If anyone has come across this problem and solved it, I'd like to know how. I need to replace my fuel pump. I removed the bolt on the front fuel tank strap no problem. When I tried to remove the bolt on the rear strap I heard a pop and found out that the threaded piece(not a nut but a round threaded piece with a flat bottom) was welded to the frame and the weld failed. Realize now that this threaded piece is buried about 14 inches inside the 3x3 truck frame. The bolt is rusty and the threads look bad. So how do you get this bolt out when the threaded piece holding it on is hidden 14 inches inside a 3x3 frame. I tried long reach pliers, long reach vise grips, hack saw etc etc, and nothing is able to get a grip on the threaded piece strong enough to stay on while I turn the bolt head from underneath the frame, and at 14 inches in, it's near impossible to get a hack saw blade long enough to reach or even get started. Cutting the bolt head off from underneath would be no picnic either, cuttoff tools don't fit and who wants sparks flying in direction of the tank. I have a full gas tank so I don't want to try any welding options either. I thought about pulling the bed but too many horror stories about how the star shaped heads of the bed bolts strip real easy and cost $20 each to replace at Ford. Any other ideas for how to remove this gas tank strap bolt would be appreciated. I'd even like to hear from folks that didn't figure it our but ran across the same problem. The engineer on this idea really flubbed this one. I'm sure certified Ford mechanics don't love this engineer either, unless of course it's Christmas time and the kids need new shoes. Labor on tank removal is hundreds of dollars, and that's when the weld on this threaded piece holds. Is there a special tool out there maybe? Remember this is not a hex bolt but a round threaded piece with a flat base on it that's supposed to be welded to the inside of this 3x3 frame. If the weld fails like it did for me, you're scrooged.

 

I have not dropped an F-150 tank nor lifted the bed off. But...I did remove the bed off my ranfger 4x4 that was mudded weeklyt and the nbolts didn't break or bind. Use plenty of WD-40 while pulliing the bolts and the bed should lift off fairly easy. This is the route I would take. I'm not help on the tank strap.

 

Pull the bed. Much easier than what you're trying to do. The bolts will be fine, just make sure you have the correct size torx head.

 

If necessary, Seafoam Deep Creep works a lot better than WD-40 as a penetrating lube.

 

I had to cut mine off to get it to drop. Did it on the side of the road actually...

 

Thanks everyone for your replies to my problem with this bolt. I'm going to try what everyone seems to agree now is the easiest way. I'll soak the bed bolts in Seafoam Deep Creep if I can find it, WD40 if I can't. From what I can tell I think its a 7 mm torx head for the bed bolts. It doesn't seem to be a common size because I don't have one in my set. I plan to make sure I have a good fit and will take it easy turning them too. I'll post something up when I get it done. Thanks again.

For Stuffdeer: You're like Super Mechanic. I couldn't do this on my driveway outside my fairly well stocked garage on a warm day, let alone on the side of the road. This is one of those jobs that an amateur like me takes on, gets stuck in the middle of, and then wishes they had brought to a professional. But Ford estimated about $600 dollars for this job. $380 for the pump kit alone. I swapped out the fuel pump driver module(about a $55 part) myself because it really needed it and they are known to rust themselves into failing. Anyway, turns out it's the fuel pump itself so I kind of backed into this pile of dodo one step at a time. Live and learn. haha.

 

I cut the strap and dropped the tank. Access to the bolt was much easier then.