I am repairing rust on my 1500 and have the bed removed. I plan on doing the repairs during lunch @ work(50 miles away). Does anyone know if it's legal to drive on the highway without the bed installed in Pa/NJ?

Since your bed has the brake lights and tail lights built into it. then yes, it would be illegal.. You could pull the lens out of the bed and strap them to the frame.. you could get away with that.. you would also have to do strap your License plate too.

All you need to do for the tail lights is get magnetic mount lights (about $60 for the best), stick them to the bumper, and plug them into your trailer connector. I've seen magnetic mount license frames for sale, I just don't remember where. One other concern would be open wheels. I've been driving my truck without the bed for the better part of a year now (making a new box for the shorter frame didn't exactly match up with scraping the old one :banghead: ), and haven't been pulled over for it. There is a "legal issues" in the "cars in general" section of this site. Maybe more advice from there?