The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Making a Stovebolt Bed 55 TF bed on AD truck

My wife bought me a great 1955.1 3600 Chevy that the PO put a 55.2 bed on. They butchered the running boards to clear the fenders. Does anyone know if the beds are the same on the 55's? I am thinking I should just need to patch the bolt holes and put on new fenders and running boards. The bed is 8ft long, 50 inches wide, so I am not sure if it is a 3/4 or 1/2 ton bed. It is in very good condition, so I am hoping it is correct other than the bolt on items.

Is your bed 97" or 89"? inside length? After 55 second series, the 1/2 ton and 3/4 ton long beds are the same. Long beds became 97" inside in the 57 model year. If your bed is 97", it is longer than the frame and will be difficult to connect at the rear frame horns. Your frame is a couple inches wider than the 55 second series, but that should not be much of a problem. We did an article on bed changes year by year. http://www.mar-k.com/installation_hints.html that may be helpful. Scroll down to "Bedside Interchangeability". This is not a simple bolt on swap, but is can be done depending on how original you want it to look. There is a lot different between 55 first and second series beds.

Mar-Ktech

Thank you, that helps allot.I will get out and do some measurements to figure out exactly what I have. Since it is already fitted to the truck and squared up with the rest of the body, I think I can just fill the old fender holes and measure and drill new ones for the 1st series fenders. This will be a daily driver in a couple of years, so it doesn't need to be exact restoration. Up until it was placed in a garage in 1981 it was a farm truck, so it will be interesting to see how they mounted the bed once I tear into it. Thanks again for the info.