So you got your Raptor and you succumbed to the peer pressure of all the cool stuff and agree that Ford didn't do us any favors with the four meager and useless tie down hooks. So what do you? You buy or fabricate (good for you [emoji106]) a bed rack. The first step though is getting the bed bolts out. There are six of them by the way.
Step 1:
Get some PB Blaster or some other rust penetrating lubricant and soak that shit overnight. Seriously. Use a WD-40 straw and get under the cap and washer and let it soak down the bolt. Then go under the bed and spray the nuts. Get in there real good, don't be afraid to get dirty.
Step 2:
Procure yourself a Torx Plus 50 (TP50) $9.70 at Napa Parts. Not a Torx 50, a TORX PLUS 50
You can see the difference:
Now hopefully you followed step one and let everything soak and they should break free. Use your shiny new tool and go to town. Remember righty tighty, lefty loosy. If everything went according to plan, you should have 6 bolts rolling around and hopefully they don't look like this:
Thank you road salt.
In the event that you stripped one out or broke one you're going to want to get yourself one one of these. Very handy. $36 at harbor freight for both.
Use the normal drill bit and get it started. Once you have a decent pilot hole, use the goofy screw and the T tap and slowly apply pressure. Equal force is the key, if you go one sided it will twist and fall out. Then you get to start all over.
Now that you've got your broken bolt out, you'll need a new one. These are $18 a piece at your local ford or $10 online.
When you're ready to put your bolts back in, do yourself a favor and spray out your bed holes with wd40 or anti seize or something to prevent this from happening next time.
Hopefully everything goes smooth and you end with something like this.
Remember Torx PLUS 50 and Ford calls them mount bolts for some reason.
Cheers [emoji481]
Chris
Step 1:
Get some PB Blaster or some other rust penetrating lubricant and soak that shit overnight. Seriously. Use a WD-40 straw and get under the cap and washer and let it soak down the bolt. Then go under the bed and spray the nuts. Get in there real good, don't be afraid to get dirty.
Step 2:
Procure yourself a Torx Plus 50 (TP50) $9.70 at Napa Parts. Not a Torx 50, a TORX PLUS 50
You can see the difference:
Now hopefully you followed step one and let everything soak and they should break free. Use your shiny new tool and go to town. Remember righty tighty, lefty loosy. If everything went according to plan, you should have 6 bolts rolling around and hopefully they don't look like this:
Thank you road salt.
In the event that you stripped one out or broke one you're going to want to get yourself one one of these. Very handy. $36 at harbor freight for both.
Use the normal drill bit and get it started. Once you have a decent pilot hole, use the goofy screw and the T tap and slowly apply pressure. Equal force is the key, if you go one sided it will twist and fall out. Then you get to start all over.
Now that you've got your broken bolt out, you'll need a new one. These are $18 a piece at your local ford or $10 online.
When you're ready to put your bolts back in, do yourself a favor and spray out your bed holes with wd40 or anti seize or something to prevent this from happening next time.
Hopefully everything goes smooth and you end with something like this.
Remember Torx PLUS 50 and Ford calls them mount bolts for some reason.
Cheers [emoji481]
Chris
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