Bullnose beds

I have a quick question, when looking at a replacement bed for the 84, what is the different between an 80 - 86 and a 87- 96?

Think I got the years right.

Wheel arches are different.
Fuel necks (doors?) and tailgates are different also so depends upon how much mixing and matching is done.

Also, the early Bullnose beds have 8 bolts holding them on and the later beds have 6 bolts.  I think the break is 1980-84 and 1985-86.  Big Blue's bed only has the 6 bolts but there's a spot stamped in the bed for the other two and the frame has the holes for them.  So any Bullnose year bed fits, just be aware you may have to drill a couple of holes.

There is another difference that only applies to the DRW pickups. 1980-84 Ford used Dana axles, in 1985 the Sterling 10.25" axle was introduced and Ford made the DRW axles longer (wider as used) so the inside of the bed became standardized. It made a big improvement as prior to this a DRW bed would not hold a 4X8 piece of plywood flat.

Other item, in 1985 Ford changed a lot of items on these trucks from US standard and SAE standard to metric, so be aware that say a 1985 door may fit a 1982 truck, but the 1985 door will have M8X1.25 threads for the hinges and the 1982 body will have 5/16-18 threads in the A pillar for the hinges. It is one of the strange items as Detroit rolled most metric changes in with body/chassis changes (example, GM downsized the B and C bodies in 1977, all body hardware became metric). Engines will be a mix, any engine brackets will be attached with US or SAE standard fasteners, but anything attached to the brackets will probably have metric fasteners.

The 80-86 style side beds also have a body line running down each upper bed rail. The 87-96 styleside beds have smooth upper bed rails. The area above the tail lights are also angled on the 80-86, but smoothed on the 87-96. These things are hard to notice at quick glance, but are differences.

Thanks, just looking at them I could not see all the different. I knew about the tail gate and the fuel doors, but not the wheel arch or the body line. So it starting to look like it will be panel replacement instead of the complete bed. But first that fuel delivery issue, is becoming a real pain.

We’re done planting so I have some free time, to play with it.