Old truck bed rail

DzlFC

Promoted Users
Here's a dent I'm head scratching over. One of you guys will have been there and done that. The bed rail of this pickup has had something dropped on it and it squished the tube about a foot in from the end. I have an old axel I have rounded the end on that I use to chase wrinkles and pry with, and it barely fits in the end of the tube. The metal is pretty thick where it was rolled to form the tube. The prior shop just added bondo... I was going to heat the area and try tapping the edges of the dent as I tapped the rounded axle in, but I have nightmares of the metal cooling and shrinking and trapping the bar stock.
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Make a hole through one end of the bar, if it gets stuck you can attach a clevis and slide hammer or friction jack it out.
 
Heavy gauge metal with a tight radius bend like that are tough. I’m about to give up on the dents along the top edge of my F100 tailgate. Sounds like Crashtech’s s is a great way to approach it.
 
Major moment yesterday. Brand new Kubota turbo diesel, fresh tranny and transfer case, and brand new Saturn overdrive fixed in place. The first parts to go ON instead of come off!
 
Well....only 106 in the shade today...back to the shop! A cool spell after a bout of "really" hot weather in late June and early July.
 
Couple of thoughts on how I would try to repair it. Heat it and stud gun it out, or cut the damaged section out, straighten it and MIG or TIG it back in.
 
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