Any tips on rebuilding a wood floored bed?

[John Fabris]

Hi All,

Just wondering if anybody here has already re-assembled a wood bed had any tips. Is it easier to build off the truck or on the truck. Either way, what did you do to support the bed until all the wood was in place?


Thanks!!!

[Sillyoldman]

Mine came off completly. Theres too much stuff underneath to work around. I reassembled mine on sawhorses then lifted it back onto the frame.

[nitor]

I just finished rebuilding my bed. It's much easier to do it off of the truck. I made a stand for my bed out of 2x4s. This is what it looked like. It's on the truck now.

[John Fabris]

Thanks for the pics Jim!

So, how are you are supporting the front of the bed?

[nitor]

Originally Posted by John Fabris

Thanks for the pics Jim!

So, how are you are supporting the front of the bed?

The wood stand you see under the bed goes from the back to the front. I used the cross supports to set the bed on the stand.

[farside847]

Why does taking off the bed make it easier (I need to do this too). Seems to me you will still need to crawl under the damn thing for all 2 million bolts...

[bkwagonss]

I need to redo my wood bed also. I was thinking of cutting the wood boards myself.
Problem I have is, I didn't have the boards on the truck when I bought it. I have no idea what widths they are and what shape the edges need to be routed correctly.
Are there any dimensions somewhere or plans?

[BOSS]

check FAQ Gmcpauls has a nice writeup about the bed boards.

[classicchev]

If you have a table saw and you know how to use it, its very simple. When you elect your boards, and before you do any cutting, make sure all the end grains in the boards are going the same direction. They will either curve up or down, make sure you mill them with the curve up on the finished board.
GMC pauls has a very good drawings, there measurements are not correct, just make sure the distance between the grooves are 6 1/4 " on the big boards, and 4 1/4 on the small boards.

I have made a few sets for other board members, If you have any questions, just ask.

good luck , Darren

[bkwagonss]

Thanks Boss and Darren, sounds like something I can handle.
So Darren, GMCpauls calls out the 8 board widths as 3-1/8, 7-7/16, 7-7/16, 5-7/16, 5-7/16, 7-7/16, 7-7/16, 3-1/8.
You're saying substitute the 7-7/16 to 6-1/4 and 5-7/16 to 4-1/4. Do you agree with the 3-1/8 boards on the ends and all the smaller dimensions for the bed strip grooves.

[MAR-Ktech]

I believe Classicchev refers to the width 6 1/4 and 4 1/4 as the widths of the raised part of the board between strips, not the overall width of the board. We make ours slightly less than that to allow for expansion of the boards and for build up of the finish material. Don't forget the boards will expand and contract with climate changes and they have to be able to move. You do not want them to get tight in the bed. Something has to give.

Mar-Ktech

[classicchev]

Like Mar-k says, its the width of the board you see after the detailling has been done and the strips installed. The drawings have 5/16" extra taken out of the middle, that leaves alot of gap between the strip and wood. Hope this doesn't confuse you.

[frost89434]

here is how I did mine. I did it on the truck. It was a little harder but not too bad.

[Green Machine]

Well, I did the wood floor conversion thing. I took the bed apart on the truck then finally hauled the rusted hunk of junk floor to the scrap yard on the truck. I used the truck frame to hold everthing as I was assembling. Worked ok for me.