Looking for advice - wood bed 63 C20

[Asshat]

Originally Posted by jayoldschool

The only holes in the wood are around the edge of the bed, the wheel tubs, and the bed mounting bolts. All the other bolts go through the strips, which are in the gaps between the boards. For the holes on the perimeter, you slide the board in, mark the holes with a Sharpie, remove, drill, bolt in place. You install the wheel tubs last. Boards are in already. Drop on the tub, mark, remove tub, drill (and jigsaw the outline of the inner tub). Bed hold down bolts: mark and drill from the bottom once the bed is in place.

Yes, get wood from an actual lumber place, not a home depot.

This is the first one I did (my truck). Trex, and on big jack stands. More work crawling underneath to do the bolts.

The four side boards in front and back of the tubs go in first. These set the height of the bed, and lock all the cross sills in place. Once you do this, it's simply dropping in the boards, putting on the strips, and bolts bolts bolts.


You can see that side boards are bolted in, strips still to go in here.



Note the gaps between the boards, you can just see the bolt holes in the cross members:



Strips in. Note no strips on the middle two boards so I can remove them, use a strap and my engine hoist to lift the bed on the truck. Once on the truck, bolt down the strips, drill the holes in the boards for the big bolts, done!



Finished product:



If you're building a truck that will be garaged, and the bed won't see rough work, nice stained wood looks great. If your truck will be outside, and working, don't bother with expensive wood/stain. You can see the two very different ones I built, both are nice, both are for different purposes.

Very good info - Thank You!

Only question is about the wood selection - you say not to go to a Home Depot; I get this, however, is there really much difference? Especially if you're going to leave your truck outside most of the time? Your last paragraph says to not spend a lot of money on wood/stain if it is going to be outside. How much different is Whitewood from Home Depot vs Ganahl Lumber?

EDIT: Also, you mention "tubs" - are these the inner fenders? If so, I don't think the 63 pickups had inner fenders.

[jayoldschool]

Wheel tubs: the black things in the pics that go over the tires.

Wood: yes, if your truck is going to sit outside, get cheap wood wherever, pick the straightest/clearest (no knots) boards you can from the pile. Then, seal it up well. Or, do Trex/other synthetic and never worry about stain.

[cwcarpenter98]

Here's the difference of about 3 years. First pic was a couple days after putting the wood in. Second pic was about 3 years after that. I used a stain/sealer combo, and obviously it wasn't up to the task of sitting outside 24/7 365. I still have plenty of the same stain, but this time, I'll be adding an additional sealer on top of the stain

[Praxiss454]

Everyone seems to swear by Mar-K but I was disappointed with my bedwood kit. Maybe it was my fault for taking whatever couple of days to paint in the middle of summer but the boards warped during the few days I was painting them, and they didn't come drilled for the sides. If I was handy enough to drill these accurately, I would have just cut the wood myself. Wish I had tried that route, probably would have turned out just as good. Now I'm some $800+ into a bed that's just okay.

I really like the practicality of the Trek beds in terms of zero maintenance. If I was to do it over again, I might try that route.

[Asshat]

Since I need two boards that are actual 5-7/16” width, I wonder if I could get away with using 1x6 boards for these two center boards. These 1x6 boards are actually 3/4x5-1/2... that 1/16” should make a difference, should it?

[roll_the_dice]

You can do any width boards you want as long as the final result fills the bed. You would need to adjust the other boards accordingly...some people have put an equal width all the way across. Otherwise, I would not use 2 boards 5 1/2" and the rest the correct width...but that is just me.

[Asshat]

Originally Posted by roll_the_dice

You can do any width boards you want as long as the final result fills the bed. You would need to adjust the other boards accordingly...some people have put an equal width all the way across. Otherwise, I would not use 2 boards 5 1/2" and the rest the correct width...but that is just me.

I didn’t think it would make much difference; the difference between 5-7/16 and 5-1/2 is 1/16”. That’s 1/32” on each side. I think that’s a reasonable tolerance stack.

