The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Making a Stovebolt Bed Building a stake bed

This is a 46 (47) one one ton dually

I bought 6 7' bumpers from the salvage yard that were removed from step vans.

The profile and width is almost the same as the factory front bumper.

I wanted to match the as close as pictures that show original models which included rounded corners.

I used the factory dimensions for the length and width basis,so what I did was cut the rounded corners off of two bumpers to get the center runs and then welded those after extending them another 10" to the front and rear runs.

I will weld box steel from left to right as cross members to lay the floor on.The floor will be 2x6 pressure treated planks bolted down through the box steel runners with carriage bolts.

The stake sides are available in metal for $100 something per section,so I am looking at two per side and two across the back.

In the pictures they show the front as being formed curved steel for.

To me it looks exactly like the profile of a 55 gallon drum,so that is what I will use if I can form them enough to fit.

I have not got that far yet.

[IMG]http://i235.photobucket.com/albums/ee73/mgb1234/Picture%20058.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i235.photobucket.com/albums/ee73/mgb1234/Picture%20057.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i235.photobucket.com/albums/ee73/mgb1234/Picture%20056.jpg[/IMG]

All of this looks and sounds good... I suggest doing some research on pressure treated wood. I think it can be corrosive to steel. I'm hopeing someone else will weigh in on this.

Nice job so far, I really like the looks of that. What year step van are those bumpers from? I'll have to look out for those, I would like to make a flat bed for one of mine. Looks original to me.

Sorry for the delay JH51,

These bumpers came off of late 90s handicap transport vans,the salvage yard received 10 of them so I was lucky to get what I needed at that time.

I am working on a 96 freightliner step van that has the same bumper on the front.

If you search stepvanparts.com they have them new but for $225 per bumper,my whole goal was a stake bed under $1000 so I had to wait until I found what I needed.

I paid $75 per bumper from the salvage yard,the actual stake pockets and pieces to build the actual stake panels comes under $200 per section.

Thanks for the info. I'll be on the look out at the salvage yards.