The Stovebolt Site Forums The Parking Lot Tons 'o Fun Flatbed wood replacment

Over the last couple weeks I have been working on my trucks flatbed, now I am down to getting ready for the wood. I started removing the rear steel edge piece piece so I can slide the new boards in. I noticed there was pieces of wooden blocks between the rear rail and the rear cross member. There is not enough of them left to get a pattern to make new ones. Has anyone ever replaced those blocks and if so do you have any dimensions. Any help is welcome.

Blind 1968
Those blocks form the left and right sides of the stake pockets, I will try to remove one and maybe take some pics, or numbers. BUT MINE are very wet,swollen. Might be a cut and fit sort of thing. Yours look just like mine,rounded outer rail

UPDATE====== 2X2X3and5/8 INCHES With hole for carriage bolt. Still looks like a cut to fit in rail.

T-ruck,
So I would guess they are on all the rear stake pockets. Do yours have bolts running through them to hold them on or are they just wedged in there. I will have to experiment a little Im sure.
Thanks
Bryan

Awesome! I will have to get some pictures on here of them when Im done for the next guy.
Thank You T-ruck

Bryan

BLIND Mine have a hole for a carriage bolt in middle.?not sure but looks like it. They maybe wedged a little Best to do metal work if any first. If block is to wide you're corners will not fit proper, I believe the rear is the last piece to go on.
mine has the metal front corners and wood side racks.

That rear piece on mine has so many dents and dings i would never get them all out so I think I will just leave its battle scars in it. Now if it effects how that block goes in them I might massage the metal a bit. Below is the type i am working on. At one point in its life they replaced the wooden beams with a steel ones.

http://i1062.photobucket.com/albums...1-40EA-87A8-26414055D6A9_zpscigc3vwg.jpg

Blind
Looks the same as mine, cept for front to rear beams.
And a bunch smother than mine, Mine has hooks welded on and a few stake pockets filed and moved, but the guy i got it from was an apple farmer and tie downs were a must. I have a hard time wraping my head around a 4 speed crash box and a ton+ of apples while going over the coast mountains to deliver. YOU GOTTA BE GOOD. And only one small dent,no rust, and i'm second owner. Well post more pics of bed as you progress I need the inspiration.

Ha, I would hate to be riding shotgun in that truck. The only issue I had with mine was the farmer had welded a sheet of steel over the entire bed. Once I cut that off i found the wood still in place, rotten but still there so I have a few pieces for a template. I will just need to find the correct router bit to edge my boards. I will keep adding pics to my photobucket as I go through.

Bryan

http://s1062.photobucket.com/user/Blind9078/media/IMG_1202_zpsd896a14c.jpg.html

Bryan
Mine had plywood on it. I took it off and it got wet and that was all she wrote. But I have been looking at doing a flatbed dump.But I need to turn on my farmer/ magiver gene. should be fun.
Brad

Bryan
The edge for youre boards maybe a beed edger or just VEE groove then a beed edger. but a jig will be necessary for control. You are talking about the bed metal strips right

Brad
Mine had an aftermarket lift (early 50's era) on it, I have all but eliminated the notion of putting it back on. I would like to put an automatic transmission in it. But thats further down the road

Bryan

Yes, the boards edges are notched for the metal strips. below is some good info.

http://gmcpauls.com/47-72_BedWood_Info.htm

Has anyone had any success replacing the 9 foot flatbed boards? I am having a tough time finding yellow pine locally and have not seen a kit for flatbed. It looks as though there are 10 107" boards all the same width? Does anyone have the correct measurements?

I have the same bed too. Glad to see yours. I was wondering if I was missing a part of the "bumper" rail in the front where the gap is. Guess they were all that way.

Larry W.

'53 3800 DRW Flatbed

Larry,
How thick are your boards? Mine are 1.25" thick

Well,

All I have left is crumbles. When I got it, mine pretty much looked like yours after you tore it apart. LOL

Larry

Dang, well I am going with 1.25. I found some yellow pine that I will have planed down to my required thickness and then I will have to router the edges for the strips.

Honestly, I haven't looked that close at it. But I would think it would just be whatever fits between the cross beams and the top piece of the bumper strip. Is that what you used? I'll need to know eventually also.

Larry.

Yeah, the more common sizes 2" (1.50) is about 1/4 too big and 1" (3/4") is too small. This board has almost every part of these old trucks documented in one place or another but when it comes to the flat bed there is not too much. From what I understand there are several different "factory or OEM" styles of flat beds used on the different AD models. Over the years those get patched and replaced with whatever is available to the owner at the time. What would be nice for the stovebolt AD library is a list of all the different types of beds and maybe some pictures and board count with dimensions. But that might be quite a tall order.

You may try looking for some rough cut lumber from a mill or cabinet supplier. You are looking for 5/4 boards, commonly referred to as 5-quarter. 1.25". Or just run a 1/4" off through a planer.

Thank you, I went ahead and used the barn wood, ripped it down and planed it smooth. The reclaimed wood gives it a rustic look I think.

http://i1062.photobucket.com/albums...F-467A-AD47-DAE91AB36B50_zpshvew4dcv.jpg

For the record on the 10 board sizes: 8 boards were 1.25" x 7.50" x 107" and the 2 outer edge boards were 1.25" x 9.50" x 107".

Looks great.

Ed

Finally done with the bedwood, its not show quality but it was the best I could do with the tools I was working with and most importantly... I like it. I'm going to finish installing & tightening all the bed bolts up then knock out the side rails.

http://i1062.photobucket.com/albums...1-48D3-A4AF-ACA59C057348_zpsmcyhbp8r.jpg