The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk Bed wood dimensions?

Do any of you guys who make the bed woods yourself have dimensions or instructions that you care to share?

You can find the information here:\

http://www.gmcpauls.com/47-72%20BedWood%20Info.htm

Is there anyone out there with earlier trucks willing to take some measurements? I am specifically intersted in 1940 1/2 ton. I think after looking around that my truck should have 6 boards all the same size. If this is true I can figure out the dimensions. When I took the truck apart it had homemade bedwood and there were 7 boards so I don't have anything solid to go by. Maybe that was correct.

I put in an inquiry for a price at one of the larger suppliers of bed wood and they asked me if I had measurements for 1940. That was pretty disappointing.

Thanks,

Bill Schickling

Bill -

I had my cabinet builder make the wood for my bed. I'm not sure, :confused: but I think a 40 is the same width as a 37, maybe a little longer. If you will give me deminsions of your bed, I'll check it against mine. If there is a match, I will give you deminsions of each piece.

Joe

Yes, I know how to spell dimensions!

anybody know how you would make the recessed circle in the bed wood for that offset washer? i'm going to cut and router the wood for the bed myself figure it would be cheaper than a kit but i should look into the cost of oak wood boards and see if that is true but my main concern is the recessed cirlce for the offset washer (so its level with the wood
thanks
Nate

Before I put the bed in my '46 I looked around and couldn't seem to find jack squat on the web for information for anything older than a '47... no instructions, no guidelines, no helpful hints as to how to even go about it.. altho in a thread I started on the subject several AD truck owners shared their practices and methods.

Seems like the AD and later trucks are the hot items nowadays, and the '46 and later trucks just don't have the same kind of info available.. most vintage parts dealers like LMC don't go any farther back than '47.

I ended up doing a hillbilly barnwood re-floor.. if you end up finding the info, please post it here in this thread.. it might help somebody in the future!

OldIronChevy,

A Forstner bit....


Stuart

Thanks Houston.

Most of the truck 1/2 ton pickup bed boards were close to being equal in width and there were 6 boards. All the pictures of the pickup boxes in original litature I have from 30-38 show the same. 40's boxes are very close to the same just a bit longer.

35 trucker -

I think you are right. Some of the suppliers even sell the metal strips longer and you have to cut them to length for the older beds.

When I did my bed, I knew just by laying it out how wide it was and divided that by the number of boards figuring out that they had to be between 6 and 8 inches wide. My bed is 47 1/2 inches wide. Each board is 7 1/2 inches wide. There is a space between each board wide enough for a bolt to pass through. There are six boards. It lays out beautifully. It is tight, but I believe you want the entire floor tight. I routed the grooves deep enough for the metal strips to drop in, but not so deep that the metal strips didn't hold anything in the bed up off of the wood. I mocked it up before I stained and finished the wood. After the wood was stained and finished, it was real tight, but it went together. It's amazing how much the finish can add to the overall width of each piece of wood.

Joe

Joe,

Thanks. My bed is in pieces right now, but 47 1/2 is very close. The front panel to the bed measures 48 1/2 inches. What is that measurement on yours.

I thought the 39 and older was a bit narrower.

Bill

Ya just don't know how to use the Edit button yet... it's that Icon in the toolbar above your post that looks like a piece of paper with a pencil over it.

I'm not fussin'... just letting ya know.

-W

The 34 through 38 beds were 45" between the box sides. I have the original body prints from the Indianaoplis body plant for the 34-36 1/2 and 1.5 ton trucks. Most of the boards as I remember are about 7.25 inches wide. The two outer boards are a little narrorer. 34-36 boards were painted body color with a black stain/paint underside.

Woogeroo -

You are right - I didn't know how to use the edit button on Thursday when I wrote that, but discovered the button yesterday. I appreciate you mentioning it, though.

35 trucker -

I was going from memory when I wrote the piece about my widths on Thursday. The bed is actually 45 1/2" wide.

Joe

These dimensions will work for most any application if you can tell which cross sill or rear sill holes the bed strips go in. http://www.mar-k.com/bedwood_dimensions.pdf The critical dimension is the raised part of the wood that goes between the strips. If it is too tight, it won't allow for expansion or for buildup of the finish material. If you only use the overall board width, slight variance in the groove dimension will make the board too tight or too loose.

Mark

Here is what we suggest for doing the recessed area for the offset washer.

"anybody know how you would make the recessed circle in the bed wood for that offset washer? i'm going to cut and router the wood for the bed myself figure it would be cheaper than a kit but i should look into the cost of oak wood boards and see if that is true but my main concern is the recessed cirlce for the offset washer (so its level with the wood
thanks
Nate"

Just drill a 1/16 hole up through the board where the bolt will go. This hole will line up with the frame holes and the cross sill holes. Then on the top side of the board measure 3/16" forward(toward the cab) from the 1/16 hole. That will be the center of the offset washer. Use a 1-9/16 forstner bit to drill on that position and the offset will be correct for the standard offset washer. Only drill down 1/8" with the forstner bit, and it sure is easier with a drill press, not a hand drill. After making the recess for the washer, drill the 1/16 hole out to 7/16" or 1/2" for the 3/8 bed to frame bolt. Good luck

Mark

any one ever make there own boards from raw lumber?

How about it Inky, you live in the woods...

-RT1

Nope... Mine is going to be steel.

Its a Dump Body

That's what the gallery is for, try these guys;
Al Chapin's 1966 Chevy C-10 Long bed Fleet side and
http://www.stovebolt.com/gallery/wells_george_1946.htm and there are more, just drop them a line.
I'm sorry about your T-shirt but you won't get mine, try again next year

Richard

I was going to use some treated lumber and coat them with bedliner. What do you guys think about that?

Somthing like Rino coating? it should work fine.

You should check into Ultrawood. You may not have to coat it.
http://www.treatedwood.com/products/ultrawood/index.html

My cabinet builder and myself actually went to the lumber place and hand selected the red oak lumber to use for my bed. He then took it to his cabinet shop and sized it, recessed the areas for the metal strips and drum sanded the wood to a very smooth finish. He also did side boards and bed stakes. Everything was done at the same time so it matched. After that, I fitted everything and put it together raw to be sure of the fit. I then stained it and coated all of the lumber on all sides with marine spar varnish, sanded lightly between coats.

It was allot of work, but it still looks good after ten years. It's one of those deals that if you do it right first time, it's done!

Joe