The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Making a Stovebolt Bed '41, 3/4 ton bed supports

My ’41 ¾ ton bed has what’s left of 4 steel crossmembers supporting the bed not counting the one at the very back. The front, second, and fourth are intern supported by what looks to have been a 3”X3” wooden crossmember extending across both frame rails. Each of these points has a bed hold down bolt through the frame (6 total). This seems straight forward and looks to be original.

It’s the third crossmember that is confusing. It is located where the frame starts to curve upward to clear for axel travel. This steel crossmember does not seem to be supported by anything. The crossmember is hanging from the bed boards about an inch above the truck frame rails. There are no holes in the bed or frame at this point for hold downs. Additionally what is left of the bed boards are slightly bowed downward in this area indicating that they could have used some additional support.

So….my question is did this third crossmember have some kind of support to the truck frame ??

Kip, the 1/2 tons have the same situation. I was told that that cross member is just for additional support for heavy loads. The cross member just bolts to the bottom of the bed boards and when you get a heavy load in the back the bed bows down to where this cross member contacts the frame.

On my truck there were actually wear marks on the frame where this cross member was rubbing. So just bolt it up to the boards and let it go.

Hope this helps.
George

Thanks 46. We'll put her together that way. Maybe when I get the frame rails cleaned up a little I will also find some wear marks