The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Paint and Body Shop Pickup Bed Sides

I slapped together some stake sides for my '50 to use to haul a tall load. I made mine out of 2x4 lumber for the sides and 2x2's for the stakes. You could alsu us 1x4's or 1x6's for the slats. There is no reason you couldn't do the same thing with your truck using better lumber. The best way to proceed in order to get the sides to come out level and true to the bed rails is to insert the stakes into the pockets before you build the rest of the sides. None of my stake pockets seem to be exactly the same depth so leave them a bit long and trim them once the sides are fit. To keep them from rattling, use small cedar wedges. Avoid making the wood press fit into the stake pockets because it will swell with moisture and stick or pop the spot welds. Use a square to make them perpendicular to the sides, and screw the side boards to them with stainless or brass screws. I cut my side boards so they were the same length as the bed rails and mounted them 6" above the bed rails. I wish I would have mounted them lower. They look ok but stuff tends to get between them. It looks better if you leave the top ends of the stakes a bit proud of the top of the side boards and cut them into a point. Amazingly they look pretty good even made out of weathered fir. They kind of complete the look of the truck.