Making My Own Bed Wood-Equal Width Boards?

[Speedbumpauto]

Get some 3" or so bolts, dimple the top of the cross sill where the bolt would go through, put the bolt through and tack the head. Make some spacer/washers out of 1/8 x 1 1/2 flat stock. Put the washer on the bolt from the bottom, center the bolt in the lower hole which is way too big and way too thin to support the bed and weld the washer to the bottom of the sill. Weld the bolt to the washer from the inside of the sill so the mounting surface stays flat.(one side is all you can get) Then weld the bolt head and dimple on the top of the sill and grind flat so the wood will sit right. There should be enough thread for the stud to fit through the bed mounting gasket and frame and be secured with a nut and washer from the bottom. IMO, six of these are more than strong enough to hold the bed in place. I haven't found a down side to this yet but I did put my bed on as a unit and my truck is more of a toy than a work truck. It won't make any trips to the dump. I don't have a pic.so I hope you can decypher my instructions.

[Green 1959]

Originally Posted by Speedbumpauto

Something worth considering that I noticed some, including myself, have done is stud the cross sills where they bolt to the frame so you can eliminate those ugly bolt and washer things that hold the bed to the frame. Easy to do and if you're making your own boards, it saves you from having to drill those holes. IMO, those oddly placed holes and bolts, even chromed/polished make a beautiful bed look not so much. Since I needed inner tubs I used three pieces of 3/4 plywood, stained, urethaned, etc and placed the stainless strips semi symmetrically across the bed, even though only two of them hide gaps and I slso raised the floor 2 inches to accomodate suspension and fuel tank. Mine is also a TF so it's slightly different but the same.

I kinda get what you are saying on the studding the cross sills, very smart. But was is "TF"? Is your truck a long bed?

[OrrieG]

you can also just double nut a carriage bolt and relieve the underside of the wood.
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[Green 1959]

Originally Posted by OrrieG

you can also just double nut a carriage bolt and relieve the underside of the wood.
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That is just what I was thinking of doing. Is there a mount or do you bolt the bracket directly to the frame?

[Dan in Pasadena]

Originally Posted by Green 1959

....But was is "TF"?...

Stands for "Task Force" - it's what GM called the '55.2 through '59 trucks. Much like the '47.5's thru '55.1's were called Advanced Design, or AD.

[Green 1959]

Thank you, I didn't know that

[Green 1959]

Should I do maple or oak if I were to do it with plywood?

[Speedbumpauto]

I can't even remember what mine is now. I just went to Home Depot and looked for a grain pattern I liked. I knew my stain color already. Be aware that the plywood is too narrow in sheet form. I glued and dowled a piece of
1x2 pine to each side of mine and sanded to fit. The addition is almost completely hidden by the angle strip when installed but it gives you the correct height and something for the angle strips to bolt to+ it gives a finished look. I've seen sheets installed without doing this and it just doesn't look good IMO. Good idea with the carriage bolt but you know us fabricators with a welder in our hands.?

[The Rocknrod]

Originally Posted by Rednek13x

What do you mean by stud the cross sills? I am at the point of drilling the mounting holes in my boards i hand built. But also do not like the look of the bolts washers. Please explain more as i am very interested.

There is a bracket under the cross sills that sits on the frame. Use a smaller length bolt for them instead of using the long one and going thru the board. I did it also. Takes a few minutes before you install the wood but it works.

[vintovka]

4 beds in now over 65 years

Original 54-69
Cheap Plywood, two piece, top oil stained, 1969=1999, reused rails
Marine Plywood, two piece, painted both sides, 99-2017 reused rails

and finally

Choicedek 12" , with recesses for underneath for carriage bolt mounting, all SS rails and hardware, holes drilled as needed. Used a forstner bit to cut 1" x 3/8" for recesses. Added cross sills where needed.

[mr48chev]

Originally Posted by Rednek13x

What do you mean by stud the cross sills? I am at the point of drilling the mounting holes in my boards i hand built. But also do not like the look of the bolts washers. Please explain more as i am very interested.

He is talking about welding studs or bolts to the cross sills to bolt the bed down to the frame. That way one doesn't have to use the offset washers and carriage bolts to hold the bed to the frame.
Now I have to go back and look to see if he used the strips with hidden bolts.

OOPS SHOULD HAVE READ ALL THE WAY THROUGH THE COMMENTS.

[vintovka]

Originally Posted by mr48chev

He is talking about welding studs or bolts to the cross sills to bolt the bed down to the frame. That way one doesn't have to use the offset washers and carriage bolts to hold the bed to the frame.
Now I have to go back and look to see if he used the strips with hidden bolts.

