Wood or steel floor bed on my 72 BB swb Cheyenne super

[VA72C10]

I'm back and forth so looking for opinions....

The truck will be painted white inside and out with black and of course chevy orange under the hood and black on the undercarriage.

It will have complete upper and lower trim with the lower being woodgrain. The cheyenne super interior also has woodgrain in it.

So I'm thinking the wood bed will complement the rest of the wood. Will use oak most likely and find a stain that ends up looking like the color of the rest of the woodgrain on the truck.

Also considering the hidden fastener bed strips vs. the standard ones....

please vote in the poll and let me know your opinion.

This will be a highly detailed show truck...not a truck for hauling dirt So I doubt the bed would be used for anything other than lawn chairs and cleaning supplies for shows

[pryorstemmed]

I vote wood, don't see a poll to vote in though.

[VA72C10]

Thanks....it was taking me a bit to get it posted....also found a picture of a bed with the hidden fasteners...think this with white paint

[71 super]

Wood is nice- have red oak in my 2wd bb super, but a straight (gun barrel straight ) steel floor is second to none. While I realize a repop floor is available, the original floor restored to its glory is the way to go if you want to truck to stand out from the crowd. I when restoring my bb could not find a floor good enough, but the floor in my 4x4 is perfect and kick the wood floor"s butt. In fact I actually threatened my painter with painting the steel black and putting it in my bb truck!

[71gmcburb]

I don't know how good you are at wood working but if you are any good I would suggest buying the pollished hidden fastener strips and getting some hardwood from a local supplier mill the groves into it (if you aren't very good you can hire a cabinet shop to mill them for you) and install a custom wood floor in it I would sugest tiger maple for a light color wood floor or sapela or honduran mahagany for a darker more high contrast wood both are a dark redish brown with a iredecent quality to them sapela also has black graining

[70LonghornCST]

I like the wood. I say the standard fastners because they will compliment the bolt fastners on the wheel tubs, and not make them stand out. Maybe it's just me, though.

[VA72C10]

Originally Posted by 71 super

Wood is nice- have red oak in my 2wd bb super, but a straight (gun barrel straight ) steel floor is second to none. While I realize a repop floor is available, the original floor restored to its glory is the way to go if you want to truck to stand out from the crowd. I when restoring my bb could not find a floor good enough, but the floor in my 4x4 is perfect and kick the wood floor"s butt. In fact I actually threatened my painter with painting the steel black and putting it in my bb truck!

I do think a super straight steel floor looks great. Interested how you can tell the difference on the repop complete floor vs a factory one....I've seen both in person and can't see any differences....

Originally Posted by 71gmcburb

I don't know how good you are at wood working but if you are any good I would suggest buying the pollished hidden fastener strips and getting some hardwood from a local supplier mill the groves into it (if you aren't very good you can hire a cabinet shop to mill them for you) and install a custom wood floor in it I would sugest tiger maple for a light color wood floor or sapela or honduran mahagany for a darker more high contrast wood both are a dark redish brown with a iredecent quality to them sapela also has black graining

I could mill the pieces...considered that route to save the cash on the wood side of things...but will stick to a grain that will compliment the woodgrain that's on the truck.

Originally Posted by 70LonghornCST

I like the wood. I say the standard fastners because they will compliment the bolt fastners on the wheel tubs, and not make them stand out. Maybe it's just me, though.

Good point on the wheel tub fasteners....although I could always paint those white to make them hide....hmmmm...which way to go....

[70LonghornCST]

Originally Posted by VA72C10

Good point on the wheel tub fasteners....although I could always paint those white to make them hide....hmmmm...which way to go....

Exactly what I was thinking would be the solution if you wanted to go with the hidden fastners. Choices, choices.

