Back in 2001 I had to do something with the rotted out bed wood. I was too lazy to go thru the exercise of installing correct planks with the metal bed runners between each piece of wood. Thought "Hey! what about a piece of plywood?" Oops, most commonly found plywood is/was 48" wide. The bed is 50". Argh!!
Then I heard about a local lumber yard that sold Ping Pong table wood which is 60" wide x 108" long x 3/4" thick. Yeah Baby!! Grabbed a chunk, brought it home and cut it to size. Pretty easy to install.
Still wanted the metal runners so I simply drilled the hole through the plywood and whoola!
Yes, the wood needs a sealer really bad and maybe this coming summer, I'll do that. Not bad for something I did 19 years ago, especially with all the gravel and rock the green turd has hauled for us.
The dark rubber sheeting up against the cab is my bed protector which lays out flat covering the entire bed when I am hauling rock, top soil, gravel, etc.
Just wanted to share....
Craig
My '50 Chevy 3100 5 window, '62-235cu, 3:55 rear My truck ....... Respect The Rust If I'm not working on my truck, '65 m00stang or VW camper, I'm fishing with the wife or smoking Salmon.
I wish I'd known about ping-pong table wood. I used standard 48" wide siding but added metal runners at the edges to hold it down and fill the gaps. The plate is for battery access.
There’s many variations of 5’ x 9’ plywood available. Just not found at the Box stores. Marine / boat supply or lumber specialty distributors carry it or have it readily available. I once bought a 5’x10’ x 3/4 “ sheet with sandy/pebble marine finish thru a boat restoration place.
Used exterior plywood in my '63 SWB but with cutting it into strips on the table saw, 48" was just enough. I also plowed a groove with the table saw in the edges for the metal strips to sit in. Installed and linseed oiled the daylights out of it. looked great all the time I had the truck.
Larry Old man᠁Old truck᠁neither one goes very fast. All you need in life is TIME, PATIENCE and MONEY. If you are missing one component, you'll need an abundance of the others two.
Nothing like a little "Stovebolter Ingenuity".