The Stovebolt Forums Forums The Parking Lot '60-'66 Trucks Composite Decking for the bed

Was playing around with a drawing editor last night and came up with this. Still has 8 boards even if they are similar to dimensional lumber at 5 1/2. If I can get them wider it will be even tighter. Will have ability to expand and shrink with temp.

If I can't get them wider I might have to make a bushing for the strip bolts so they don't crush the strips, but that is not too hard.

I am undecided if I will through bolt the boards to the frame in stock locations, or if I will secure bed to frame and hide those bolts under the decking.

You better make even more allowance for expansion and shrinkage than with wood. That composite decking is mostly plastic, which expands and contracts with temperature change (as opposed to wood, which is sensitive to moisture), so if it's setting out in the sun, may even bow upwards between the bed strips if they run out of room to expand.

It looks good, and would work well if you make the proper allowances.

I have a flatbed on my 65 swb with a fabricated flat bed and used the composite deck boards when I first thought about using them I got 3
boards and cut them to lengths, that gave me 6 boards and attached with self tapping flat head screws. that was 3 yrs ago,it sat outdoors
in the weather for that time. Finally got the truck done enough to install the bed about 4 months ago and picked up enough boards to finish
the floor, this was in a light gray color and I figured it would have a color difference, it did but only lasted for about 3 weeks, now you can't
see any difference, they were installed tight together and show no sign of warping or moving at all. Above all I think they will outlast any wood
product.

I thought about putting them tight, but I though having the same number as factory would make people think twice? I can also simply buy another SS strip and make it simple, but then the widths don't stay the same across the bed as the outer edges will be thinner I believe.

I was wondering about simply tapping the cross bars for the bolts as they will not need to be super tight. Seeing that you used self tappers I think I got my answer that I can tap it. Maybe I will get anal and put all the washers and nuts on?

issue? Put new oak boards in about 3 years ago. I used polyurethane to coat them and the texas sun burns it off as fast as I re-apply. I changed to linseed but. No matter what I do it wears out. ( no carport or garage)

I'm considering composite, reading this thread with interest.

There are some youtube videos of people doing it. The main one is where the guy went crazy with fasteners. No one has come back to say any long term results were good. I have composite decking at my house for a variety of things it was not intended for. It has been working great on everything for me.

So stain, no oiling, no poly, no paint. Seems like the way to go. Its just the spacing and attachment that will need some thought put into.

The more I think about getting the 6 bolts that hold the bed onto the truck hidden, the more I like the idea of it. The bed looks so much cleaner.

There are some youtube videos of people doing it. The main one is where the guy went crazy with fasteners. No one has come back to say any long term results were good. I have composite decking at my house for a variety of things it was not intended for. It has been working great on everything for me.

So stain, no oiling, no poly, no paint. Seems like the way to go. Its just the spacing and attachment that will need some thought put into.

The more I think about getting the 6 bolts that hold the bed onto the truck hidden, the more I like the idea of it. The bed looks so much cleaner.

Forgot to add that I am going to add additional cross bars to shorten the span to eliminate sagging. I bought new ones and a couple of the old ones are will be repairable.

I’ve wondered if a guy could use a high grade Marine plywood. Wouldn’t be as maintenance free is the composite stuff, but should be very dimensionally stable.

I did some accurate measurements while waiting for filler to dry yesterday and went to Home Depo to see what they had.

1. HD only has one size width in stock. It is 5 1/4. I was hoping for 5 1/2 to be able to make it work with 8 boards, but no such luck. If you want to use generic composite you will need 9 boards.
2. HD can order wider composite boards, but they go out of sight for price. Like 80 a board vs 20 a board.
3. There is also some exotic woods that you don't do anything with. No paint, stain, poly, etc. Just set it and forget it. Would be about 400 for enough wood, and I am not sure how many router bits you would need for the milling.
3. You can easily mill the generic composite for the strips to set down in.
4. You will have to plane the thickness down to be even with the sill of the bed. If you wanted the strength I guess you could bevel the composite back to the first cross bar? Or trim the bottom of the composite and bend it down to be even with the sill. You will have to bend the strips as well, but that would not be too hard. I bet it would be difficult to notice the slight bend in the floor.

Anyhoo, I have ordered my replacement fenders, and I am working on the bed pieces to get them straight. Using filler for the big stuff, and will have to do it again once assembled as everything has bends and twists in it. I will be tackling the floor as soon as it is assembled.