The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Paint and Body Shop alternative to bed wood.

A friend of mine is building a truck and he has used drywall studs for the bed floor. I was wondering if anyone else had an alternative to wood. I like the wood look but want something that i dont have to replace or refinish for several years.

Bruce, post a picture the bed floor in your '47, and explain just what it is.

dg

Used metal studs??? That won't rust out very soon....

Here's what a fellow Stovebolter chose for his floor instead of wood.
He tells me it's HDPE cut and routed like the wood would have been, Wouldn't have to worry about getting this bed stuck out
in the rain:
http://www.pbase.com/dennygraham/image/161072612

dg

Can ypu get that wide enough make the boards? Might make a good all weather bed...I might have to go looking...more money into the truck.

Any other issues you can think of with the HDPE use on a bed? Cracking ?, heat exposure ?, dry-rot ?....
Just brainstorming here- I think it's a great idea & wondered what considerations should be thought about if someone went with it.

The topic is alternatives to bed wood; my first concern with HDPE would be with its ________. Fill in the blank. I have limited experience with it, and definitely haven't used it in this configuration.

Brad

edit- 1)OP/CASO-some of the drywall studs I've used are galvanized 2) the hdpe bed pictured is really cool in my opinion

http://www.gipo-rpi.com/recycled-hdpe-sheet-manufacturer/?gclid=CMyfjYKcuMcCFQwYHwod7OMNtQ

1" black 4'x8' sheet - original wood would have been stained/painted black.

Let us know what you decide to use. Please post links to photos.

I wonder if expansion and contraction would be an issue with temperature changes? When I worked in automotive we used a lot of UHMW which was very durable and easy to work with. I have never bought it but have been told it is expensive.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultra-high-molecular-weight_polyethylene

Mark

I saw a bed that was made of trek decking. It looked great!

I'm wanting one made of discarded bullet proof glass. I don't know how machine ready the material would be.

Carl,

Would you use clear glass or smoked glass?

How would you rout/cut the grooves for the retainer strips?

Do you think you might want to use a original heat shield attached to the glass above the upward bend of the tail pipe over the rear axle?

Tim- everything I'm about to post is completely coincidental as far as me having the HDPE material; my intention all along has been to go with wood; but, if anyone's interested:

Here is (believe me) an unintended fire test on HDPE 1/2" thick 'flame resistant' black material (I had a garage fire a couple of weeks ago; the moving pads that caught fire were laying on this sheet) Pictures

I left my Perry's ChemE handbook at work, but the only specs I know of this particular piece are HDPE, black, 0.5" thick, and it is the 'flame resistant' type. The thermo-plastic properties are why I had/acquired it.

IF someone a) decided to use this particular variety in their truck bed, and b) wanted to start a fire on it- I can 100% vouch for its 'flame resistant' properties. That, and the fact that it seems to show scratches fairly easy, is all I can add to the discussion. I literally had a huge fireball on top of the pictured piece. It did not melt everywhere. I am not recommending anything about this material, just posting pictures. The last picture I put a piece of stainless steel beside it to mimic a bed strip. Imagination required.

Brad

edit- Just looked at the linked supplier website- this would be an expensive material to use. Carl... you'll need to use water jets on that impact glass & it is a phenomenally heavy material.

That it didn't melt is amazing Brad. I never would have
believed it could stand up to open flame like that.
And what the heck, wood scratches also so you're not loosing
anything by using this stuff.
I would have thought that the cost was out of this world.
Didn't look to hard but I did find a site online that has
recycled HDPE. I can't imagine where they would have 1" thick
4'x 8' sheets that were recycled, but they did. The cost was
about $350.
I was looking at 1/4" Acrylic glazing material at Menards and
a 4x8 sheet of that was $180, make that $200 by the time you
got it out of the store with the tax. Plastic taint cheap.
Denny G

That 1" black HDPE looks interesting.

The black trek decking looks interesting.

If anyone uses these materials, please post a follow-up and links to photos.

I do know about acrylic glazing or bullet-proof glass; but, if anyone tries them, let us know.

I just posted that bit about Acrylic glazing as a comparison
of the cost for common plastics. I don't think anyone would
want to use it for an AD bed any more than they would "bullet
proof glass."
I personally would stick to a pine floor in any truck that was
under my care. The question was about alternatives to wood and
I thought Bruce's use of the HDPE was a bit different and
worth mentioning.

dg

Pine wood for my trucks, too, Denny.

The acrylic and glass comment was in the spirit of Carl's sense of humor.

I am interested, however, in hearing-about and seeing anyone's attempts with the HDPE or Trex.

I thought I posted this earlier Tim, a very good example of HDPE for a floor.
http://www.pbase.com/dennygraham/image/161072612

dg

Sorry, Denny.

I should have been clearer. I am interested in seeing black "boards", and is seeing routed/drilled planks before being bolted down.

Oh, you'll be laughing out of the other side of your face when I pull off the bullet proof bed!
I am only slightly less weird than Deve!
And DG is just trying to yank my chain so that I will actually do it.
Carl

If it matters, Carl: if it is not a really dark-smoked glass, it does not seem right trying to pull it off.

Do it Carl.
Don't clean it with Windex is all I can add to this alternative bed material discussion.

Brad

When i met up with Jim911, he used composite decking and it looked great! If i remember correctly, it was gray in color. I think it was a great idea. I don't have pictures of it, but i am sure that you could contact him for pictures.

Chris

Carl,
Bullet proof glass in the bed of your truck? Where do you live and what do you do with your truck at night????

I've seen photos online of an AD truck with a see through bed floor. It was a show truck, so probably not driven on the road.

In my photography work, we did a project once that required 1" thick acrylic. It was about $25 a square foot. It scratched very easily. After just an hour of use for the project, with people walking on it, it looked terrible. It was also very heavy.

I had a 58 fleetside that only had two boards in it to bolt it down, and the metal strips on the rest. See through bed. I told people I hauled sand with it.

i was wanting to avoid the upkeep of pine in my bed as well. i looked at the synthetic decking but it was not available in widths large enough for the middle board, 7.5" i believe. i found that black locust is indigenous to NC and is resistant to rot, insects, mildew, etc. other options i considered were Ipe, brazilian cherry, and a few others. It is a bit heavy but weathers to a nice ashy brown color that fits in well with my heavily patina'd truck. i found a local mill that had some and then ran them over the table saw to give the relief to receive the strip. been installed for over a year now and they are holding up great - don't have to worry about scraping the bed or leaving in the rain.

Jspangs,

You might be able to get away with just adding an extra board/strip.

That was my thoughts as well.