Gary Lewis

Yes, tacking the bolt to the bed takes care of the need to be in the bed to hold whatever I was going tack to the head. Don't know what I was thinking. Maybe I wasn't? As for lifting the bed, I hope I don't have to take it off.

Anxious to see what you think after they are installed.

Actually, I was thinking of tacking something to the head of the bolt, not tacking the bolt head to the bed. But that's a much better idea! I'll just tack all the bolts in. I have to paint things anyway, so there will just be a bit more to paint.

Ok, seems like you are getting a handle on it. As for the temps, what do you expect waaaaaaay up there?

A quick Google search suggested hot-dipped galvanized or stainless, also saying that many deck screws have proprietary coatings that are said to work well. But the short answer for you is that it looks like stainless is a good way to go. That seems like a much safer assumption than assuming it will hold Thanks, Bob. I'm planning on going with a 10' 4x4 and 2x4, which will give me enough to put two runs crosswise under the toolbox. And, I'm thinking that six 3/8" bolts with fender washers, three in each run, would secure the toolbox nicely. Yes? As for the bed bolt, what's the best thing to weld to it? I'm thinking a large washer as it would be easy to knock off. But that won't have as much holding power. A nut would have more but be much harder to get off.

That's a big part of why I use a rubber mat laid into the bed. I haven't used Line-X, but I get a lot less sliding around on the bed mat than I did on the RhinoLiner.And I'm not saying that I'm against bed liners. I might do it again if I get a truck with a good enough bed that I really want to protect it. But in an "OK" bed, for the lower cost I prefer just using a bed mat.For what it's worth, the trucks I've had since the '95 that I haven't bed-lined are:2008 F-250 crew cab, the lemon truck. I decided within 3 weeks of getting that truck that I hated it and wanted to get rid of it. I eventually filed a lemon law claim on the transmission and Ford bought it back a year after I bought it. There was no way I was going to spend money bed-lining that truck. But I did buy a bed mat for it.2002 F-350 crew cab. This truck came with a bed mat, so I was in no hurry to line it. And within a year I decided that I really didn't like it much more than the '08. So I spend the next 4 years trying to get rid of it, not bed-lining it.1997 F-250 crew cab, my current truck. I really like this truck, but when I bought it the bed was pretty rough. The bed sides were just starting to rust through above the tires and although the PO said all he ever hauled in it was firewood, he must have either loaded it with a Bobcat or maybe even a catapult! To say that the inside of the bed was rough would be an understatement! No significant rust, but the floor is dented down between the supports (it looks like it's sagging) and the fenders, inner bed sides and the front of the bed are all badly dented. It really wasn't worth protecting so I just took the bed mat out of the '02 and out it in the '97.Bob - It makes sense that you don't want to have bed liner sprayed in if you aren't going to keep the truck or if it is already beat up. Luckily BB's bed isn't beat up and I'm sure planning to keep it. On installing the toolbox, no one has commented on the plan to use a treated 4x4 on the bottom and a plain 2x4 on the top. I'm headed out to pick those items, and plenty more, up tomorrow so if you have a better suggestion then please let me know. And I'll see if they have the stainless bolts I want with which to bolt the toolbox in, but I doubt it so I suspect I'll have to order them. (I'm assuming that stainless is a good way to go when passing through treated lumber.) In addition I'll pick up some primer to use on the spots in the bed. But, I've saved the best for last. As I was scrubbing the bed today I found a bit of a rattle. Suggestions on the best way to tighten this thing? I have it liberally PB Blasted, but do I assume it is going to spin and tack something to the top, then grind that off and paint it before it is Line-X'd?

