The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk Chevy Duty Bed Wood?

I am thinking of buying new bed wood for my truck from chevy duty. I am going to buy the bedwood only from them, and they want $195 plus shipping. Is this a good price? Is their quality going to be good, it is only wood I know but i want something that is going to last for a while. Anyone bought this stuff from them before? I want a new bed floor really bad and this seems like a price I can handle. Basically I want to know if this is a legit company, and if I will be satisfied with their bed wood kit. Any advice would be appreciated.

Jim Carter is a bit lower price, most others appear higher
CD got some negative comments in a recent thread, tho some thought they were fine - you might search the forum for Chevy Duty and again for Jim Carter, who I think has pretty good reviews from most here - AND where you'll get 20% off [if the set you want is in stock]

Bill

I have been doing buisness with Chevy Duty since Mark Jansen ran it out of his home in Shawnee Mission, Kansas and have had the least frustration with that company than any other supplier. When there is a goof it has been resolved quickly and satisfactorly everytime. If the part is small that was incorrect they don't even ask for it to be sent back. We also do buisness with Carter, Filling Station, Obsolete(Nashville), LMC, and several others. We do not do buisness with Obsolete(now Classic) Oklahoma City or any of the California suppliers. These people will take your full payment and put anything they don't have on backorder without your permission. Don't even get me started on Ford venders, it's too near the sabbath.

Golleee Moses!

We are about to do a "clinic" on Making a Stovebolt bed and it looks like we'd better get to it.

I have seen so many gorgeous beds when I do the Gallery additions. And Richard2005 has been gathering up some intel.

Looks like we'd better get cracking.

I was hoping to have a sponsor for it ... but it looks like we may need to just do it.

Peg

You're talkin' about $50 to $75 worth of wood at the local hardware store, then you route it a bit, and TA DAH! Bed wood.

I've seen a variety of kits, the only real difference was the kind of wood they used, for $195 i'd expect the kit to be plan old pine.. which in most cases would have been the wood installed from the factory.

If you want it to last, make sure you treat each board before you put it in.. top, bottom, and sides with a quality sealant.

As far as Chevy Duty is concerned, there have been complaints about them, usually regarding the wrong part being shipped, delayed shipping, or general poor customer service, but as a whole, they seem to be stable enough to get the right stuff eventually.

Peg, would it be possible to include in the bed 'how to' article(s), a blurb on some patterns/wood/parts needed to make bed rails also? i need a bed and i want rails. i've seen some nice ones here but i need pictures or dimensions or wood type suggestions to help me out making them.
tony

Found here: http://www.stovebolt.com/bboard/cgi-bin//ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=22;t=003505#000000

Rance

PS: This is for info. purposes only, I have no preferences in either direction.

I have ordered quite a bit from CD, only prob was a missing item a time or two which was sent back out immediately on their dime. Mar-K is who I used for bedwood, quite satisfied w/fit etc, if you order online shipping is free. My lumber yard wanted well over $100 for the wood alone, then I woulda had to groove it etc. Brian

I do a fair amount of woodworking along wih my truck hobby. 50 1/2ton When it came time for bedwood I decided to save a few bucks and make my own. I wanted to use yellow pine as it's the original bedwood used. I'm in Illinois and could not find a local source for clear (knot free) yellow pine. When I finally found a source the cost for the wood was more than the cost of a bed kit with all the work already done. I ordered from Chevy Duty and have no complaints. The boards are a little long and need to trimmed to fit, I'm assuming this is on purpose to make up for minor differences in bed length.

John

I'm about to do my bed too and have been deciding between the different vendors for wood/strips/mount kit, etc... There does seem to be a price difference on all that stuff between some of the different companies, though I don't think there will be a quality difference.

In the process of restoring my '51 1/2 ton I've spent thousands of dollars with Chevy Duty on over a dozen orders and havn't had any complaints with the service. I have gotten a broken part (mirror), I've gotten a few of the wrong parts (glass), and I've returned several things I decided I didn't need for one reason or another. Once they shipped half my order and forgot the other half. I called them up and the shipped it out that day. CD has been very good about crediting me for that stuff, taking back the returns, etc... They do 'back-order' parts that aren't in stock and then automatically ship them to you when they come in and I wish they would call you to tell you when they do that. However, I could call them before ordering on-line to confirm the availabilty and havn't, so I can't complain too much.

