The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Paint and Body Shop Sheet metal "wave" in bed side

Hello everyone-

I am doing some modifications to the bed sides of my 55 second series. I have removed the stake pockets and the angle side strip.

As I was reassembling the bed box to view my modifications, I noticed a “wave” in the sheet metal. It is in the middle area between the front and rear dropped areas. The wave has a total offset of about 1.5”.

I do not know if this distortion is a result of heat (from sanding and grinding) or if it is there on all bed sides. (I noticed a similar wave on the front bed panel that I purchased from LMC.)

Has anyone else noticed this wave in a bed side? Is it found in all stamped pieces?

Does anyone think the wave will disappear when I bolt or weld the bed side angle strip back on to the side?

I hate to continue working on this piece if I will eventually have to purchase a new one.

Any feedback or advice is greatly appreciated!

Thanks

Ross

Fetcher

Not sure how or why you removed the stake pockets, excessive heat could have caused the wave. I did not want to incure the cost of new side panels and had to weld in the entire lower 5 inches on both sides. I did not remove stake pockets but only cut out spot welds to free up the rusty 5 inch bottom of panel. When I spot welded the new angle strips on I did have to utilize some metal shrinking to resolve some small waves. do a search on this site and you will find a great deal of info on working metal including shrinking. Most of my problems were where the fenders bolted on and were there from the time I got the truck, my kids did not help as they would use the fenders as a step when exiting the box. Good luck.

1stproject

Sorry, I just glanced up and thought fetcher was you online name. Being a apprentice I was certanly not trying to put you down. Again good luck and if your like me with more time than extra cash work with the metal you have, you will learn alot and have fun doing it, take your time and enjoy the process.

Dan -

No offense taken.

Thanks for the information. I will look up metal shrinking. Looks Like I may get some practice in that arena.

It is odd...the only wave is in the dead center of the panel at the bottom of the bed side. Most of it is under the "bed line".


Why remove the stakepockets....... I want to streamline the appearance of the bed. I am going to use the hidden latch system to replace the tailgate chains and am going to use hidden hinges to replace the trunions. I have successfully removed the pockets, filled in all of the holes, and modified the cross sill to attach to the bed side using a modified angle type bracket.

I like the look so far. It looks pretty sleek. I think it will look good when I get a roll pan and a flat / smooth tailgate.


Anyway thanks again for the information.

Ross

I wont comment on how to remove that wave as its kinda a vague description.
But am wondering how strong that box side will be without the stake pockets. To me it would seem to be a floppy mess...Eric

Ross, hey I really don't think you have a problem, if all you've done some sanding to remove paint & rust, you probably won't generate enough heat to warp those side panels. I think your on track, when you install the angle strip that will make it rigid and like you said it's under the bed floor and behind the fenders out of sight.

Sevt_chevellle (Eric)–

Thanks for the response. I have been wondering that same thing.

Here is what I am thinking – Please give me your opinion on this!

Since the ends of the bed planks rest on the rear cross sill, I made two heavy “L” brackets with gussets (welded across the L) that I am going to bolt to the sill and weld on to the bed side. I was thinking that this will support the very end of the bed and support the tailgate. I am also thinking that the majority of the bed weight will rest on the middle two sills that are bolted to the frame, thus taking pressure off of the very last sill. I am also counting (hoping!!) that everything will tie together and support each other when the angle strips gets welded to the bed sides and bolted to the wood.

What do you (or anybody else) think?


Yakimabowtie – Thanks for your feedback as well.

Ross

Personally I think you need more then some L brackets on the bottom.
Where that stake pocket was is nothing but a large area of flat sheetmetal. Flat metal has NO strength, its floppy.
Even with the tailgate up I see it flopping over all over because it has no strength to hold itself together.

If you ever get behind a pickup with the tailgate down or missing, you will see the bedsides move side to side, in and out. Thats a modern day truck with inner and outer bedsides.
You are talking basically nothing more then a flat piece of metal with some L brackets on the bottom.

Hmmm..... I see what you are saying. This weekend I will be doing a mock up of the bed box on the frame. I will look at it and see if there is any way I can discretely connect the rear sill to the frame rails.

I really like the way it looks without the stake pockets, but if all else fails I will put some new stake pockets from LMC back on.

I will check back in on Monday and let you know if I had any luck stabilizing the back of the bed.

Thanks again for the response.