You may be right about the bike. I've had the truck for four
years and have sporadically hauled one motorcycle or another
over that time with no warpage of the panel or top rail. Plus,
the panel is such that the center of the bowed area is the
center of the bed. I don't haul my motorcycle centered in the
bed--the tailgate won't close. I put it in diagonal so it will
fit and to prevent the exact warpage I knew could occur if it
was centered. So it doesn't seem like it'd be the bike. On one
occasion I did loan my truck to a friend to use for moving some
of his stuff. I didn't think he had anything that heavy, and I
also didn't notice any damage until well after he borrowed it.
Regardless of the reason, the bed is still bent.
The only approach of thought of to bed it straight without
taking the bed off is to slip my tow strap down between the bed
and cab, anchor it somewhere/somehow on a frame crossmember or
something, attach the other end to something sturdy (like a
concrete filled steel post) at the back of the truck and SLOWLY
and CAREFULLY (with a spotter) pull forward to put some strain
on the bed to bend it back the way it came. (Whew, that was a
long sentence.) Probably a bad idea huh?
JY
--- kevin reimer <kwreimer@msn.com> wrote:
>
> Bed was bent by the bike being tied down and sucked forward by
> tie downs, To
> prevent this you can brace the front with a 2x4 stock, or
> angle iron as you
> said and weld it on, But the bed must come off to straighten
> this correctly,
> just a matter of 45-60 minutes and a few buddies to lift it
> off.
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Jason Yates <onebad4x4dak@yahoo.com>
> To: <dakota-truck@dakota-truck.net>
> Sent: Thursday, May 02, 2002 3:08 PM
> Subject: DML: bed/tonneau issues
>
>
> >
> > I've got two problems that I noticed recently upon close
> > inspection of my truck. One, the front of my bed is bent
> > towards the cab--it's actually bowed and is almost
> contacting
> > the cab. I have no idea when/how this happened . . .
> perhaps
> > from when I hauled my mortorcyle across the country this
> summer,
> > but you'd think I would've noticed it before. Second
> problem,
> > my fiberglass tonneau cover is mounted to the top of this
> front
> > portion of the bed with metal brackets that screw into the
> top
> > of the rail. The problem is that the bed rail is made out
> of
> > such weak metal that the screws that hold the brackets are
> > bending/distoring/puckering the rail. To fix both problems,
> I'm
> > thinking about having a length of angle-iron welded across
> the
> > top of the rail to provide a stronger mounting surface.
> Anybody
> > else dealt with this problem any differently? Any good
> ideas on
> > how to bend the front of the bed back straight without
> pulling
> > the bed off the frame?
> >
> > Thanks!
> >
> > =====
> > Later,
> > JY
> > Fairborn, OH '98 CC 5.2L 5spd 4x4 w/prerunner bumper
> > Pics -- http://photos.yahoo.com/onebad4x4dak
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