Rear Bed Repair and Replacement
<Click on any image to enlarge!>

Scouts are notorious for rust in the rear bed. Whether it's from inadequate panel design, or poor watersealing, my Scout had the typical rot. Both sides behind the wheel wells were beginning to sport large holes that showed the exhaust tips and road surface. The previous owner had dried to seal off the exhaust fumes and moisture with plastic sheeting and duct tape...but it only served to trap more water against the metal. Eventually I'll replace the entire rear bed and support members, but for now I just wanted to control the entrance of fumes and water into the cab.

I used some spare 16 gauge aluminum sheeting and diamond plate for this job, and held everything down with pop rivets. I sealed the edges and gaps with some "Great Stuff" expanding polyurethane foam.

Here's a shot of the passenger side after I'd partly covered the hole. Notice that the rearmost crossmember is almost rusted through. I'll have to replace that as well!

A shot of the driver side following the first patch

Here's a final shot of the fix