I have a 2006 F-350 Dually long bed and a brought it to the shop today due to a charging issue. I had the mechanic check out the truck to be sure there were no other issues. Upon inspection, he noticed that the 3 beams that hold the trucks bed to the truck frame were rotting. I notice the rear one and it looked like swiss cheese. With this situation if the "beams" failed I could loose the bed or if towing my 5er. I have very light miles on the truck for its age, so that has nothing to do with mileage, but age and salt. The truck was purchased new in New England. A word of warning, is anyone that tows should also occasionally check their vehicles frame integrity. I was told that I could either find a "junk" bed or a welder who would remove the bed and replace the supports. est. cost $1500 to $2000 per phone conversation.

I'd look into a nice aluminum flatbed to put on the truck. It won't rust and it's so much more useful then a regular bed. You can add tool boxes above and below wherever you want for storage.

Look on line. Plenty of companies have take off beds from when they installed work beds. It will have to be painted. For what it would cost to repair your bed you can purchase an entire rust free bed!BTW, how were your brake lines?

Yes, for sure. Check your brake lines ... they do rust thru in NE - ask me how I know that. :(

Known issue for Fords around here.

The joys of living in the rust belt.Sold a 1992 F250 a few years back. The old 7.3 just rumbled along closing in on 300k miles but the rest of the truck was rusting away. Sold it to circus folk (yes, literally) and they were headed out the next day across country.I know truck prices are crazy right now but you may want to look into if it makes sense to dump a couple grand into a truck that may only be worth a few thousand or if it's time to sell and get something a little newer (hopefully not from a rust belt state)

Heads up for tow vechicles | Good Sam Community

joelc
Explorer III
Feb 19, 2022
Some folks have the wrong idea of my info. The truck is a '06 F-350 Dually LB with 146,000 miles on it. It spent many years up North in the "rust belt". The bed in in perfect condition. what I am trying to do is inform other owners that the supports for the bed are prone to rust. The end and middle beam are affected. The support near the cab is not rusted. I am going to a few welding shops next week to get estimates on the costs for new supports to be welded onto the bed. I am told that it would be no greater than $2K. The break lines were inspected and purged. Just had major work done on the truck: A/C line leak, rear left caliper frozen, new alternator, tires rotated, new shocks. Still beats buying a NEW or USED (someone else's problems) truck.
Grit_dog
Navigator
Feb 16, 2022
joelc wrote:
I have a 2006 F-350 Dually long bed and a brought it to the shop today due to a charging issue. I had the mechanic check out the truck to be sure there were no other issues. Upon inspection, he noticed that the 3 beams that hold the trucks bed to the truck frame were rotting. I notice the rear one and it looked like swiss cheese. With this situation if the "beams" failed I could loose the bed or if towing my 5er. I have very light miles on the truck for its age, so that has nothing to do with mileage, but age and salt. The truck was purchased new in New England. A word of warning, is anyone that tows should also occasionally check their vehicles frame integrity. I was told that I could either find a "junk" bed or a welder who would remove the bed and replace the supports. est. cost $1500 to $2000 per phone conversation.

Appears you’re not a diy er because this is not a terribly difficult fix, to just shore up what’s there.
The real question is how bad is it, what is it worth to you to repair or replace and how long are you keeping the truck?

If your truck is from the rust belt, this is just the first thing to rust out. Your truck is getting old, so resale if it’s a gasser dually is pretty dismal. And resale if it’s a 6.0 is even worse. I’d be hesitant to drop a bunch of money based on that alone. Much less the rust condition of the rest of the truck.
Or to put it succinctly, rust repair is not generally a good investment on a vehicle that is not valuable as a classic.
Grit_dog
Navigator
Feb 16, 2022
dodge guy wrote:
BTW, running it through a car wash that rinses the underside a couple times a month in the winter goes a long way!

It’s also a good way to do some custom bodywork to the fenders, since the OP has a dually.
Maybe you have automatic car washes wide enough where you are. I’ve never seen one in 30+ years of driving.
Cummins12V98
Explorer III
Feb 16, 2022
Sounds like time to let it become anothers problem!!!
dodge_guy
Explorer II
Feb 16, 2022
BTW, running it through a car wash that rinses the underside a couple times a month in the winter goes a long way!
ACZL
Explorer
Feb 16, 2022
Yep, my '03 F250 was showing signs of exact same thing and box was starting to go south as well. 5er hitch not part of the box, so was okay there. Was considering getting a new(er) box, but other issues came up w/ the truck, so traded her in for a '15. Now that I have a alum box, be interesting to see how things go w/ that. Also added a Auto Saver to it. Supposed to be a rust preventer and better that Ziebart who I've used for years. We'll see.
Geo_Boy
Explorer II
Feb 16, 2022
Unfortunately Ford trucks of that vintage don’t do well in NE.
phillyg
Explorer II
Feb 16, 2022
I have an '05 in FL all its life, and see some rust in the same places. Good news is the FW hitch is mounted to the frame, so it'll keep the bed in place LOL.
ferndaleflyer
Explorer III
Feb 16, 2022
Plenty of truck beds around for that year--started in 1999. My 2005 has 165,000mi and not a spot of rust anywhere. But it has never in its life been in bad weather and always garaged. It was 1 year old when I got it in Iowa, went from there to MD and last 15 years in central NC. BUT it is and was always used to tow a race car in good weather. But another trick is get up under there and wash the salt off. Here if they start that brine routine for no good reason, as they do, I have a junk to drive.
valhalla360
Navigator
Feb 16, 2022
The joys of living in the rust belt.

Sold a 1992 F250 a few years back. The old 7.3 just rumbled along closing in on 300k miles but the rest of the truck was rusting away. Sold it to circus folk (yes, literally) and they were headed out the next day across country.

I know truck prices are crazy right now but you may want to look into if it makes sense to dump a couple grand into a truck that may only be worth a few thousand or if it's time to sell and get something a little newer (hopefully not from a rust belt state)