Really? I was remembering (maybe incorrectly) that my '85 had drains in both front corners. Not round holes, or tubes or anything, just a section about 1" - 2" long where the bed floor wasn't welded to the front of the bed and there was a 1/8" - 1/4" gap On the color, I had black RhinoLiner in my '95 F-150. It got hot in the sun and it got marked up when stuff was slid across it (the scuffs showed up as light colored lines). On the plus side it didn't ever look dingy. I lined my Bronco with a medium gray Durabak. Nowhere near as hot. It hasn't gotten as marked up (but it's a Bronco, not a pickup...). But it started looking dirty pretty soon and has never cleaned up well. (It's also faded, but that's a different issue). Neither of those are Line-X, so YMMV. But those were my choices and experiences. In the end I'm pretty happy with what i did in the Bronco. I wish it had been more UV-stable, but the temperature / looking clean tradeoff seems good to me. And I've had three pickups since my '95 and haven't bedlined any of them. I'm not particularly against it, but I've decided that, especially for the price, I prefer a rubber bed mat loose on the floor and nothing else covered. David - Thanks. I'm hoping to only go a little way over the top, but we'll see what the pro says. Bob - You may be right about the drains. I just put water into the slot at the front of the bed and it ran out onto the floor of the shop.

Jim - They either didn't know or wouldn't tell me the current draw. As for recording it, I don't have the wherewithal to do it. No clamp meter. So I'm just going to go with the fender-mounted relay and then use that slot for powering the blower motor. Speaking load, I powered the bed cover off the 5AH battery I use for testing things. It powered it fine, and it only took 8ma to trigger the relays from the aux inputs. So it'll be easy to interface the Code Alarm system to it. That way one key fob will do everything. Now back to cleaning the bed on my hands and knees....

David - Hey, that looks great! And it looks familiar. Thanks. That's basically the look I'm going for. Bob - Appreciate the input. But from what I've found with my calling 'round, right now it isn't easy to get anything but black. And while it will get hotter than anything else, my experience with the same stuff in Blue has been great. Everyone that's used the truck has been pleased with the Line-X. As for not coating the bed, one of the things that we've loved with the Line-X is that things tend to stay where you put them. We don't have things sliding all over the place while on the road, which we did have in the '72 we had w/o a liner.

Scott - They didn't say why. Just said it emphatically. On the spacer to support the toolbox via the bed's floor instead of the sides, a 4x4 w/a 2x4 on its side on top is just right. That measures 4.89" and raises the box 5/16" off the driver's side of the bed top, and 1/4" off the passenger's side. So I'm thinking I'll use a treated 4x4 down against the floor since the chemicals won't bother the Line-X, and a plain 2x4 on top of that to keep the chemicals away from the aluminum tool box. THOUGHTS? And I got the bedside tops and the top of the tailgate cleaned up this morn. The bedside tops are in remarkably good shape, but the top of the tailgate has been slightly damaged at one point and there's a bit of rust showing. So, with Janey as my consultant, the plan is to have them Line-X the tailgate down just past the rust on the tailgate, but not put any on the bed sides. I'll treat all of the areas with rusty-metal primer, and that way the bit you see on the bed top will be protected, even though it is hidden below the cover's track.

Just FYI, that was easy. I right-clicked the pic, copied the image address, and pasted it into the line below "Or copy an image from the Internet:".

Some of the A/C brackets have SAE in one side and metric in the other.

Nice truck! And that's a decent installation of a double-DIN unit.

I like it! Means something to you and your friend, and there will be lots of people asking questions.

I'm running a Powermaster starter and you are running one from DB Electric. Powermaster said DO NOT use a cube relay for theirs. Only the fender-mounted one.

At least if it leaks it is easy to get to and fix. I will try it and see once I can get the fuel system back together. Waiting on a lot of parts. The tank may come today if Autozone can really get it this time. It was suppose to arrive Tuesday but they claim the order got canceled. The filler neck and other parts from LMC still have not shipped. Jonathan - We have vendor reviews at Bullnose Forum/Marketplace/Vendor Reviews & Ratings. LMC is in there, so you might want to post and give them a rating.

Good choice, I have used Hagerty for years and been happy. Actually had a claim filed in 2011 on a Mustang and they paid accordingly and i bought the vehicle back from them Andrew - Thanks. I have the Cherished Salvage coverage which says "For a total loss or “constructive total loss”, the salvage belongs to you." So I wouldn't have to buy it back. Chris - No time like the present.

