The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Making a Stovebolt Bed Tailgate hinge

I have a 53 GMC and I’m having trouble getting access to the top bolt in the tailgate hinge... is there a trick to remove this or am I missing something?

Isn't the top nut welded into the bed pocket? If the bolt isn't coming out, maybe the nut has come loose from the bed pocket. If so, you'll need to cut the bolt out (grind the head off), then reweld another nut inside he bed pocket to replace the hinge.

It’s suppose to be welded!? Both of the top bolts in each side just spin... there isn’t even access to weld another nut on. Damnn

You might be able to reach the nut with a long wrench. The top nut is only less than 6" from the bottom of the stake pocket.

Here's a pic of the bedside showing the upper nut. Like I suggested, grind the head off the bolts, then deal with the nut.

You cant reach it from the bottom as it is blocked off exactly half way between the bottom and top bolt. Only visible access i can see is from the top.

Kevin, looking closely at your picture, it looks like the upper nut has a flange. Could it possibly be a rivet nut?

My trucks are open access from bottom
Long wrench reaches a normal nut with lock washer and flat washer
What’s blocking access? Is that a difference in the USA truck vs Canada made?

Are you sure what’s blocking access is original?
Maybe something got pushed down from the top a long time ago and you can knock it out.
-s

Like 2ManhyTrucks suggested, possibly the stop midway up the stake pocket got pushed down. All of mine were broken away, but not completely detached. They should have originally been spot welded about mid-height of the stake pocket where there's a thru hole.
Phil, yes, that's a crimped in nut (or rivet nut). I tack welded it, because it was slightly loose. Comediann probably has the same issue. They're not really very secure, especially when the threads are rusty.

I’m absorbing this knowledge because this section on my bed has been welded and I need to replace/repair existing in the future. Thanks!

One of my rear stake pockets was totally crunched, so that got replaced. Interestingly enough, the tailgate hinge holes were in the wrong place and needed to be relocated before I welded on the new stake pocket.

It’s blocked on both sides, I didn’t take a very good look as I assumed it was factory. I will go over it and see what is going on. I appreciate the knowledge and will look into it. I may cut and rivet nut for now as you did. Mainly turning it into a driver and will put it right when I do a full resto.

So I looked at it today, the cross brace runs through the stake pocket and is what blocks access, looks like if I unbolt and remove the cross brace I can gain access, with 6 inches of reach. Does the cross brace block access for you guys also?

I don’t recall it completely blocking access
I put my box together and put the tailgate on last without removing anything
But it’s been a while I would need to get photos next time I’m near my trucks
But I think I know what you mean
Maybe something is just bent? Or my hands are small
I’ll see if I have photos in my computer

Update
So I don’t have a good photo, but what I see is that I vaguely recall three bolts to hold the box edge to the cross brace (bottom back of box)
And that includes only the lower hinge bolt
So... maybe you (and I) did have to install the top bolt of the hinge before the back cross brace goes in and I see in my partial box compete that I had both hinges on with no tailgate
But then how did I get that tailgate on?
I didn’t take the cross brace off
I’m wondering if I had captive nuts for the top bolt on the hinge which was likely original based on other folks comments

Memory is failing me now
Maybe I managed to sneak a wrench up in there blind just to loosen that top bolt but not undo it completely when I installed the tail gate
-s

I can see that the cross-sill would be in the way. Mine was disassembled when I worked on it, thus my thought that you could reach it from underneath. I recall removing the two bolts thru the cross-sill and the front of the stake pocket from underneath. But the upper tailgate hinge is above the top of the cross-sill.

Again, grind the head off the bolt to remove the hinge and hope that the captive nut is just spinning and doesn't fall out. Then tack weld it in place and remove the cut off bolt, drilling it out if needed.

Removing the cross-sill likely entails grinding a weld off on the rear of the bed. I recall having to do that.