OOPS SHOULD HAVE READ ALL THE WAY THROUGH THE COMMENTS.

Long carriage bolts with sufficent thread length can be used to bolt the bed frame cross sills directly to the chassis. The bed rail hardware fastens bed down neatly. Unless welded to bed frame and ground flush bolt heads will stick up and keep the bed material from sitting flat. The forstner bits are an easy way to drill a flat bottomed recess if bolt heads are in the way. I used extra fabricated cross sills to add strength to the bed and because of the K10 chassis upgrade. FWIW using nuts with attached locking washers really helps when working on your back under bed. Safety glass help too.

[The Rocknrod]

Originally Posted by mr48chev

He is talking about welding studs or bolts to the cross sills to bolt the bed down to the frame. That way one doesn't have to use the offset washers and carriage bolts to hold the bed to the frame.
Now I have to go back and look to see if he used the strips with hidden bolts.

OOPS SHOULD HAVE READ ALL THE WAY THROUGH THE COMMENTS.

You don't have to weld. Look at the cross members where they attach to the frame, use a shorter bolt there. The rear cross sill is the only one you have to modify so the bolts don't go thru the wood.

[_Ogre]

Originally Posted by vintovka

4 beds in now over 65 years

good looking bed vintovka, looks vaguely familiar

FWIW using nuts with attached locking washers really helps when working on your back under bed.

good idea. i prefer to drop the lock and flat washers all over me and the floor

[_Ogre]

Originally Posted by The Rocknrod

There is a bracket under the cross sills that sits on the frame. Use a smaller length bolt for them instead of using the long one and going thru the board. I did it also. Takes a few minutes before you install the wood but it works.

hopefully rednek figured this out 5 years ago

i did similar on my truk, bolted the rails down before the bedwood
i used a router to cut the bolt head recess, cuz i had it handy
nice thing about this method is you can bolt down 1x4 on the ends of the rails and set your bed on for modifying it

[The Rocknrod]

I AM ON THE WRONG FORUM!
How did I get on this year/series forum?
I apologize for my answers should they lead you astray.

[_Ogre]

your ok, same bed, fenders and steps 55-66

[my56chevytruck]

the original request asked about equal widths, If you did make them all equal widths, wouldn't you have problems lining up the top strips that hold the wood down? I'm a fan of the original design so I stayed with that. I bought all my wood at the local home depot, took longer to find good straight boards than it did to finish them. Used my router to run along each edge to get the right depth for each strip.

[my56chevytruck]

Originally Posted by s10fan

even though i did mine differently, i agree, the original style is very nice to look at.

ditto!!

[joedoh]

I have done a few, some with a steel bed floor under and some with just crossbars like the original. my advice is not to worry about the exact profile of the wood as original, you might be able to find a special bit that has that profile but recently I have just been doing it with a rabbiting bit and there havent been any consequences except that it used to take a couple hours on a table saw (no dado) to cut the J profile and I can do all the boards in about 10 minutes with the router and rabbit bit.

IMG_0815.JPG_zpswspj2ipx by Joe Doh, on Flickr
IMG_4945 by Joe Doh, on Flickr
IMG_0640 by Joe Doh, on Flickr
IMG_6890 by Joe Doh, on Flickr


I even did a 65, so you dont feel out of place, rocknrod!

IMG_0297 by Joe Doh, on Flickr

[_Ogre]

Originally Posted by my56chevytruck

If you did make them all equal widths, wouldn't you have problems lining up the top strips that hold the wood down?

nope

I'm a fan of the original design so I stayed with that.

not much stock on my 58 truk

[mick53]

White oak is a closed grain wood. If you make a barrel out of red oak it will leak. If you have a local saw mill get it there. By making your own you have many more options. Also if you have the time tung oil is a good choice. Tung oil is a drying oil but it takes some time. It is an awesome finish that goes back 3000 years. It's a in the wood finish and not on the wood so can't peel or chip. Also quarter sawn lumber is much more stable. Again get it from you local saw mill. You will also want to straight line saw it. Get it close and use an 8' level or some other straight edge and do one edge and then you can table saw the other edge. Don't try to take too much when you straight line it or it can move on you again. Hope this helps.

[vintovka]

Originally Posted by _Ogre

good looking bed vintovka, looks vaguely familiar

I stole idea from a guy who was smarter than me. Was it you?

good idea. i prefer to drop the lock and flat washers all over me and the floor

The ones that fall into mouth or ear not too bad. Bouncing parts off my "brand new" eyeballs - nooo!