The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Making a Stovebolt Bed bed wood covering

Now that I have the bed finished, back together, and installed my wife suggests that I will no longer want to use the pickup as intended. She is right - It looks good. After all of the work I will not dare throw a load of wood in the back. Now what do I do?
Has anyone found a solution that temporarily covers the bed wood during times of use such as a garage floor or industrial floor coverings. Jim Carter has a rubber mat in their catalog but I have not seen any reviews. Any ideas or comments? Thanks for interest.

My truck is not yet at the point that I will want to load it. But I have been thinking of how nice it would be to perhaps use it for light loads. I had thought of putting down an old carpet,
I have an old bed liner that I would put on top of the carpet. When I'm done I would just remove the carpet & liner. Just a thought. Hopefully this may perhaps work for you.

a bed liner would probably be best but also a rubber mat that just covers the bottom would work..... I did this once by cutting up a rubber mat to fit the size of my truck.

I use a rubber utility mat that came from Tractor Supply. It's about 1/4" thick, 48' wide x 96' long. Fits fairly well in my be (I have the 90" stepside). Recently hauled about 700 lbs of scrap iron in it with nary the first dent, ding, or scratch in the wood.

thanks for the insight. I did some research on a rubber mat. Some different options, but did not pull the trigger on anything yet. Did not try tractor supply - but I will.

Why not cut a sheet of light plywood to match the bed floor? Even a quarter inch of nice ply will provide tremendous protection. Plus, you can always varnish your ply, so it looks fancy. Varnish both sides though, or it'll warp.

Or, just use your truck, touch up the marks, and you will have patina. Some people pay big bucks for that. I know, I've seen it on the antiques road show!

I also got a rubber utility mat from Tractor Supply, but since my 3/4 ton bed is 50" wide I got the larger one and cut it to fit.

Ten years ago, I got an excellent 1/2 ton 1954-bed mat from a reproduction parts vendor (LMC or Brothers, I think). I cannot now find it listed.

It was thick wide-ribbed rubber and had many small "nubs" on the bottom (to assist in drying underneath). Be careful with moisture being trapped underneath (and/or being held in an absorbent cover, such as a plywood cover).

Maybe someone can comment on the 47-55 bed dimensions matching the Chevy step-side short-bed dimensions through at least 1972.

The nice thing is that the dimensions are a clean rectangle. Several vendors sell bed-matting material that can be cut.

Does anyone know where I can find a drop in bed liner for a AD truck bed? It sounds like a simple enough task, but I have been searching for days without any luck.

I have read a lot of the threads, on multiple forums, on how to protect a bed. My solution, if I can find one, would be to use a drop in bed liner.

Thanks for your help,
Dale

I bought a thick rubber bed mat from a local parts store and then cut it to fit. Just a note, however, if you do this and have a nicely finished bed w/ stainless strips, etc. that you are covering, FIRST PUT DOWN A SHEET OR SOME OTHER TYPE OF FABRIC (completely cover your bed) AND A COUPLE OF NYLON CORDS (one cord on each side of your bed floor front to back a bit inside your bed sides under the sheet). If you don't, you may find that the compounds in the rubber rubber react and stain the bed and strips forcing you to wax or ? them every time you remove the mat to admire your bed. This happened to me--a real pain in the A--. By having the cords and fabric down all you have to do is roll up the whole she-bang from the front to the back (the mat is neatly rolled up with the sheet), tie it up with the cord and lay it all off to the side. It has worked for me for the past 6 years.

I am using old carpeting. It is free and does the job and is easily removed and stored. If it gets nasty(er) then just toss it and get another. No sense shelling out big bucks for a very part time use situation IMHO. Mine covers the sides as well. If you are hauling garbage you can just pull the carpet and trash out together and be done and clean. Used carpet is very easy to come by.

I used a heavy rubber mat on the first truck I restored many years ago with good success. I remember pulling it out every time I washed the truck or when it rained, which was a total pain, but it protected very well.
The very same mat was used in the next truck I bought, an all original survivor with pretty decent bed wood. I didn't feel the need to keep pulling it out on that one. BIG MISTAKE! A big fat crop of mold developed after a rain or two, and that nice bed went to heck FAST! I still feel stupid for letting that happen.
Remember, it must be able to dry out if you want it to last.