Recently CD mentioned that they are changing their website so that when you order online they will keep track of the things you have ordered in the past, which will help you keep track of the cost of your restoration and prevent you from re-ordering those small parts you've already got floating around in your garage somewhere.

I also use Jim Carter's a fair bit (great!), have gotten a few things from Chev's of the 40s (pricey), LMC, Obsolete (Nashville), Bowtie Bits (great source for used stuff, like horns/radio delete plates; and speciality stuff, like specialty patch panels -ie just the corner of the toeboard/kickpanel/floor board), Patrick's (amazing source of information and very helpful), Langdon's, CPP (brakes and suspension) and of course E-Bay. I've been very happy with all of them!

I think Mar-k is the best source for bed parts. That,s all they do & make most of there own stuff.

I have a request on the Making a Stovebolt "clinic" that is in the works; can you include information on the 1-ton platform bed? I've found lots of information on the 1/2 & 3/4-ton beds but precious little on the 1-ton platform. Any help is appreciated.

On the vendor part of the discussion; I've ordered from CD, JC and a couple of others (not a tremendous number of orders so far so my experience is limited) with no problems. The CD folks have been very helpful when I've been in the showroom, too. I've been happy with all my parts suppliers so far. I'll keep my fingers crossed that it stays that way.

An easy rule by Coilover from and other thread.
I don't want to make it too simplistic but it is not necessay to find board widths from anyone, it's right in front of you. Just measure the distance between the bed strip bolt holes and bingo that is the board width. I usually use the rear crossmember because it's stationary. Good luck; Evan
Some things are simple, some don't.

Thanks Evan

Richard

I used Mar-K for my bed wood kit and was very happy with the quality and the price.

I don't claim to be an expert on wood, but I thought yellow pine was a more durable type of pine than what you would get from the local lumber yard. I think I had read somewhere, that it was used instead of oak, because it is durable, yet less likely to crack than oak.

J Lucas,

You are correct. The pine used in the beds was Southern Yellow Pine, quite hard and very tough. The soft pine you are thinking of would be Ponderosa Pine or Sugar Pine..


Stuart

I discovered old barn wood slapped in there and chuckin' the original rusty bed strips all together works good, too.. and solid as a rock!

im still trying to get over the fact that they used flat head screws to hold mine to the braces. and they held. im going wood shoping this weekend, for the bed and the side stake racks, or whatever ya call the cage where ya put the kids so they cant escape.lol

demo man,

I have a 55/1st 4400 flatbed. I built a new 12' bed and then started searching for material for the deck. It was to be a working rig so I didn't want a fancy wood.

I discovered a wood called APITONG..it is the deck you see in commercial trailers and vans. It's clear and tougher than nails. It doesn't shrink and swell much and it is very strong. It is imported and milled at a location in the east bay...near you.

If you would like, I can see if I can get the name and address of the place I found it. It doesn't have lots of character, but it is a very functional, hard working decking material.

Another wood that is often used is PurpleHeart. It, like Apitong, is an imported hardwood. Purpleheart, as its name implies, is a dark red beautiful wood, very hard and weather resistant. This wood would make a show bed and wear well too.

Stuart

wow. cool. the purple heart sounds like it would be good for what i want. i believe in using any car or truck. last thing i want is money sitting in a garage. i wasnt looks and durability. it used to be a furniture and appliance truck, and would love to get a 50s stove or something to keep in the back for looks.

i plan on redoing it like it was in this pic . would love to park it in the same town it worked out of. and if you can find the place that has that wood, that would be great.
thanks ....kevin

demo man - cool pic of yer door, that is neat.

-W

Purpleheart is purple. I have a jewelry box in the works that is purpleheart and it is purple. And it is not that cheap. So if you do not want a purple bed.... It weathers to grey and cracks when it does.

My bed will be done in Ipe and stainless. I never want to worry about it again.

Chevy Duty has provided very poor service to me, but I noted for extra $ they will drill and "countersink" the mounting holes which could be a benefit to make the offset washers flush after install.