Long Stepside Bed Wood Bolts

[G8rN@te61]

I have a '61 long stepper. I bought new wood for the bed but it did not come predrilled with holes. Besides the ones for the side angle strips, what other holes are there? I noticed on the threads here that some guys only did the side bolts and the center strips while others had a few bolts in other various locations. I have searched through the the threads and looked at various other websites but cant seem to get a clear answer. It appears the long fleet has 5 bolts in the third board over from the side. Is this the same for the step? Does someone have pics and dimensions they could share that has all of the stock bolts in place? I spent a lot of hours finishing the oak boards and don't want to screw this up. I get my truck back from paint this coming week and would like to get the holes drilled and sealed for install next weekend.

thanks!!
-Nate

[roll_the_dice]

I am not sure if my bolt pattern was original, but I had 6 holes on the 2nd board from the edge on my stepper. 3 in the front and 3 near the tail...the wood is out now, but I still have the wood.

[G8rN@te61]

is there any way you could provide measurements?

[roll_the_dice]

I took measurements on my left hand board since they are off the truck the right side is pretty rotten so that's all I could get. The RH side should be a mirror image.

What I was going to do is lay my new boards on the bed with the metal strips and go underneath and mark them with a punch or marker so I know where the holes are going to go. I am actually doing hidden bolts so that is where I will use a forstner bit to recess the place for the carriage bolts.

DISCLAIMER:I am hesitant to give measurements, since I don't want to feel bad if mine are different than yours for whatever reason.

Anyway, here are the measurements I came up with all board measurement from the left edge of the board. The bottom (tailgate side) 3 are from the bottom edge of the board. The top (head side) is from the top edge. All are measured to center of hole. Hope this helps...If you have questions, ask here or PM me and we can talk on the phone..might be easier to explain.

The drawing has the measurements, the "dots" represent the holes but are not proportional.

[cwcarpenter98]

Those bolts that go through the wood also go to the cross sill mounting points on the frame. They are the same for both fleet and step side because the cross sills bolt to the frame in the same place. There will be a difference between 60-62 frames and 63-66 frames because of the different width

[G8rN@te61]

10-4 thanks. This really helps. I think I will mark these on the back side of the boards and when the truck comes I can check them vs. the holes in the cross sills. Guess Ill just have to be more patient.