The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk "Fake" bed wood

Hi Folks,

Check this out for a novel approach to the bed wood question.

I was at the local cruise night and looked at a '62 with the composite deck material used for the rear bed. He bought the boards at Home Depot called "Trex Decking". A 16'x5/4" piece is $33.30 each, (he gets 2 pieces from one board). He said the best color to use is the Slate Grey, he primed and painted them black like to original.

They come with the "woodgrain" patern and look rather sharp. The best thing is they won't warp, crack, or split. The panels cut like wood and can be routed so we're able to use the the hold down/glide strips.

I asked how he cut the "off-set" holes in each board and he said first he drilled the main bolt hole, then used a Fostner bit to cut in the off-set for the countersunk washer. Man this stuff looks sharp.

Any of our members did this?

Jake

Jake,
I looked into this several years ago as a possible option for the bedwood in my 53. The main downside that I found was that all of these "plastic lumber" boards have a tendency to sag much more than wood if the supporting members (i.e. the joists in decks) are too far apart. For 5/4" decking (and for ADs the bed boards are 3/4"), the minimum joist spacing is 16" ( Trex Product & Installation Documentation ) The crossmembers in the ADs are much farther apart than this. Without installing additional support "joists" between the stock crossmembers, these "boards" will very quickly sag between the crossmembers.

By the way, if you use these plastic composites, there is no need to paint them. There are many manufacturers and the boards are available in several colors, including black.

We had another thread on this topic a couple of years back. Bed Wood?

I think the Trex would work great. I work with this stuff alot. The steel strips between the boards acts as a stiffener so I don't think sagging would be a problem. The stuff scratches fairly easily though. So it depends on what you feel is acceptable. You can paint it, but that defeats the purpose of having a "no maintenance deck". It will fade a little over about a 3 month period in the sun. But after that it looks great.

Just two comments. First, the wear strips are very thin and flexible. I just can't see them adding any stiffening to the boards. Plus, since they're not attached to the boards, the boards could just sag even if the strips stayed straight.

Second, on the half tons, there is roughly 2 1/2 to 3 feet between the crossmembers. Just as an experiment, I would get a piece of Trex decking about 6' long and attach it to two joists that are on 30" centers and leave it out in the sun for a while. I still think you will see significant sagging.

I could definitely be wrong, but I personally would not make the investment until I tested the material.

Also, after you installed the trex you could just get under the truck and screw additional supports across between the crossmembers if sagging IS a problem. By doing this you would not see the fasteners or the stiffeners from the top. Jeff is correct when he says the trex sags more than wood. But with all do respect I personally think it should be fine. I think I'm going to install it in my truck as well. I'll keep you posted of the results if I get to it first. Please let us know how it turns out if you go that route.

also keep in mind if you are going to use your truck as a truck trex is a non load bearing material and may break if you put a heavy load in it

When I bought my '51 the guy had put in a sheet of wood panel. I don't know where he got it, but it sure fooled me. I didn't find out till I tore my truck down to do a complete restoration. Cecil.........

I'm putting a steel floor in the bed of my 63. I hate them darn wood floors. The only think they're good for is show,
Scott

I feel differently. I LOVE the wood beds. You CAN use them for work but probably want to get a sheet of bed rubber anytime you want to load stuff in the truck and not damage the wood.

You CAN have your cake and Edith too.

Best of both worlds. Steel bed with that really nice wood grain Mac Tac glued on it.

(OK, don't sweat, I am done with April Fools Day)

You can take a sheet of 5/4 marine grade plywood to make a 1 sheet wood bed if you want, and route grooves in it or just mount the wear strips to the top. It has water proof glue, just make sure you finish all the edges.

Trex is nice stuff (I have a Gazebo I built with it for the floor) but it does sag, 16" is the absolute minimum support distance. However, it should be easy to buy a few more braces for your bed and put them in between the stock ones. Another thing to watch out for is that is seems to be much heavier than a 2x6 of similar length. And, it does scratch.

Oh, btw, it's much easier to drill the offset holes if you use the large forstner bit to drill the offset part of the hole first, then center punch the bottom of the hole for the smaller through hole and finish drilling. Forstner bits work best if there is meat for the brad point to grab as a guide, otherwise they can be quite unruly.

How about using something natural that will last longer than oak? In the midwest there is a tree called the osage orange ( commonly called - hedge). When fresh cut it will mill as easily as oak, it has a pleasing pattern as oak, it is stronger than oak and will not rot ( in your lifetime).
Fence posts made of this material have been in existence over 100 years in this area. Old hedge rows produce quality saw logs that yield 8 ft or longer logs with boards up to 12 inches wide.

if you want other wood that'll take decades of abuse and weather exposure w/ no finish necessary, try eucalyptus - might be hard to find good planks of it tho' as it's used for so many other things - I happened on a long 2½ x 8" piece when I was looking for something for the bed boards on my apple elevator/washer, and it's had heavy stainless paddles draggin apples on it for over 20 years, no finish applied - looks pretty much how it did in the beginning, and dries within minutes of the water turning off

Bill

I'm using the "lytus" for my bed. Here in Dallas enough for a 1/2 ton short bed is ~$100.00. Great stuff. For a finish try General Finishes Outdoor oil. Just wipe on, let dry a few minuets and buff. Repeat as needed to get the shine you want.
No sanding between and if you need to refinish, just wipe it on again. UV protection and all that stuff.

I'm considering teak. Takes impact well, wont rot, and a light brushing with sudsy ammonia followed by a good rinse has it a nice mild reddish color without need for a finish. A bit pricey though.

I used VERANDA in my 54-3100, a composite, from Home Depot for my bed floor, as I drive it on the highway on a daily basis, and use it as a "truck".

The cost was 50% that of TREK, the 1" thick product has not sagged, shrunk or split, although I have noticed it can be scratched. I didn't use the bedstrips as I quite hauling milk cans years ago. The 9 planks at 5-1/4" wide, were arranged with +/-1/8 between, with 3-1/2" on each side. Galvanized bolts (bulk/cheap)from Tractor Supply tie it down. The two 3-1/2" side pieces were rabbetted 3/4X 3/16" to slide under the side angle rails.

I placed the wood grained side "up" and can sweep or hose it out. Several folks with traditional wood beds, have commented that it would be nice to have a "waterproof" bed product that didn't need constant maintenance.

If you're a "show truck" guy with a garage/trailer queen, this product probably wouldn't flip your skirt. But if you're a "driver" with no ambition to fill up a trophy shelf....this product may be just the ticket.

I've got a couple pics in my album on page 8.

4ONTHEFLOOR, I have to disagree with you on the subject of drilling the offset part of the holes first. I just finished drilling the holes for my bed, and I can't imagine how you'd measure to locate the offset hole first. I found where the center of the bolt would go, drilled a 1/8" hole there, then went 3/16" of an inch toward the front of the truck from the center of that 1/8" hole and that's the spot for the forstner bit brad point. It worked like a charm.