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So I collected all the parts over the years and test fit the wood, of course my bedwood came without any holes

after getting truck back from paint, also realized cross sills only had mounting holes, no bed wood holes

A whole new job to tackle, made a template for cross holes , its the four corners into the sills that are going to be fun trying to mark and drill

I believe the bed wood should only have holes drilled along the outside two planks for the length. Two other boards will have holes for the anchor bolts to the frame. It was this way for my one ton. Weird that your cross sills don't have holes in the top for the bed strips to bolt to.
Perhaps wait to drill holes unless you're sure of everything. We'd hate for you to wreck your boards! Someone who has more 1/2ton experience will chime in I'm sure!

I think our member (& contributor/company) Mar-K has the wood spacing patterns on their website for those wanting to do their own bed work.

Let us know how it works out & what you decide. How'd you decide or figure out your template?

Brad

one of the center cross sills had holes, so I transferred those to a piece of oak, the marked rear sill with this.
Test fit of wood and trim looked good
working slowly on this so as not to ruin boards

noticed that outside boards were not up against one of the bed sides, it may be warped a little (approx 1/4) in the center.

I am going to try to pull that in then mark hole locations

I think I have a plan for the four corners ,into the sill plates
Since I cannot get to the spots from underneath,and from above I cannot get a drill close enough to keep the drill perpendicular, I will get a 9" long drill extension and a 12" long drill.
That should get me high enough to drill a perpendicular hole through.(if I mark and drill the side bed wood first ,it will act as a guide down to sill)

I had the same problem with my outside boards not sitting flush against the bed side under the angle strip. I eventually shaved off about 1/16" on each side. I triple checked before cutting though! This also helped set the board gaps and strip gaps perfectly.

bought the sills a while ago and didn't know better
a lesson learned
( had no old parts to compare to )

Some good bed assembly details on the 3100's here.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/advance-design_parts_co/albums/72157631884205225

thanks, I have that printed out

a little more checking revealed that the bed would is straight and the bed sides are not.
Now trying to figure out a good way to straighten or trim boards to get a good fit before drilling any holes.

clamped bed wood to bed sides to (straightening bed sides) and marked bed side holes

Then measured and marked bed to frame hole locations ( triple checked)

will look at again before drilling any holes