The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Making a Stovebolt Bed AD BED INSTALL ON YOUTUBE

I wish there was a video of the steps it takes to put a bed together. If I can't find one that will help all us "visual" learners I guess I'll have to make my own.

Please do!!

i'm still crossing my fingers that somebody will do this!

I'm afraid if I make the video it'll be titled, "The Mistakes to Watch Out For". If we keep renewing this thread some brave soul will do it.

That's the benefit of youtube, you can always change the title of your video!

I'm amazed that Mar-K hasn't jumped on this yet, it's free consumer-direct advertising for them. Perhaps their advertising department is asleep or on cruise control...

It is a great idea and we'll consider it.
thanks

I believe they do installs up there. You would think it would be easy to video tape the installations of all the different truck beds over a period of time.

Dang!! That got some action. ...looking forward to that.

Hooray Mar-K!!

I did this video last weekend on my 55. It is pretty rough though. I'm sure Mar-Ktech will do a much more professional video. This I do know, I feel sorry for you guys with 2 wheel drives trying to tighten those bolts on the bottom. Look at all that room I have! Ha, ha!
Bed Wood and sides install on 55.2 Chevy truck

jomichael,
Great job and great looking truck. some questions: 1)did your bed come from MarK? 2) did the directions have you installing the wood first? I have just begun on mine but I hope I won't have to do any wood work to make it fit.
My instructions (51 3/4 ton) said to bolt the sides together first.

Thanks for the comment. The truck should be on the road next Monday for the first time in 6 years.
1. Unfortunately, mine did not come from MarK. I had no idea about his company before I purchased the bed sides and wood from Jim Carter. I faced a lot of challenges as the bed sides did not have the bolt holes for the fenders pre drilled, and I felt the manufacturing was pretty rough. There were wrinkles on the stake pocket. I think you can see them in the video on the passenger side. I fixed the driver side but still need to address it on the passenger side. the bed wood had no pre drilled holes or the offset counter holes for the washers, and there were no instructions whatsoever. As you saw in the video I had to cut a shallow dado on the end boards so the angle bracket would sit correctly. I also had to trim them on my jointer.
I heard that MarK offers a kit with much less frustration involved!
2. I have heard, and I did consider, setting up the wood and cross sills on a couple of stands and bolting the wood and strips together. The problem I see in that is you then have to lift it into place and it will most likely be out of alignment. And that is the hardest part about this whole project is lining up the holes. I had to enlarge the holes on the sills and frame to get it all to work. Seems easier to just do it on the truck. If you have a low riding 2 wheel drive truck, it seems to make sense to jack up the entire truck as far as you can to access the bolts.

All I can say is that you should put it together before you paint ANYTHING because you can bet, it won't fit the first time and you will need to cut and trim the wood. I installed it once when everything was raw, then once when the wood was painted because I was worried that the coats of paint would throw off the alignment. The third and final time went pretty smooth as you can see. I did it in a day.

Big Chevy,
Just looked at your truck, that is beautiful! Love the color. When do you think you will be done? How long have you been working on it?

You all refer to AD trucks, are they older than a 1955.2? If so, then my video isn't going to help much. Looking at your bed Big Chev, it looks like it is almost a separately built part of the truck. Maybe that is where I heard that you put the bed together on the ground and lift it on?

Oh, well, maybe my video will help some of you.

I have sanded the wood and set it aside. We are now waiting for
1 9/16 Forstner bit I have ordered 2 weeks ago. The bed sides are bolted and square and we will assemble it and then remove the wood for treating. I have decided on soaking each of the ends of the bed strips overnight to reduce the usual rot on the ends.

Thanks. My wife picked the color. You know how it is... safer that way. lol

My son and I towed it back to Dallas from St. Louis in May 2006, and that's when we started the project. My son was in college so most of the work has been on my watch. I hope we can show it at the end of May but we'll need to kick it in gear if that happens.
We are working on doors/weatherstriping/air/bed/ and a little sheet-metal front end assembly.

The AD is from 47.2 through 55.1 series.

Great video. Truck is way nice.

When Stacy David built the Copperhead truck ('67 C-10), one show had a basic instruction video of how to assemble a fleetside bed (can't be too different). It should be on Youtube.com somewhere.

jomichael - great stuff! thanks for making and posting that video!

MarK-Tech: any movement on the idea of Mar-K making a proper bed installation video?

MarK-Tech: any movement on the idea of Mar-K making a proper bed installation video?

That would help alot of people.

Not yet! It is still on the list of things to do. Unfortunately it is a long list! Thanks so much for asking. We'll try to get that project going.

Not yet I just checked !

Aw man...

I'm still looking forward to this video!

Me too! I've already installed mine. Now I need the video to reveal what mistakes I made.

Can't help but like a guy that works barefooted.

What???

I couldn't find my flip flops that day.