Body and bed work on a Power Wagon is mostly about two things: chasing squeaks and clunks from worn body-mount bushings, and dealing with rust-seized bed bolts before they strand you mid-job. The mounts isolate the cab and bed from a flexing HD frame; when the rubber ages or a trail twist tweaks them, you get creaks over every bump. Budget $40 for hardware and an afternoon, or up to $500 if you replace the full mount set. Soak every fastener in penetrating oil the day before — this is a seized-bolt job, not a quick one.
The Power Wagon's separate cab and bed ride on rubber body-mount bushings bolted to the frame. That isolation is what keeps the cab quiet while the frame articulates over rough terrain — and it is exactly what wears out on a truck used off-road. Bed and body service is unglamorous but it is what stops the rattles, restores a tailgate that latches right, and keeps water and dust out of the cab.
A creak or clunk that tracks with body flex (turning into a driveway at an angle, cresting a rut) usually traces to a collapsed or torn body-mount bushing. Inspect each mount with the truck on level ground: look for cracked, mushroomed, or oil-soaked rubber and for a gap where the bushing has compressed. Replace them in pairs so the cab sits level. Polyurethane bushings firm up the connection and last longer but transmit a little more noise; OEM rubber stays quietest. Whichever you choose, support the cab or bed with a jack and blocks, back the bolt out, swap the bushing, and torque to the service-manual value — over-torquing crushes the new bushing and reintroduces the noise.
Pulling the bed (to service the frame, fuel tank, or rear body mounts) is a 4-bolt-per-side job on paper and a penetrating-oil battle in practice. The bed bolts thread into captured nuts that corrode, and snapping one turns an afternoon into a weekend. Soak them for 24 hours, use 6-point sockets and a breaker bar, and apply heat if needed. Disconnect the fuel filler, tail-light harness, and any in-bed wiring first. Four strong helpers or an engine hoist with a spreader bar lifts the bed cleanly. On reinstall, anti-seize every bolt so the next service is not a fight.
A tailgate that will not latch or rattles usually needs a latch/handle rebuild or a stretched cable — cheap Dorman or Mopar parts fix it. A damped tailgate-assist strut stops the heavy gate from slamming down. While the bed is off or the gate is apart, check the cab and bed weatherstrip and drain points; a trail truck packs mud into seams, and a blocked drain rots a bed floor from the inside.
Body-mount bolts on the 2500 run big — typically 18mm or 21mm heads into captured frame nuts, torqued in the rough 60-90 ft-lb range depending on position (verify against the factory manual for your year; cab mounts and bed mounts differ). Snug them progressively and check the cab-to-bed gap as you go — an uneven gap or a bedside rubbing the cab corner means a mount stack is compressed or a spacer is missing. If you have added a body lift or switched to polyurethane mounts, re-check the gap plus the shifter and brake-line slack, because moving the cab even an inch can tension a line or a boot. Never reuse a crushed rubber isolator; it will not restore ride height and reintroduces the clunk you were chasing.
The real enemy on a Power Wagon body is corrosion at the captured nuts and the bed floor — an ounce of prevention saves the seized-bolt weekend described above. Once the bed is off, wire-brush and treat any surface rust on the frame rails and mount points, then anti-seize or wax-coat every bolt on reassembly. Clear the bed and cab drain plugs — mud packs them and traps water against the floor. In a snow-belt or coastal truck, a yearly cavity-wax spray into the frame and rocker seams is cheap insurance. While you are under the truck, look over the skid plates and rock sliders, since they share fasteners and mounting points with the body.
| Part | Vendor | Est. price |
|---|---|---|
| Cab/bed body mount bushing set (polyurethane or OEM rubber) | Mopar / Daystar | ~$130 |
| Bed bolt + isolator hardware kit | Mopar | ~$45 |
| Tailgate latch / handle / cable repair parts | Mopar / Dorman | ~$60 |
| Tailgate assist strut (damped lowering) | DV8 / Mopar | ~$90 |
Written and maintained by an AZ wheeler and driveway wrencher. Always cross-reference your factory service manual — modifications affect vehicle safety and warranty. Work at your own risk.
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