Well, I'm scheduled for Tuesday afternoon. He can't get me in until then. Here are the answers to the questions: Holes: Don't sweat the holes that are in there. They'll handle them. As for drilling holes later, don't worry about that. Just use some primer on the edges of the holes to prevent rust. Rust: Clean the bed and scrub the rust. Then hit it with a rust-preventing primer. Color: To do a color match they need the neutral base, which they cannot get at present. But if they could it costs $400 extra to do that. He recommended just going with the black Premium. So I have a bit more time to get things ready. But one of the things I'm going to do before then is to install the fender-mounted starter relay. I swapped out the cube relay and that worked better for a few starts and then it gave the same symptoms. And I need to clean the bed, paint the rust, add the drain holes, etc. So the time will be used.

Jim - I'm hoping to get the drains holes drilled today so they'll get Line-X'd. As for the air tank, I don't think I'll really need compressed air for the GOAT. So I'm thinking that I'll install the compressor and tank after that trip but before Ouray. Which means I won't know where to put the hole for the line from the compressor to the tank, and it can't be Line-X'd tomorrow. Hmmm, maybe I need to mock it up and drill that hole today? Randy - There aren't any factory drain holes in a Bullnose bed. And where to put them is a good question. Some trucks sit a bit higher in the rear than the front, so the drains would normally go in the front of the bed floor.

Jim - You have a good point about the bed draining. It didn't use to drain at all because of the severe rake on the truck, partially due to the wrong rear spring pack being on it. But now that it sits essentially level it won't build up too deeply. But there are drain tubes that go from the bed cover's module through the front corners of the bed and I doubt they'll be water tight so I think the bed will drain there. And the tie down points I put in, like maybe D-plates as Scott suggested, won't be water tight either. Then there's the pipe from the air compressor to the tank that will go through the bed. So I suspect it'll drain ok. But if not I can add drains. As for being ready for his next adventure, not quite. But soon. Janey and I were talking about that yesterday, and I want to get both the bed cover on and the A/C system working before we take it around the GOAT. We've found that having the windows up makes a huge difference in how tired we are at the end of a day on the highway, and there will be at least two days with 100+ miles on the highway. My nephew does A/C work quite well and has said to bring the truck to him, but that's 100 miles each way, so.....

The 1986 EVTM (Documentation/Electrical/EVTM/1986 EVTM/Carburetor Circuits) has info on this, but it is CONFUSING! The first page, shown below, says it is for Broncos sold in Canada. The second page says it is for 5.8L engines in F150s and F250s sold in the 49 states. But doesn't include Broncos. So your question of "what triggers the throttle kicker" is hard to answer. So let's first make sure we are talking about the same piece of gear. There are two solenoids, the Throttle Position Solenoid, which has one wire to it and that wire is black, and the Decel Throttle Kicker Solenoid, which has red/yellow and a tan/white wires to it. Which one(s) do you have? And which one are you asking about?

You may have a bad switch or a bad connection to the switch. The switch is on the side of the transmission, and you can find it by following the two wires that go to it - Pk/O and Bk/Pk. If the connector is plugged in well then I think the switch is bad. I had to replace one recently.

I don't know about the oil. Maybe others that do will chime in. But on "Pre Charged" vs "Factory Charged", I think they are saying the same thing with different words.

A YouTuber I was watching once said "I never do any more than what's absolutely necessary, and sometimes I don't even do that!" With that preface I'll give you my thought. When I was bed-lining my Bronco I just put masking tape over the underside of the holes. The bed liner coated the tape and cured there, filling the holes (or at least covering them). Something pointed could poke through I suppose, but it's worked for me. Although I have to admit, when I was having the bed of my '95 F-150 lined I did fill the holes from the POs 5th wheel hitch (in an F-150 ) with carriage bolts. After I saw how thick they put the RhinoLiner on the floor of the bed I really felt like I could've got away with just using tape (which is why I did that with the Bronco a few years later). But I think Line X doesn't apply their bed liner as thick as RhinoLiner did on my truck, so take that for what it's worth. Bob - That's a good idea! I'll discuss the holes with the guy tomorrow. If he thinks the tape will do it I'll go that way. I want to clean the bed and treat any surface rust, and that would include those holes and around them. So it'll be easy to put the Gorilla duct tape I have on the bottom once the paint's dry and then he can shoot the whole thing.