Drilling Bed Inner Fender

[85pig]

I've seen the topic of drilling the inner "fenderwells" (for lack of a better term) of the bed, to help clear out mud, salt, etc., to help with the rust issue.  Have a decent bed I'm going to start working on, and want to see if anyone has pics of, or advice for the best place to drill these for drainage.  Kind of a dumb question,  but are there better places to drill than others?  Or just in the center, and make them big enough for pressure washer wand access?  

[dirtymac]

Aside from the sides and fenders, our bed is severely rusted out.  I'm planning to have that taken care of along with some other body work later in the year and the idea of drain plugs of some sort, has been on my mind.

We have an F-250.  Empty, the highest point is the tail gate.  My first thought was a couple of 2" holes in the corners nearest the cab, but I'm concerned they might line up with something important under the truck.  I certainly wouldn't want water and debris pilling up on the gas tank, wires, etc.  My next thought was some kind of flexible tubing from those 2" holes down far enough to clear anything important.  I'm thinking that size would be easy to clear out with a coat hanger or water hose if it gets clogged.

[mat in tn]

actually, the bed is already designed to drain. the front wall of the bed is attached to the floor corrugations but NOT caulked. this area will drain water but on neglected trucks or just plain well worked trucks these areas get clogged with whatever. start with a pressure washer or local car wash and work that seam. this drains into the foremost cross brace and has a few drain holes along with open ends. I have had to clean out the cross brace before the bed a time or two as they had been used for dirt, mulch or even left in the woods full of pine needles.

[85pig]

I keep the areas to the front of the bed cleaned out, it's the ones above the tire that concern me.  Most Bullnose trucks are rotted around that wheel opening from junk getting trapped under the metal support there.  I've seen mention of these metal supports being drilled in places to allow better drainage, and/or to make it easier to clean out to avoid the rot.  

[mat in tn]

there is a drain there also but yes, they collect. and they collect grit and salt! the two that you do not want. untold number of trucks rusting from the inside out over the wheel arches. mine for one. it's on my list. a very long list! the second most common is right at the rear bumper along the sides. there is a vertical structure boxing the corner for the taillights. the lower portion supports the bottom of the bedsides and creates another collection area. often these rust from the inside out also.

[ArdWrknTrk]

Best place to drill is just inside the rolled under edge of the bed/body side right where the rust always appears at the top of the wheel arches.
Just a couple of holes 1.25-1.375" diameter.

It's also a good idea to get oil up into the pinch weld periodically to keep water displaced from where it would get wicked in by capillary action, trapped and sit forever.

Doing this makes it easy to flush out and mud or salt since you don't have to pull back the plastic liners front and rear.