Welding up the Stake Pocket Holes

[Aerocoupe]

Finally finished all the fab work on the bed for my '70 and am now thinking about welding up the stake pocket holes. My metal guy and I are debating on just completely removing the front stake pockets as once the plates are welded up on the bed rail they serve no purpose and it would be a lot easier to paint/coat the bed. Removing all of the stake pocket metal looks pretty easy and it appears that we won't loose any structural integrity of the bed rail but I wanted to check with you guys to make sure.

So long story short is if we remove the front stake pockets in their entirety and weld up the holes on the bed rail will we need to put in a couple of support brackets to stiffen up the bed rail?

[cep62]

So long story short is if we remove the front stake pockets in their entirety and weld up the holes on the bed rail will we need to put in a couple of support brackets to stiffen up the bed rail?

I don't think so , thats some good heavy steel.
But you'll know when you cut them out if you need a gusset.

[Aerocoupe]

Kinda what we were thinking. We are moving forward with it and if needed we can come up with something that will stiffen it and not cause an issue with coating.

[vossy]

Can you let us know which way you ended up going? Did the bed need support, after removing them? I have welded up my stake holes, and am considering removing those front pockets, from the bed, as well... But I' have all the body work done, outside the truck, and welding anything at this point on the body is probably not an option. So if it's as simple as grinding those out, and smoothing the surface before I go in with Bed Liner, I might give it a shot. But if it needs something put back in there, to beef up the body... I'll probably just deal with them in place.

[Aerocoupe]

I just left them in place. After looking at a few pictures of trucks online it just was not worth the effort in my opinion.