Hello everyone,

First time posting here, love to see how helpful people have been in replies to other posts.

A few years ago i got into a wreck with my 84 b2000 and opted to slap a trailer light on there since I was cash strapped at the time. These days, i have some more spare time & cash so I wanted to see if anyone here has swapped or done major repairs on their truck beds before. The more I look at it, the less it seems like a repair is possible, but if anyone has ideas there i'd love to hear them cause i'd gladly get more tools and spend a lot of time on it if possible.

It's a very sentimental vehicle at this point & it runs amazingly, so i'd also be willing to buy a new bed and have it painted if repairs aren't feasible, although I've had a lot of trouble sourcing one: is anyone familiar with good resources for tracking this sort of thing down?
Finally, if anyone has done a flatbed conversion please chime in with what that process was like or any pictures, I think that's another way to go that could turn out really cool if done well.

Lot of different questions, all opinions are welcome cause i'm just brainstorming right now.

 

Any other angles? I'm away from mine atm, iirc it's mostly one layer of sheet metal aside from the taillight area. I'm tempted to say bang it out with a sledgehammer and some funky poses. If that doesn't work, car-part.com definitely has taillights, and probably some beds.

 

If the rest of the bed is in great shape, then you could just replace the bed side......if you can find one that is. All of my trucks are the 1986-1993 style, so I can't help you there.

I have successfully "pulled" crumpled sheet metal back into shape, more than a few times......one way to do this is to use another truck or vehicle and some chains with ViseGrip locking pliers and slowly pull the sheet metal at key points with the extra vehicle or truck. You will be amazed how easily the metal will start to move in the direction that you want it to.

 

This was the most recent patient......I did replace the deck lid and the bumper cover and the support behind the cover, but I still had to do some pulling on the whole trunk area to get it where everything fit as needed.



And the semi-finished results....

 

Axel - great job on that Hyundai !

Quit backing up into other vehicles !!!

 

Hey thanks for the input! I really like the ViseGrip pulling idea, I had tried banging it out with a hammer initially with some success, but it wasn't working as well on the taillight area where it has the 2 layers of metal. I can't grab any more pictures right now, but the rest of the bed is in great shape. I think i'll start with the pulling and maybe go for a bigger hammer, I figure if I truly mangle it then i'll pick up a replacement. Also the results on car-part are way better than i've found anywhere else, I see there are a few that have the same billboard sized Mazda logo on the back which I really like.
Thanks again, I'll post pics whenever I take a crack at bending the metal back.

 

Ha Ha!
My Daughter's car was rear-ended while sitting at a red light.......by a construction worker that was in the country on a work visa! And he had insurance!!! What are the odds?
I had to fight his insurance company though, as they totalled the car and it didn't need to be. I still own it, but I have to get it registered again as it has a "Salvage Rebuildable" title now.......the daughter bought a new car.....after I stroked a check to help with a decent down payment to help keep her payments lower.
I bought used factory parts at the JY to repair it, and with buying a new battery, I have less than $500.00 in the repairs. I finished up the body work a while ago, but haven't painted it yet.....just put some primer on it. I will finish it up when the weather cools down, and I have more time due to my 2nd partial retirement!!

 

Same happened on the 2011 Yukon Denali we bought in mid-2021 and had for about 2 years; had to continually fight with insurance company. A guy sped up and ran a red light by quite a few seconds while Mrs. Cusser was waiting to make a left turn. Due to several witnesses staying around to tell that to police, she didn't get the citation. Police had a contract with a towing company, dragged it to their impound lot. Our insurance company was not able to get the Yukon to a body shop for almost a week, as the impound owner kept lying to the body shop guy. Then it took 2 weeks to get an estimate, and the insurance company decided that due to "unknowns", that the real cost would be higher. So our choice was to accept $18K (was purchased for $26K) or buy the wrecked vehicle. And my guess would've been 2 months to order parts and fix it, and she had need to tow the horse. So I accepted the $18K, bought a newer 2014 version also with 6.2 engine (for towing) for $32K. So even though the 2014 is nicer than the 2011, still cost us quite a bit out of pocket.

That was our first/only claim with that insurance company, and I think Jake or the gecko or Doug/Emu could do a better job. Anyway, we're switching insurance companies by mid-July for autos, homes, and umbrella. The '88 B2200 is now on Hagerty classic insurance as are my two old VWs.