I know you can't snap them off.

As DM said, only the nuts for the 6 or 8 bolts holding the bed to the frame are visible from under the vehicle. I'm not sure about access to the top side of the bolts as I didn't check. I didn't have anything with me to measure the size, so I just guessed at it. I'm not used to metric sizing as my whole life I worked with inch sizing instead. The nuts were somewhere close to 11/16ths inch.

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The nuts are 17mm for the bed. Do NOT use your finger to try to hold the spinning bolt tab down. It hurts.....ask me how I know ??‍♂️

tnfM9sx.jpg

The fuel tank is held on by ~8 12mm

 

as said before, penetrating oil/heat are your best bets getting them removed. 

Edited by Ben_upde
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Sounds like this truck is out in the back fields where you aren't going to have access to tools other than what you bring. Battery powered wrench and an assortment of sockets. Some penetrating oil. Maybe a BIG propane torch. Definitely take one of those roll up things for under a sleeping bag to lay on in the cold. An inch of cardboard is also excellent

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I don't know a lot about the 620, I do know about the 520/521, and what I have learned is that if the nuts/bolts are rusty, instead of trying to loosen them I tighten them till they break, it is a lot easier than trying to get them off.

I also always have vice grips with me along with a hack saw, I also carry an electric/cordless angle head grinder with cutting discs if my goal is to remove a bed.

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1 hour ago, Ben_upde said:

The nuts are 17mm for the bed. Do NOT use your finger to try to hold the spinning bolt tab down. It hurts.....ask me how I know ??‍♂️

tnfM9sx.jpg

The fuel tank is held on by ~8 12mm

 

as said before, penetrating oil/heat are your best bets getting them removed. 

 

And don't use an impact gun on the nut and reach up there to feel if what you think is a nut is spinning. Yup... Ben, my lapse of judgement went way worse than yours. 

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wayno the heads of the 620 bolts have a metal tab that turns when tightening or loosening and jams against the slot they are in and this holds them from turning any further. The trouble is if the nuts are too tight to turn and you force it this tab will fold up out of the way and the bolt just spins. You can't easily get at them. Maybe stuff a tire iron in there so it jams again, but it's usually short lived.

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Knowing this information is real good. Fortunately I have a cutting torch just a few feet away if needed, or a side grinder available close by also. I plan to get the gas tank out of there anyway, so I will need to do that first.

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Heat with torch and quench with WD40 and let it sit until cool. Then try breaking them free with a rattle gun. Careful not to burn the rubber isolators (if there are any).

 

What Mike said about pre-spray is a good idea too., If you know you're going to do the job next week, start spraying now.

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These were another case where ease of assembly completely trumped any serviceability down the road.  It's been a while, but I think that I used one of those big, square shanked flathead screwdrivers to jam the ones that spun, which were all but one or two.

Welding a bit of slightly thicker flatbar on them to reinstall saves trying to scrounge up replacement bolts, if they survive removal.

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I have pulled several 620 beds over the tears and have found the best way to remove the bolts is with either a cutting torch or a grinder with cutting discs.  The little tabs mike talks about are a royal pain in the ass 40 years later.  Spray them with a lubricant, try tightening the nuts first, spray again and try loosening them.  Some may loosen the ones that do not cut.

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