The Stovebolt Site Forums The Parking Lot Big Bolts TOTO's work day - now with more info

Those of you that have read about TOTO's bent bed will be glad ( I hope ) to here that I've been able to mostly correct the bent bed . So yesterday was the first day that TOTO has done any Work ( other than the run to KC ) in years . I learned from my KC adventure to do a Good free flight check up . Add water - add oil - check rear end Ok - check transmission oil and add and add = 1 1/2 qts. Ouch ! Found the leek - the auxiliary transmissions output shaft seal doesn't seal very well . Ok take extra oil and check level during the day . Off on to the first chore of the day - 10 miles to where I had a 2 ton chevy parts truck purchased . Was met by a rancher friend who was there to help and was going to let me store the beast with my other 2 ton chevy ( and another 1 ton chevy at a later date ) out at his place . Loaded the beast onto TOTO's back with a whole 9" to spare . 6 miles of dusty hilly roads later ( stopping once to shooo some errant Moo's off the road ) arrived at the ranch and off came the beast . Load up my friends tractor - check the trany oil - and off back to where I picked up the truck and dropped it off at my friends mechanics shop and run #2 was done . Now the bad news :mad: - I forgot to padlock the beds tool box and lost 2 new 25' chains somewhere on those dusty country roads . Oh Well - check the trany oil add some and off on the last run of the day . 10 miles of hwy driving and we get to the next project . Here is one Big propane tank - Hummm we have got to be real careful with this thing. Naturally the tanks legs were stuck in the ground after a bazillion years of sitting in one spot so with the tail gate ramp up and the bed tilted to where it's not quite touching the ground TOTO Backed up to the tanks end and raised the bed lifting the tank up enough to put blocks under the front legs - let the bed down and everythings ok . Now pull forward and get everything ready for the the winch - NO FORWARD you Dolt !!! Well in my defence as a big Long legged dolt I thought that I had grabbed 2nd . If you are long of leg and have tried to shift a floor shifter in a AD truck you know that it's a rather tight fit for those long legs when you go for 2nd or reverse and you make contact with your right leg and I have the bruises to show the truth of that . So I grab for 2nd and reverse being just a little more shove to the left I got it instead . So forward I did Not go - but back into the tank which promptly fell over . No one hurt - tanks ok - no harm no foul ? As it turned out that mistake actually made loading the tank easyer . Some shifting around of the truck and several pulls from several angles with the winch and upseedaisy unto the bed . Lower the bed to level and pull the tank into towing position chain it down check the trany oil get a drink ( diet coke ) and off we go . 10 miles of hwy and 6 miles of dusty road later it's time to off load . Friend gets his big tractor and lifts off the tank and the work for the day is done . On the way back home I stopped at the old owners ranch and He and his wife were so glad to see that the old truck was again running down the road and out working . Of course he may want to borrow the truck sometime - or so he says - I think he just does not want to let go of it after so many years using the old beastie . A unneventful trip home and a just for the heck of it a circumnavigation of my town home . A eventful and fun day ! Good TOTO - Good Truck! Ed H

I was asked how I went about fixing TOTO's bent bed . While crying in by beer ( diet Coke ) at the KC show a older fellow on crutches decide to wander around TOTO and ask me some questions about it . While he was looking rather puzzled at the bed I decided to tell the sad tale of how it came about . He smiled and said that he had repaired many a bent bed in his time and would I like to know how to do a " Fair fixin " . " It will not be perfect but serviceable " , and I promptly said Thanks but no thanks because as a pro-Know-it-all I knew it could be fixed with bubble gum and a rust piece of bailing wire . Well actually I was most happy to have any knowlege of how one might go about fixing my Ouch .
You take a stout chain and put it thru the front stake pocket and a stout chain thru the rear stake pocket connect the two chains and put a minumum of a 20-ton bottle jack under the middle of the chain and raise the jack slowly as far up as it will go and let it rest there for a minute or so and let it back down . Take up any slack in the chain and do it again - ect...then go to the other side of the bed and do the same . Keep moving back and forth until you have it as close as you can get it or want it . A few love taps with a Real Big BFH where the bends show on the frame - help it along . Now for saftys sake I went to my local machine / welding shop and had a 1" deep by 2"ID ring welded to the bottom of a 4" long piece of channel . This went on top of the bottle jack to hold the chains from sliding off the top of the jack and taking off body parts . This process does work after a fashion and is not perfect and IS Hazardous to ones body if something goes wrong . One time I did have the bottle jack kick out from under the chain at the top of it's lift and fly off about 10' from the truck - so stand off to the side and use a Long handle to pump with . I still have about 2" to go to be fully level on the bed but I am happy with the results . This takes a lot of time to do safely - I spent around 4 hrs. on the bed . If you have jacks and chains for both sides at the same time it will go faster because you don't have to shift everything back and forth to do the work . If you do this - I was told to only jack one side at a time . Why I don't know - just was told do it . Hope you don't need to use this knowlege but it's good to have in a pinch . ED H

