Hey, I was looking for build threads or info on how to build a wood truck bed. I could not find anything. I was wondering if anybody could point me in the right direction. I plan on doing it myself. I do not want to spend the extra money on a kit. I figure I would just buy some wood from home depot and do it my self. Thanks T
If you have some woodworking skills it is doable. Either for making a floor for a stepside box or making a flatbed. I think I would look for the wood in a regular lumber yard that was known to stock hardwood though.
Don't go to the depot. Look in your yellow pages for a portable sawmill operator. He will have or will tell you where to get a good wood [ I used white oak] for very cheap. Just use air dried lumber. Peter
Im talking about the bed floor. For a 52 ford f1. I have a table saw. I figured I would just buy some wood, stain it cut it, and throw it in. I also have to raise it a couple inches somehow. If anybody has plans? or Ideas? here are a couple pictures of the truck and where i am at with the bed so far. <a href="http://s92.photobucket.com/albums/l29/the*******son/?action=view&current=photo-1.jpg" target="_blank"></a<a href="http://s92.photobucket.com/albums/l29/the*******son/?action=view&current=IMG_1896.jpg" target="_blank"></a
If you have a table saw, you're halfway there. You're going to need a Dado set for your table saw, or find someone with a shaper table. You're going to need to rabbett the edges of the boards you use so that the metal strips sit flush with the wood in between. Make sure you seal the wood BEFORE you ***emble it! And don't forget the end grain-that's the end of the board-it'll **** up water like a sponge. Good luck!
About 3/4s of the way down the page you will find some useful bed wood info http://www.clubfte.com/users/earl/R...e_Material.html#Vehicle Dimension Information
my bed is raised 6 inches. i welded a 1 x 1 square tube frame to bed sides. I got rough sawn oak boards and finished from there. I am not a wood worker but this is very doable if you have time. and it took alot....
Lots of good stuff on the ford trucks site. Did my own bed on my 55 F100 and it came out great!! Judging by the pics, youre ahead of where I was already. Good luck, have fun!! http://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/forum41/
You won't need to cut rabett edges in your wood to add the stainless strips. Just **** them together and use stainless sheetmental screws to go through the wood- strips and into a 1x1 or 2x2 channel welded into the box sides or framework. My stainless strips lay flat against the oak flooring without the cuts. http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=155656&highlight=wood+bed
Do not use pressure treated wood- the new PT wood had a very high copper content and will cause corrosion when in contact with steel, as well as having a very high moisture content that will cause it to warp when you get it done. As stated in prior posts seal all 6 sides of the boards and use air dried oak. Jim
If you want your strips to sit flush with the bed you will need to dado the wood. If you don't care if they sit on top, then no dado required. I like them flush personally.
If you **** the edges of white oak planks (what you should use) together, they'll swell and buckle. That's the reason for the gap. Wood isn't dimensionally stable, it expands and contracts with humidity and moisture (rain).
Yes good point **** (ha) I have never had mine do that. I have done two beds this way. A total of 15 years. Use a good Marine varnish and don't let the vehicle set out in the elements constantly. As far as laying flush to the bed. You could never tell it by looking at these two I installed
I did mine on the cheap. Using marine plywood I cut and fit a base to clear the frame risers out of 3/4" plywood. Using another sheet I cut and fit it to the final bed dimensions. This sheet I hand selected one that had nice grain to be used to the show side. Both pieces then were finished with a marine varnish on both sides with a couple coatings. I also laid a layer of roofing tar paper between the plywood sheets. The stainless strips were screwed to the base with 1 1/4" stainless screws with trim washers. It is holding up pretty good after 7 years of hard use. I did remove the first layer last fall and sanded and refinished the surface again. Only because I tend to use mine.
Here is my original plan, I was going place some wood under the lip where the wood originally went for support. I was then going to build a "wood" frame on top of this lip and the original support beams that run from side to side, to raise the bed 3 or 4 inches to provide enough clearance for the rear diff(witch sits almost flush with the frame). Then on top of this "frame" I would lay the bed boards. Of course all of this would be stained and sealed before ***embly. Does this sound like a good Idea? I am kinda winging this project. If I built the bed around where the frame sticks strait up, would this look bad? I cant tell....
Since I am a rebel, I went against the norm...used cabinet grade Oak ply, stained and epoxy coated for the weather, bolted the SS strips down to the surface. This way items carried in the bed don't scar the wood surface. I like it! It is a simple route! Since this photo I have added an additional 3 strips in between the 4 shown and angle strips on the sides.
Here's a tech thread from a year ago yesterday. Looks good and pretty simple http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?p=5105466
I decided to make a frame to help raise the bed above the Cnotches. I ordered the bed strips from trucksusa.net Should be here next week.
Sorry, I kinda got burnt out on the HAMB there for awhile. I was just wandering through some of my old posts and found that I never posted a finished project picture. It turns out I didnt buy locking nuts when bolting the bed down. After about a month I noticed a couple bolts were rattling and when I looked, Half of them were missing. I also threw in a piece of plywood in the end just for looks and it turned out really well.
Has anyone had any luck cutting out the planks themselves? I'm thinking about doing that for my C10. I have access to the proper wood working tools to do it, just didn't know if anyone had any luck with this method.
I'm in the process of building the floor for my F100. I had a large tree destroy a barn on my property last year and I decided to try and reclaim the wood from the barn to use in the bed of my truck. I started with some very weathered barn wood that is quite old but was in solid condition except where it was in ground contact. Appeared to be mostly white oak. Cleaned the boards, cut away rotted ends, and planed. Instead of using the metal strips, I ripped small strips of the barn wood and milled them to fit between the larger boards with some room for expansion. I've ordered some stainless ****on head bolts to hold down the small strips. I plan on staining the divider strips a different color for some contrast and then several coats of finish on all sides and ends of each board. Kind of a cheap *** way of doing this project, but it's not a show truck anyway.
I'm glad i checked out this thread, lots of good ideas. I'm looking to do the bed in my truck too.... thanks for all the help.
I would use marine spar varnish it can be buffed if you want but is soft enough to change dimension with the wood. And easily repaired. Have you seen a pickup bed where the finish was coming off or water got underneath it? You could also use tongue oil. Don't use poly.
If it's a driver that might be left in the weather I'd recommend motor oil as a finish. It can be refreshed occasionally and will do a good job of protecting the wood. UV restraint and scuff proof. 50 years of cabinetmaking here.
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