Best sites for complete beds or metal?

[El Campo]

I have bought several things from Mar K and they make very fine products as has been said here. Truck parts, no I have not. My guess is that they are merely a distributor of the same Taiwanese made sheet metal that many others also carry. That is just a guess and I could be wrong but that is the way that many places are. Do not get me wrong I have some of that stuff on my truck but the headache has not been worth the cheap price (for me since I am not as good at metal work as the likes of Kabwe and others haha). If I were to do it again (and I am having to unfortunately) I get American made whenever possible. Good luck with whatever you choose!!

[Speedbumpauto]

I assembled the entire bed including inner fenders, outer fenders, roll pan and tail gate for mock up and fit. I left the front, sides and rear cross sill assembled for paint so the two tone would match and had the inner and outer fenders, roll pan and tail gate painted separately for re assembly. I don't really see any advantage in separating the sides, front and rear. I did all button head bolts with nylock nuts and blue loctite for final assembly, some painted, some polished.

[Kabwe]

Speedbumpauto,

The bed looks great.

The advantage to painting in pieces is for very anal people like me.lol I want full coverage in between panels and all. The disadvantage is during re-assembling, you greatly increase the chance of scratches, and chips.
I've seen people paint a truck with the bed on and it would bother me too much to do something like that. Knowing there were areas I could not reach would drive me nuts.

Once again the bed looks great and like I said earlier its a personal choice. Its all in what your use to and how anal you are I guess.lol

[solidaxel]

Ask the truck shop the shipping weight of ONE bed side, and then ask Mar-K, you will soon see the difference in what you are buying!!
I have bought from Mar-K and other suppliers for the same head and tail gate, and there is a big difference in quality.

[ChrisfromCT]

El Campo - Mar-K is the way to go, but I was just being a pain in the a** as to what you had purchased from them. But from these reviews I cant go wrong with spending a few extra bucks on some quality parts, I don't see why I should go any other route. Like Solidaxel said - it worth the weight in gold.



Speedbumpauto - Makes sense to have the box painted then attach the fenders with a little bolt lock grease and some cautious attitude... eveything should work out fine. I like that blue, I was thinking of a 50's light blue/mint myself. Who knows!

Should there be a gasket that goes in between the bed side and the fender in the bed? or in between the step and the bed side? I know that there is a gasket for the front fenders but Im curious if there are some for the back.

Just to keep all of you on the same page, I am going to have the stake pockets boxed in (unless someone objects, I don't see the need for me to put up a wood rail), I do want to get rid of the chain and add a latch, and also there will be a step notch in my frame... now I am assuming that since there is a notch, I should order the bedsides that do not have the angle strip welded on from mar-k right? that way I can weld on the bed wood at a shallower height above the frame. It seems that some of you have step notched the back frame over the rear end, but are there any beginner things to look out for when synchronizing the new bed to fit with the step notch?

[Speedbumpauto]

I painted on seam sealer on all edges and let it dry before assembly. I don't like the gasket/welt look so that was my direction. I also got my sides from Mar-K without the angle strip welded(great advantage) so I could raise the floor 2", but that was mostly for suspension.(4 link) My notch does not go above the stock frame ht. If your's doesn't, you might get away with the stock floor. Doing the rosette welds was a heart stopping event let alone figuring out how to fill the gap at the rear and making it look good. Someone on here had the great and simple idea to drill the bed side and weld from the back instead of drilling the strip like I did. Less clean up and you can't see the ones hidden by the fenders.....unless you burn through......

[98turbls1]

Originally Posted by Kabwe

Man even American cars are not made in the US anymore.lol I'm sure they do not manufacture the parts they are simply a supplier.

If you have to have made in the usa. http://www.mar-k.com/

Thanks for the link!! I am need of a bed and they're right down the road from me. They are by far way cheaper than many other vendors/manufacturers that I've been seeing.

[pvienneau]

10X on MAR-K parts. I bought their wood bed kit (sweet) and am planning on buying their all american made metal bed kit.

[mknittle]

Originally Posted by Kabwe

Speedbumpauto,

The bed looks great.

The advantage to painting in pieces is for very anal people like me.lol I want full coverage in between panels and all. The disadvantage is during re-assembling, you greatly increase the chance of scratches, and chips.
I've seen people paint a truck with the bed on and it would bother me too much to do something like that. Knowing there were areas I could not reach would drive me nuts.

Once again the bed looks great and like I said earlier its a personal choice. Its all in what your use to and how anal you are I guess.lol

I'm with you on that!
The problem with paintin with the bed on is over spray instead of paint between the cab and bed.