Neat stuff, Ed! That is cool to see that they(50+ year old truck) can still get the job done.

Good work, Ed & Toto! These trucks are more fun if you use 'em.

How did you fix the bed?

Regards,
John

So I take it this is a steel bed you have?

My truck has a rotten wood flatbed floor that needs replacin and I am wondering if I should replace it with the wood or go steel.

need photos

Next week if it does not rain here I hope to try to get some more of the bend out of the bed . THIS time I'll take my camera and get some pictures of the process . The bed is steel plates welded together and around the steel edges of the bed that has the stake pockets - and the Original Bad wood bed is under the steel deck . That wood was damaged during the Ouch and is what is giving me some problems with getting the bed to level out . If I was to have to replace a bad wood bed I would go with a steel bed if you do a lot of course hauling ( rock / scrap iron ect..) if it's just normal stuff I'd stay with wood . I have yet to decide what I will do on my 6400 when it's time to replace it's bed .. ED H

Thanks for the info

What I am considering doing with my 6400 is using it to haul the occasional car, tractor etc.

Figure use the old truck instead of buying a trailer.

ED:.....slow and easy now my friend. Don't get excited and take plenty of coke breaks....diet coke!! Drink coke, tighten jack, drink coke, tighten jack............

Spartman if that is what you are planing to haul most of the time - I would go with a wood deck . You can do the wood deck work yourself ( I can't weld ) and I love the Look of a wood deck . And you old chipmunk - if you would have been there to help unload TOTO my OUCH wouldn't of happend in the first place ( just joking - maybe ) . Yes - I will be Most careful - as I said after seeing the jack fly off the bed one time - you Could get Bad hurt doing this ! And that liquid courage is Always near by . ED H

Right now the whole bed is wood, the main beams and the side beams as well as the floor.

That would support the weight of a car etc then?

Or should I have a steel underside?

Sorry if it seems like I am a pest, just want to be clear on what you are saying.

Ed -- Thanks for the update on the bed repair. Actually, that was rather fascinating. Good write up, too.

Spartman -- I would not trust an original, all-wooden bed to haul anything heavy like a vehicle or a tractor. I took the original all-wooden bed off my '49 and took it apart -- the cross members were 3-inch oak and were pretty rotten on the tops where the deck boards attached, and in the centers. I might have been able to haul with it, but I probably would have had the wood frame fail under any weight. The bed mostly went onto the burn pile with a few cool pieces going to a friend who wanted to make a coffee table out of it.

My recommendation, for what it's worth, especially if you want to haul heavy stuff, is to go with a steel frame and a wood deck.

Regards,
John

Sounds like thats the way to go then.

Thank you guys.

Sorry if I hijacked this tread a bit.

When I was a kid growing up my daddy had ton & half trucks with the wood beds. We hauled anything he wanted and never had a problem....including loads of junk from where we scrapped out or cut up old trucks and cars for sale at the junk yard.
Yeah, I know we sinned against the Stovebolt Gods but hey, we had to eat!!
So, I say a nice bed redone with the right material would work fine....including hauling a car....but its your truck to it your way!!