The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Making a Stovebolt Bed please submit your bedwood strip bolt spacing

I am doing a custom bed and cant figure out what year bed i have. i thought it was a 56 longbed but Mar-K cant find the bolt pattern in thier books.

please state the following regarding the bed you have on your truck-i dont care what year.
year
long/shortbed
stepside/fleetside
total strip length

then starting at the tailgate end, measure your bedstrip hole spacing +/- 1/4" from end of strip to center of bolt head/hole

note measurements like this for example;
0.5, 12, 23.5, 34, 50.5, 58.5, 61.75, 68.5 and the rest has been cut off-i shortened the bed so my total strip length is 71.25.

If you are buying their bed strips,already punched, it doesn't seem to make a difference unless I miss the question.

pretty easy to miss the question gaz!

lemme see if I can find it .... you're makin a "custom" bed, so it can't much matter what it started out as .... you must know whether it's a stepside or fleetside .... if you made it a "custom" length then long or short don't matter .... so the list of measurements must be what you're askin about .... so you're trying to figure out which new strips to get for your "custom" application?

wouldn't the hole position be determined by the frame you're putting it on, and the number/position of the cross sills? and Mar-K didn't tell you Chevy beds don't have 8 cross sills?

more info on what the bed is for might help

Bill

If it's is a Simmons: Beautyrest you are looking for, try to cover the bed with astro turf like Bill C.. You won't sleep better but...

okay. thanks. um-this bed used to be a 56 longbed chevy. however Mar-K says my bolt hole spacing longways doesnt match anything in thier books. im hoping one of you can help me prove them wrong.
OR barring that-one of you has a truck with spacing i can make work cause im replacing angles and strips-i can make my spacing anything.
its going on a 1981 jeep wagoneer frame. bolt spacing matters not.
its going to be a dump bed-8 cross sills for reinforcement.

so im still after your bed strip bolt pattern so i can see if its somthing i can make work for my app. if spacing comes close to even and especially if i can cut one or both ends to make work then i will pretend its that year when i order all strips.

thanks!

they won't be wrong cuz Chevy beds have 4 cross sills, plus the front and back, regardless of length and year, so only 6 holes in the length [actually fleets have 2 holes close together at the front, so 7 there] - why not just get unpunched skids the right length and make holes where you need them to suit your cross sills? .... although the xtra cross sills on a 6' bed sure seems like overkill

Bill

but they should be right as i am measuring angle strips(other strips were gone) and i know those holes are valid as some of them are for bed and fender mounting/braces

i dont want to punch my own as i have to buy special ribbed bolts. also im somthing of a non-commital purist in that i prefer that parts i mod/use to be able to be referenced to some off-the-shelf part.

when i complete vehicles i make a 'build sheet' and laminate it and put in glove box listing make/model/year/part number for every part i install. that way my wife or i can pull into napa and give part number/application and get the correct part instead of guessing. also saves on special orders if needed on road trip or out of town..
mark

SO-please submit your bed strip bolt pattern.
thanks!

PS-my bed needs a lot of cross sills-its going to be a dump bed for firewood and landscaping projects.

see here;
http://yepthisismylife.blogspot.com/

ccpanel:
Great website! Is that you playing the gutair? I could just hear the theme from Deliverance.

ah! not skid holes, edge angle holes, entirely different kettlea fish that doesn't say anything about the skids, and don't necessarily hafta line up with them because there's no skid on the edges .... most relevent is Chevys have 4 cross sills [+ the front and back edges], if you're adding extra cross sills then you'll need a custom hole pattern regardless, the position of the skid holes is where the cross sills are, so bolt spacing definitely matters - can't understand how you'll add extra cross sills without drilling more holes than anything you'll get premade

and the edge holes are related to the fenders only if it's a fleetside, you haven't indicated which it is, fleets and steps are different along the edge - if you're sure it started as a 56 longbed, the best you can do is get the skids for that bed, the holes will line up with the angle holes where the sills belong

Bill

very good info-thanks
HOWEVER... when i told Mar-K what i was measuring, they couldnt find anything that matched.

someone else has mentioned that even if only x cross sills, there are still bolts with only washers behind inbetween sills in a front/rear pattern.

not sure what you mean by skids since angles also have riased skid rib too.

im pretty sure its a 56 i KNOW it was/is a stepside. know its a longbed, know it came off 3/4ton, and i KNOW that some of the angle strip holes held fender braces-i took them off.

bed started life in the high80's length inside and it is now 71.25 inside.
http://yepthisismylife.blogspot.com/

not me-buddy/neighbor -i know how to hold a guitar but everyone always takes it away so i stick to the CD player now.. =)

the angles are part of the bed sides, the 'skids' are the loose strips you'd buy that fit the slots in the board edges to hold the boards against the cross sills .... the skids have bolt holes only where they are bolted to the cross sills - from the factory there are no bolts thru the skids between the cross sills, although there may be/are "extra" holes in the angles, and of course after 50+ years there may be any number of holes added for someones special purpose [like yours!]

the 55.2 - 66 step beds are the same, but the cross sill placement varies between the series because the frames differ, you might have a bed some one got from a 60's truck and put on their 56, adding extra holes in the process - I put a bed from a 63-66 on a 58 frame and had to redrill some mounting holes in the frame cuz cross sill position was different

"bolts with only washers" could refer to the bolts that hold the bed on the frame, which have the large square hole washers and don't go thru the skids, but do line up with the cross sills

at any rate, a fabricated framework [instead of "extra" cross-sills] will be required to make the bed strong enough to be a dumper, so make it to suit the hole spacing in standard 56 shortbed skids [6'], no extra bolt holes required in them, the extra holes for added cross braces will be mount holes thru the wood, you just need extra square-hole washers for that

Bill