[Asshat]

Still have a question regarding length of boards. The website states 97”, however, my bed is an actual 97.5”. Should I cut the boards to 97.5” to fit the bed length?

[Asshat]

Originally Posted by Asshat

Still have a question regarding length of boards. The website states 97”, however, my bed is an actual 98”. Should I cut the boards to 98” to fit the bed length?

Maybe someone can post pics of their bed and how the wood fits in the front and back of the bed?

I figure that the strips will be exactly 97", so maybe the wood should match this, even thought the bed may be slightly longer?

EDIT: I looked at the freight cost for the wood kit and the strips alone, OMG. For the whole kit, the freight is almost as much as the cost of the wood. The freight cost for the strips alone is $237. I might just keep my strips and just clean them up.

[Praxiss454]

Originally Posted by Asshat

Maybe someone can post pics of their bed and how the wood fits in the front and back of the bed?

I figure that the strips will be exactly 97", so maybe the wood should match this, even thought the bed may be slightly longer?

97", according to https://gmcpauls.com/47-72_BedWood_Info.htm

I don't have that truck though, so take this for what it's worth. Random dude on the internet.

[The Rocknrod]

How are you measuring at the front of the bed? Pic?

[Asshat]

Originally Posted by The Rocknrod

How are you measuring at the front of the bed? Pic?

The rail and tape measure are pushed up against the edge of the bed.

[bigmoe]

Originally Posted by Asshat

The rail and tape measure are pushed up against the edge of the bed.

The front of the box could be a bit bowed forward. Mine was. It easily pulls back straight and the bolts through the wood will hold it straight.

[Asshat]

Can someone tell me which bolts go where? The bed to frame bolts are obvious, there's 10 of them.

I presume these all go through the rails, however, not sure where the large washers go.
3/8 x 1-1/4" long, with 14 washers.


These must be for the perimeter and around the wheel wells. I counted 36 holes - and, not sure where the eight washers go.
5/16 x 1-1/2" long, 40 each, with 8 washers.

[The Rocknrod]

You definitely need some expansion room on each end but I would think 1/8" would be enough on each end.

[jayoldschool]

Yes, you leave room for expansion... and for drainage! I actually drilled two holes in the front corners of the wood for drains. The 67 up beds have drains added.

I know you are very concerned with costs here. Why not just grab some plywood, throw it in, bolt your original strips on top, and call it a day?

[Asshat]

Originally Posted by jayoldschool

Yes, you leave room for expansion... and for drainage! I actually drilled two holes in the front corners of the wood for drains. The 67 up beds have drains added.

I know you are very concerned with costs here. Why not just grab some plywood, throw it in, bolt your original strips on top, and call it a day?

I decided to go the inexpensive route... I just picked up some lumber from Lowes, $167. I will use my old rails and just buy sa new hardware package.

We'll see how it goes. I noticed MAR-K has a lot of help-files on their website. I printed them out today, now I have some reading to get to.

[jayoldschool]

Good work! Get cutting. Measure twice, lol

[cwcarpenter98]

Measure three times! I had the tape measure sitting wrong on one of my boards and cut it about a 1/4 inch shorter than all the others... oops

Good luck on it!

[Asshat]

The original bolts for the bed were splined. Anyone know if these splined bolts are still available? It seems all the new kits and rails have square holes.

Always some sort of road-block working on these old trucks.

[The Rocknrod]

The only ones I found - https://www.ebay.com/itm/67-72-Chevy...ke%3AChevrolet

[Asshat]

Well, I bit the bullet and just purchased some SS Polished rails and a set of hardware from the Car and Truck Shop in Orange. Saved a bunch of money in shipping too. Good thing they are so close to me.
And, better pricing than Brothers Truck Parts.
$273 and I’m done; I just need to pick up stain and Polyurethane.

[The Rocknrod]

And you'll probably get them faster if your shipping em.

[Asshat]

Originally Posted by The Rocknrod

And you'll probably get them faster if your shipping em.

I have them, drove over there this morning.

[jayoldschool]

Put those old strips up for sale, someone will need them.