Rusted Bed - Need Your Opinion Please!

Good morning and Happy Labor Day to Everyone. I could really use some help making a decision on what to do with my 2008 DBL cab. First, the good news. I bought it used a few weeks ago. It looks like I just drove it off the showroom floor. Literally, the only blemish is a ding on the tailgate. It is a 70k, single-owner truck. The rear seat has never had a person in it, only a dog I am told. My amazing mechanic tells me that it is rock-solid! For me, it is a new truck and will be babied like it is! it is that once-in-a-lifetime find, or so I thought. I missed the rust in the bed for a couple of legitimate reasons, but that’s another post! The question now is what to do with it. I’ll do my best to describe it since the sprayed-in liner makes it nearly impossible to see. The rust is centered largely around 4 of the 6 bolts that hold the bed on (the 2 closest to the tailgate are fine, it is the other 4). Unfortunately, the rust has started to creep up the side of the bed on the rear driver’s side. In 2 spots, it wouldn’t take a lot of effort to push your foot through the rust! The LINE-X is really all that’s left! I’ve had one shop look at it and his response: “if it was contained in the floor, I would consider it, but the rounded corners where it transitions from the floor to the side would be impossible. You don’t have enough money and I don’t have enough time!” I’ve laid out some options/considerations and would love to hear what you all would do. First, do nothing but throw a drop-in liner and run it till the bed is no longer stable and replace the bed then. Also, begin looking for a used bed now. Replace the bed now with a used bed. And then of course, there is the new bed option. I’m leaning towards the “do nothing but look for a bed to install a few years from now. But, I don’t want collateral damage from leaving a bed rust till it falls off. IOW, will the rust spread to the frame if I leave it? To me, that seems like a long shot since the rust is limited to the top of the bed supports. Also, there is no way I’m going to find a bed in the condition that mine is in. I mean, the paint is amazing, not a scratch – except for the rust it is showroom new! I will have to ship and most likely paint the bed, which means that I’ll easily have $3k in the bed replacement. Finally, I’m afraid that as soon as I drop 3k in a bed, I’ll likely find another reason why this is not a once-in-a-lifetime truck! IOW, it becomes a money pit! For this reason, a new bed is really off the table and I’m strongly leaning away from a used one until it is absolutely critical. Some other things I considered. What if I found a great deal on a bed that was junk except the parts I needed and cut them out and “patched” my bed with them? Do they make aftermarket patch panels? Are sprayed-in liners as hard to deal with as the body shop said? Sorry for the long post and all the questions. I really appreciate the help. Also, should mention that I will likely keep the truck for no less than a decade. It is not a work truck – IOW I will baby it!


Mike

 

Could you post some pics of the rust damage? Let's see how bad it is.

 

I will try and get some pictures. I may have to illustrate them, as the black liner really makes it hard to see. Thank you for the quick reply!

 

Is the rust visible from underneath? Can you get under and try to snap some pics? If it's as bad as you say, and I'm not doubting that at all, you might want to start looking for a decent used replacement. Sucks but otherwise it seems your Tundra is good to go otherwise. How does the frame itself look? The fact that it has super low miles helps things. If the frame isn't compromised then replacing the bed makes sense if it is that bad off.

 

Here is a variety of pics from above (if you zoom in you can see the “blistering” in the Line-X) and below. Thanks to all!
I included one of the bed outside of the “rust” zone. Truck is from SW OH, I live in SE OH.

 

My 2007 silver sky DC's rusty bed looks almost exactly the same....even down to the 5th wheel ball

 

Honestly you can find a used bed pretty reasonably. Fine another one and replace it. I just did it to my first gen. Cost 500. I found some surprise rust items. Like the brake lines.

 

Depending where you live, you might have a hard time finding a bed without rust. I live in the PNW and I haven't found one that was rust free.

 

Did you fix or let it go?

 

I’m willing to travel some.

 

Letting it ride currently. Not sure what I'll do about it honestly.

 

Beds for that truck are very high.

Dont know where your located, I am in tennessee and have a wrecked bed. If I can help id be glad too

 

Sorry,I’m just now seeing this. I’m in Ohio!