The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Making a Stovebolt Bed Frame too short/bed too long

I'm reassembling my 1950 3100 (formerly someone else's project), and have run up against a problem with the bed. The bed sides I have are about 2" too long, suspect they may be from a GMC. I'm considering whether to just lengthen the frame a couple inches--any suggestions on where to get 9/64 steel for extensions? I could get different sides, but these are very straight.

Thanks,
Warren

GMC and Chevy short beds used the same sides. What makes you suspect they are too long? The bed sides don't attach to the frame.

The bed sides stick out past the rear frame stubs by about 2 inches. That space is filled by the rear cross sill that has the little step for the bed wood boards to sit in.

Thanks for the replies--I do think I've got the basic assembly configuration figured out, and "something ain't right" as we say here in NC.

With the bed partially assembled, the back bed sill is about 2" shy of where it should be in order to attach to both the frame and the bed sides.

I'll try to attach some pictures tonight with more details.

WP

Should also add--my first thought was that someone cut the frame shorter, but on inspection, that doesn't seem to be the case.

Warren

How long are your sides?

The bed sides on my 1949 3100 are 79 and 5/8 inches measured along the top rolled over round edge

Yes, that measurement checks out perfectly. 79&5/8" . Not sure exactly where your fitment issue is. Please get some photos up and we can figure it out.

Thanks for the measurements 1866--I'll check the sides tomorrow. Here's a rear view of the back of the right bed side:

Pic 1

and a left view of the front bed panel:

Pic 2

The DPO (dreaded previous owner) patched/welded the front bed; I'm wondering if that was done incorrectly? Even if that's the case, would not explain the whole 2" problem.

I am not sure I understand pic 2.
Can you post some more pics?
Mine is one the hoist right at the moment so I could do some measurements and pics to help (?)

How close is the front panel to the back of the cab? Couldn't tell from your photo.

I think I might see the problem. In pic #2, I believe that you might have the cross sill in backwards, and that the front bed panel actually mounts to the front of it, rather than behind. Just eyeballing it, that looks like it would make for the mystery 2" that the rear is off.

Looks to me like you just have the sill in the wrong position. Looks like the rear sill needs to move back and the whole bed moved forward.

Look at the pictures in the thread below for some decent reference pictures of how the bed goes together and the location of the rear sill. There are some bed pictures down lower on that page. (Page 2)


http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/showthread.php?t=541111&page=2

The truck in that thread is not mine and I know nothing about it. It just came up when I googled a topic and I saw it had some good pictures. I haven't looked through all of the pages but it looks like a very nice truck and looks very well done.

Good luck

Longbox, I wondered about that. The front bed panel was repaired at some point, and I wondered if it had been welded back together with the bottom lip attached incorrectly.

In answer to someone else's question, the front bed panel is about 3½ to 4" from the back of the cab, and it seems like too big a gap. That is consistent with the front bed panel being incorrect.

Warren

The front bed panel should be about an inch or slightly less from the rear of the cab.

My bed sides do measure correctly (79 5/8"), so that's not the problem; the front bed panel is indeed too far from the back of the cab as mentioned in previous posts.

The front bed panel repair by the previous owner may be the problem. The mounting of the front bed sill is pretty well fixed by the existing holes in the frame, which do not appear to have been relocated by the PO. Here are some better pix of mine:

L side front sill 1

L side front sill 2 (these 2 pix display as cropped, not sure why)

And here is a picture of a bed off the web--clearly shows the panel mounted to the front of the sill, but the resolution does not permit viewing of much detail:

bed assy web pic


Can anyone post pictures of a correctly installed front bed panel, specifically the bottom?

Thanks,

Warren

Warren,
I'm pretty sure this is what you need to do. If I'm wrong I'm positive someone will help out too!
The front cross sill bolts directly to the front panel lip. It does not sit under it. You have it on the wrong side.
In your first picture you need to remove cross sill, spin it 180' and remount to the back of the front bed panel lip on the rear end side. This will move the bed forward the distance you need.
When done the bed wood should sit on top of both the cross sill and the panel lip.
This will also line up your bed wood holes and frame mounts. I believe the actual bolts that hold the box onto the frame have a large washer that sits on top of the bed wood and the bolts go through the bed wood, the cross sill and the wooden block to the frame. The bolts don't go trough the front panel lip.
Hope this solves it for you.

Fox,

Oh duh.

The light bulb just (finally) went on, and you provided the juice! Methinks problem solved--thank you!

WP

Glad to help! This site really is a great resource!

Thanks to all for the replies. Simple in hindsight, but here's how to attach the front bed panel to the front cross sill:

frt bed panel-cross sill config

WP

Perfect.