P1000 P1K-3 Bed Adjustment

[0860silverado]

Anyone having problems with their P1K-3 bed getting caught on their rear panel when lifting? When my unit was new, I was able to lift the bed without any interference. Now the bed gets caught on the rearmost part of where the hard rear panel extends. It's a Honda rear hard panel. I've been very adamant about driving cautiously because I know the frames on these models are very fragile. I've never hauled anything in the bed except a couple shovels and an ice chest. I've never towed ANYTHING as per dealer instructions because of their limitations on clutch reliability, which I get, but the frame never entered my mind. Honestly...nothing but side road use for a utility company. When I tow it on my trailer, I rathcet strap to my front bumper for the front and I install a reciever hitch with a ball to ratchet the rear. I don't think I'm pulling too tight...(they're Harbour Freight straps) and even if I were, the frame would bend upward and allow more clearance between the bed and cab. I know I could remedy the problem by putting a sawzall to the front of the bed, but if my frame is bending, I need to know if it's a common problem and what are ya'll doing to fix it? Thx guys!!!

 

[0860silverado]

Anyone having problems with their P1K-3 bed getting caught on their rear panel when lifting? When my unit was new, I was able to lift the bed without any interference. Now the bed gets caught on the rearmost part of where the hard rear panel extends. It's a Honda rear hard panel. I've been very adamant about driving cautiously because I know the frames on these models are very fragile. I've never hauled anything in the bed except a couple shovels and an ice chest. I've never towed ANYTHING as per dealer instructions because of their limitations on clutch reliability, which I get, but the frame never entered my mind. Honestly...nothing but side road use for a utility company. When I tow it on my trailer, I rathcet strap to my front bumper for the front and I install a reciever hitch with a ball to ratchet the rear. I don't think I'm pulling too tight...(they're Harbour Freight straps) and even if I were, the frame would bend upward and allow more clearance between the bed and cab. I know I could remedy the problem by putting a sawzall to the front of the bed, but if my frame is bending, I need to know if it's a common problem and what are ya'll doing to fix it? Thx guys!!!

Well I am stuck in tropical storm Cindy so I figured, let's put in a few more hours fixing the P1K! I took my utv jack and jacked up the center and sure enough... the bed was able to be opened. After looking at the design for a while, I have a choice of three fixes for it...
(1) I could lift the center of the vehicle with an engine hoist from the cage so the center of the frame would rise instead of sag and then weld 2" x 3" tube to the bottom to make it rigid.
(2) I could weld square tubing straight across forward from where the frame dips down in front of the rear tires (which is where I think the weak spot is) to the seat frame to eliminate the leverage on the little "L" brackets.
(3) Easiest solution but not solving anything... just take a sawzall to the front of the bed where it's getting jammed up. Let the front of the bed where it's jammed up against the cab support the frame bending problem (which it is doing now).
What ya'll think?