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Re: Bead wood
I used a forestner bit. DO NOT USE A SPADE. It will shred the oak. Have fun because I measured at least 4 or 5 times before drilling and they still didn't fit the offset washers perfectly and still caused alignment issues. I would even suggest not doing the offset washer part until after everything is perfect then outline the washers, remove the bolts and drill them while installed in the bed. then varnish and install them back the next day.
Go a little deeper than just width of the washer because it will want to spin and break out of the indention when turning.
Are you keeping the stock angle strips or adding new ones? I added new ones and they didn't line up right and I had a ***** of time getting all of the 100 billion holes to match up. After 60 years nothing went back right and I spent a week putting the wood in. I had to re-drill a bunch of holes and man its a pain. The bolts up by the step side(if you have one) require removing the step side brackets which were impossible to reach. I just used truck ramps but if you can take the bed off do it because laying on your back on the garage floor pulling yourself around will end up bruising you quite a bit. Not to mention the dirt in your eyes.
If I had to do it all over again I would buy the pre-drilled wood. While mine looks really good to most people I can see what bolts are a bit crooked and it drives me nuts (pun intended).
Don't fully tighten any of the bolts down until they are all in because there will be a lot of alignment issues. You'll think you are all lined up on one row and it won't line up long-wise with the bed and vice versa.
Good luck and don't cuss at it too much lol!!
-Nate
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