F150 aluminum bed and sliding 5th wheel bracket

I was a P1 pipe welder at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard. During my apprenticeship one of the requirements we had to learn to be proficient at was welding aluminum. I say this because the naval destroyers had aluminum superstructures attached to a steel hull, so everything above the main deck was made of aluminum. There was an insulating layer sandwitched between the two dissimilar metals at the contact point to eliminate the corrosion problem. The superstructure was bolted/riveted to the hull since welding the two together was not possible.

Don't drop your toolbox corner first on the bed.

Dave H M wrote:
I sure am glad so many folks have the AL figured out.

We are heading to AK next spring, am starting to look for a steel air plane to get me there without falling/corroding apart. :h

Are the 150 starting to fall apart yet?

Corrosion in airplanes is a VERY BIG DEAL!!!

Ask any airframe mechanic as to what annual inspection is required.

I did not say the corrosion would cause the truck to fall apart but it will cause issues down the road.

As for "military grade" aluminum, the military purchases item from almost every grade made. This claim is almost as good as "new and improved".

As for aluminum wheels on steel hubs, plating or anodizing is typically used to reduce this issue. They will still corrode, look carefully. I have had some that had to be beat off of the hub-centric mount due to corrosion.

The F 150 have rather short beds -- be sure that your hitch will give you enough clearance even with a slider. I believe that Pull-Rite makes a special slider just for F-150 short bed trucks. (Or they used to.)

nomad.297 wrote:
Everybody just needs to face it - sheet aluminum is a poor material to use for a pickup truck bed.

Bruce

for the majority of users these beds will either have a spray on or drop in line anyways so there's really not much of an issue after that.

As for the fleet users that won't put anything in it, well I guess they will end up with Damaged beds with the Fords.

I have Curt bed rails in my 16 F150. They use galvanic isolators between the rails and the bed (even though I have a bedliner)

http://www.curtmfg.com/part/16442

You can download the instruction sheet from that page and see and read how it works.

Dave H M wrote:
I sure am glad so many folks have the AL figured out.

We are heading to AK next spring, am starting to look for a steel air plane to get me there without falling/corroding apart. :h

Are the 150 starting to fall apart yet?

Aluminum is not steel. It is not business as usual in the body shops or anywhere that has to attach , drill or alter the aluminum.
It's not that it can't be done but there is a learning curve to deal with.

I sure am glad so many folks have the AL figured out.

We are heading to AK next spring, am starting to look for a steel air plane to get me there without falling/corroding apart. :h

Are the 150 starting to fall apart yet?

Your all forgetting 1 thing. It's Military grade aluminum. Actually, the alum is made in Oswego NY.

You install the bed rails with a rubber gasket between the rail and the bed.

The holes get drilled through the aluminum bed to attach to the steel brackets.

The bolts that connect the two get sleeved in a vinyl grommet.