The Stovebolt Site Forums The Parking Lot Big Bolts stake bed questions

Howdy all,

I'm looking for info on building a flatbed/stake bed. I am considering several 1.5 ton, mid 1930's, trucks that do not presently have a bed and no bed parts. I've also looked at the bed building forum here and elsewhere online for a while now and found nothing but pick-up truck discussions. I'm hoping you big iron boys can point me in the right direction.

Any help appreciated.

Westtex36

I'm going to put a flatbed stake on my '46 2 ton, so i'm in a very simular situation as yourself.

My preferred plan of attack would be to find an old truck with the flatbed/stakebed steel frame in good condition, then just bolt it on the truck and replace the wood.

Stake/flat beds really aren't all that complex.. just a steel frame around the outside with the pockets cut in it, with left to right cross pieces (made of wood or steel) to support the 'deck' wood. The whole assembly gets bolted to the frame, usually with a steel or wood 'spacer' to help give adaquate clearence of the deck from the rear wheels.

My problem is, i'm not much of a welder.. so the 'already made' bed frame is what i'll be looking for.

I've seen some guys make an ALL WOOD flatbed.. for stake pockets, they just put metal brackets on the sides to hold the 2x4 stakes.. I don't know if i'd be confident enough in the durability of that design for normal, everyday use.. I like the idea of the steel frame and under frame support, with a wood deck.

Hey Fumblin46,
Saw a great looking flatbed /stake on a truck at website of a guy right here in New York. I am hoping to go look at the truck if he still has it. He is only 40 minutes away. If I go this spring would you like me to send you measurements if I can get them? Here's the web addresshttp://www.nevintage.com/ The truck is down the page a little ways.
Mike

I'm in the same situation too with my 40 1 1/2 ton.

I have a feeling that I'll end up making my own.

I went to a local truck shop and they wanted $4k for a standard flat bed. Way more than my truck actually cost.

I posted a topic earlier on the right size. Here's what I found out:

Dimensions are 141 1/2" X 80 3/4" for my truck which measures 84" from the cab to the center of the axle (CA) - thanks to 3B

Other bed lengths are:
60" C/A = 8' body
72" C/A = 9'-10' body
84" C/A = 12' body
102" C/A = 14' body
108" C/A = 15' body
120" c/A = 16' body

C/A = cab to axle dimension.
Standard cab clearance is 3".

thanks to 53MoneyPit

I'll be making mine fairly soon as I have to put the bed on to get a certified weight for the DMV.

I'll post pics when I'm done.

By the way if anyone knows where to get the sheet metal corners that you can see on Mike's post I'd love to know.

There's a site on-line that shows a company that makes the sides and corners any way you want. There is an earlier posting on thes forum that had the link, don't remember which one it was, maybe a search would work.

I have built a few beds, using 5" channels for main rails, set on 5/4" treated deck wood, U-bolt it down. This includes a few crossmembers to keep striaght as you build. Then take 3" channel for your cross-members. Then use more 5" channel for the outside edge of bed, miter the corners if you can, or even make little angled corners of 4 to 6" or so for neat look. the 3" channel will fit in the 5" outer channel with a little trimming. Then 2 x 6 tongue and groove treated lumber makes a nice deck. the wood will shrink as it dries. I mounted mine temporarily, let set over winter, and drew it up tight with clamps in spring, bolted it down tight. Have to fasten some to keep from warping if you do it that way. There is a deck screw with square drive, that you just drill a small hole thru wood and into metal cross parts, and then drive the screw in. Self tapping. Work real good. Trailer places should have those. ON outer edge, I used rectangular tubing to make my pockets, then ran a 5/16 or 3/8" x 2" or so strap down outside of those to tie and strap things to. Works great! I also built a head-ache rack at cab end, keeps stuff from sliding into cab if get's loose and from hitting when loading and not paying attention, Ha! Big U-bolts slipped over the channels and welded on, with head sticking up make great tie down loops for cars or big stuff. Use treated lumber if you go that way, reg stuff will rot out in 1 year, well painted or not. I never did find a paint that really stays on when you use the bed for gravel and dirt hauling. I used Horse fence paint from farm store. It's what they have for replacement of Creosoot?, which you can't buy anymore. The tongue and groove keeps dirt and sand in truck when the boards shrink, not letting it get by. Without the T and G, the boards shring enough to have a gap that will cause quite a load loss!

It might be worth a try-- I'm going to check out a steel fabricator up here that manfactures and distributes dump bodies. Some guy might have bought or had made up a dump body and hauled off his stake body, and want to sell it...don't know until you ask.

Perhaps I'm wrong but it seems to me that westtex36 asked about a platform body for a mid-30's truck. Everyone has descibed welded bodies using structural parts. All the platforms from the 30's were wooden and used metal only as attaching and working parts, i.e, hinges, clamps, pockets, etc. However all the structural parts were oak, i.e, the longsills, crosssills, flooring, slats, etc. So if westtex36 or anyone else wants a period piece (and why not?)then the methods described here are incorrect.

I could make dwgs of how they were but in general here are the specifications.
Longsills: 5"x3" oak with steel caps on rear to protect the grain.
Cross-sills: 4" tapering to 2.5" at each edge x 2" oak attached with steel angles bolted to longsills. Often doubled at outside.
Rubrail or outer edge: 1/4" steel u shaped pockets bolted to crossmembers.
Floors: 1" to 2" oak attached w/ carriage bolts to crossmembers.
Stakes: Oak x determined size
Headboards: generally were 1" oak.
Paint: oil based enamel

I'm not a truck historian but have seen many thoughout my 40 years in the body & equipment business as well as museums and private collections. Those would be excellent sources for research on this and always bare in mind that there were not very many "mass" producers of truck bodies in that era so often one finds "homebrew' so to speak. Even old freight wagons are a good source for construction detail since that is where it started. Just remember that modern welded bodies didn't really become popular for platforns until the mid-to-late 50's.

I have excellent sources for all the parts to build either method so if you wish to take it on send me a private e-mail. I can also help with the design and engineering of all chassis related equipment if your not in a rush.

p.s.- C/A's for platforms and dump bodies lengths are different which InMy40s may not understand when he quoted me.

53moneypit - my apologies if I miss quoted you.

Do you know where to get the stake bed sheet metal that is on the truck that Mike posted?

Here's an original add for the type of bed I want to put on my truck.

If anyone knows where to get the sheet metal let me know

[img]http://home.pacbell.net/gjvilla/Chevy_Hauler.JPG[/img]

A bed like what is shown in that picture is a pretty fancy bed (but nice!) for what goes back on these old trucks.

If you are planning a complete stock restoration, well that might fit your budget, but most of us can't get our truck to go around that corner.

Now, if you have the shop and expertise to draw plans, bend sheet metal, do the framing, complete the woodwork and paint it all up pretty, and do all the work yourself, well, maybe you can get a number of the 'Bolters here to pony up for a bed and start yerself a business. Just don't go advertisin' around here!

If TSP were to incubate a Big Bolt Bed Company, well, now that would be a nice feather in the cap of the Old Man who runs this place.

What seperates our Big Bolt trucks from the rest is the beds. It would be nice to see a site which shows strictly photos of the beds and even the hydrolics of the trucks that have them. Dump beds in action, that would be sweet. It would give people ideas of what type of beds are out there which they could reproduce or get ideas from.

Old sales brochures are a very good source of period photos and show different applications and bodies. I don't have any old stuff any longer but am thoroughly versed on all types of truck equipment, it's applications, designs and manufacture if you have specific questions. I can direct you to hundreds of websites that show modern versions of equipment.