The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Making a Stovebolt Bed '36 bed verses '46 bed

My truck is a '36 T14 and I have a nice bed from a '46 pick-up that I want to use. I think the '46 bed is a little shorter and a tad wider. Will I be able to use the '46 bed without to much modification? Maybe "bob" the rear frame rails a few inches? I think I can cheat the width easy enough.

Probably a topic best discussed in the Making a Stovebolt Bed forum, so it's been move there for more conversation.

Thank you

Anybody have pictures of where the siles go to support the the bed. I only have 3 of them and don't know how many there are supposed to be and where they go. Here are a couple pictures of what I have,

Are you asking where the cross sills go for the '46 bed (stock locations), or how they may need to be placed to fit the '36 frame???

I think for the '46, if I remember right the bed's are different width's and length's so I will have to improvise to make it work but I don't know how many I need. I only have three of them and don't know it the end's are different from the middle one's.

On my '46, the three cross sills were all the same. Two of them had the sliding attachment points. Narrow at the front near the cab and a little wider past the wheels.

Here is the sill placement in my 1936 GMC bed.

Thanks guy's, that helps a lot. I will probably have to install some mounting pad on the frame as I think the one's on my 36 are spaced differently.

There are mounting blocks, this is the only picture that I have of one of them.

Here is a pdf that shows where the blocks are mounted

Thanks for that info Dunfire

Well. I have come to the conclusion that I need to find the proper bed for my '36 GMC T-14. I was hoping to be able to use what I have but it's to short and I don't think chopping off the rear of the frame rail's is the proper fix.
So If anybody in the northern calif area has a good used bed they want to part with for a reasonable amount of $$$ let me know. I would be willing to go as far as southern calif if needed.
This is the last thing I need to do , then the truck will be done, It's been a long 50 year's, but the end is in sight.
Also what year trucks would fit? I think the bed I have in the weeds is 86 inch's long.
The bed that came with the truck is some kind of utility bed and rougher than a cobb. I'm going to drag it out of the weeds and inspect it and see if I can/want to try and refurbish it. I will post a couple pictures after I get it in the shop.

I needed a tailgate for my '37-39 Chevrolet bed. I ended up going with a group that got good reviews and had a better price than I could find elsewhere, Mack Products.

https://mack-products.com/

I suggest that you call, as they are apparently pretty busy after Mar-K went out of business. When I called them, they were very helpful. I see statements online indicating that Mack Products has purchased the old Mar-k line although Mack Products has been making truck sheet metal for quite a while.

I am very pleased with the tailgate I purchased from them.

As promised here are some pictures of what I have, enjoy

And some more

FAST55 - That monstrosity looks at best to be an aftermarket bed or at worst a home built thing and not really anything remotely like the T-14 pickup bed unfortunately.

I'm cornfused a bit as you said the '46 pickup bed you were going to use is "too short" for your '36 frame???

From the GM Truck data archives, the '46 1/2 ton bed interior cargo space dimensions are listed as shown in the first pic below as 78" long inside x 16-1/4" high inside x 48-1/2" wide inside. These dimensions should actually make the '46 bed too long for your '36 as the 1934-36 Chevy (my understanding is the GMC and Chevy bed dimensions are the same for the 112" wheelbase 1/2 ton trucks) inside bed dimensions are listed as 72" long x 16" high x 45-3/4" wide.

I've done some deep diving into my resource books (both GMC and Chevy)and have some other info to share on the truck beds and fenders, but want to wait until we bat this info back and forth a bit to understand things a bit better perhaps.

Gdads51, you are correct that the Chevy and GMC beds were the same for the 112 inch wheel base, however the 1936 GMC had a 126 inch wheel base. The bed length was 86 inches and 45 3/4 inches wide.

Pat - Thanks for the correction on my information on the wheel base/bed length. The 1936 GMC Parts Books I have, both US and Canadian, do not list the wheelbases of the trucks in the fronts of the books with the model number info like I've seen in later books.

I had to take a second look deeper into the books to find where the wheelbase is indicated with the model numbers. Found it in the US GMC Parts Book under the "Frame" section, confirming the T14 is listed with a 126" wheelbase. The Canadian GMC Parts Book did not list the wheelbase's anywhere I could find.

One other interesting tidbit I found in comparing the GMC (both US and Canadian) and Chevy Master Parts Books is that the 1936 GMC T14 and Chevy 1/2 ton for 1934-36 (Models DB/EB/FB) used the same rear fender part numbers. The left rear fender is listed as GM# 373271 and the right rear fender as GM# 373272 in all my resource books. This might be helpful for FAST55 in trying to find correct rear fenders for his truck.

I measured the "bed in the weed's" and it is 86"long and the wheel base is 126". I do have the correct rear fenders that came off the original bed I have and are painted and ready to hang on a bed if I can find one.
Are the '34, '35 and '36 bed's the same? or is it like the other unicorn parts that are low cab '36 only. I'm going to call Mack industries today and see what all new part's would cost.
The other bed I have may not even be a gm part, the guy that gave it to me wasn't really sure but thought it was off a chevy.

I talked with Mack Products and they only have the bed sides, no tailgate or front panel, I didn't ask about the cross bars.

As far as I know the 34 and 35 high cab Chevrolet 1/2 tons were shorter. 1934 and 1935 GMC's are pretty much unicorns.

Well I think It's time to close this thread until I find a bed I can use. I thank everybody for their input.

anybody have an idea of how much a '36 gmc bed would weigh? I'm guessing 400 lbs. I'm trying to figure what it would cost to ship something that big.
If I find one close enough I will just go pick it up myself.

When I replace my bed wood and strips I was able to move the bed by myself a little bit. Without the wood and metal strips, my guess would be closer to 200 to 250 pounds.

Ok thanks

Here's an estimated layout from measuring the new sills I installed on my 46 shortbed:

Dimensions to each punched hole, measured from the front of the bed, 76-7/8” long strips:
½”, 2-3/4”, 26-1/2”, 53-1/4”, 72-5/8”, 76-3/8”

End holes are ½” from each end. The 26-1/2” measurement is to a floating sill and is therefore approximate. All other dimensions are +/- ¼”, because these measurements are with new cross sills in-place and there can be a slight position adjustment.