[stsalvage]

I like the wood beds they seem to hold up better then the steel floor beds got a guy with one for 150.00 and the wood looks good I hope to get it in a few more days

[ls1nova71]

I'd say it depends on how you're building it. Bone stock sounds like what you're going for? If that's the case I'd put a steel floor in it if that's the way it was originally. But if it had a wood floor originally I would go that route, but I'd paint it white. JMO
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[leddzepp]

Originally Posted by stsalvage

I like the wood beds they seem to hold up better then the steel floor beds got a guy with one for 150.00 and the wood looks good I hope to get it in a few more days

Is this the one? http://inlandempire.craigslist.org/pts/2285079781.html

[68 TT]

Originally Posted by 70LonghornCST

I like the wood. I say the standard fastners because they will compliment the bolt fastners on the wheel tubs, and not make them stand out. Maybe it's just me, though.

I agree.

[Steve Hafner]

Here are a couple of pictures I've saved of bed wood in white trucks. My white 70 should be finished in about a month ( of course, I've been saying that for THREE months now !!! ) I'll take a picture of it as soon as I get it back and post it in this thread. Mine is red oak with walnut stain ( the last picture is of my wood being finished ) and will have polished strips with bolts in them - I like the look of the "bolt heads" in the strips but I'm NOT using the eight bolts that go through the wood to hold the bed to the frame - the cross members will be attached to the frame from underneath. ( like was done in the first two pictures )

[CrewCab59]

I would have to say wood floor with std fastners .

Thanks

[Steve Hafner]

Originally Posted by Steve Hafner

Here are a couple of pictures I've saved of bed wood in white trucks. My white 70 should be finished in about a month ( of course, I've been saying that for THREE months now !!! ) I'll take a picture of it as soon as I get it back and post it in this thread. Mine is red oak with walnut stain ( the last picture is of my wood being finished ) and will have polished strips with bolts in them - I like the look of the "bolt heads" in the strips but I'm NOT using the eight bolts that go through the wood to hold the bed to the frame - the cross members will be attached to the frame from underneath. ( like was done in the first two pictures )

The wood has been installed now and held down from the bottom.

. . . . .

[VA72C10]

My other consideration is shipping. I can save 250 on the price by picking up the bed but don't want to wait till the end of may....I could fit the bedsides in my van with the back seats out so I could get the bed earlier and save on shipping which would make the wood bed a more attractive option...

[heeroyue2002]

Originally Posted by VA72C10

My other consideration is shipping. I can save 250 on the price by picking up the bed but don't want to wait till the end of may....I could fit the bedsides in my van with the back seats out so I could get the bed earlier and save on shipping which would make the wood bed a more attractive option...

thats what i did when i got my bed from dsigh. fit in perfect with extra space to boot.

[big_al_71]

I like tthe look of the woodbed but prefer the painted metal floor better.

[71 super]

Unless something has changed the repops have a wider rib in the floor like the 73 up. Unless side by side might be difficult to tell but having both a steel floor gets my attention much faster than a wood simply because if you have a steel floor A) truck was /is super clean and unmolested B) has had extensive time put in the body work in order to get it back to perfect C) repop and it took work to make everything perfect.

[VA72C10]

Originally Posted by 71 super

Unless something has changed the repops have a wider rib in the floor like the 73 up. Unless side by side might be difficult to tell but having both a steel floor gets my attention much faster than a wood simply because if you have a steel floor A) truck was /is super clean and unmolested B) has had extensive time put in the body work in order to get it back to perfect C) repop and it took work to make everything perfect.

I do know the patch panel I have for our bed floor is a wider rib and doesn't fit perfectly, but I had a complete short bed floor last year (should have kept it ) while having another factory floor to look at and they appeared identical. Geoff (gcburdic) has a complete repop bed including floor on his truck and it looks great to me

[STOCKISH]

I vote for the wood floor with standard fasteners. To me the hidden fasteners make for a "custom" look in the bed and since the rest of the truck wont be custom that may stand out too much.

[Zoomin]

The wood is going to be custom anyway, so I'd go with the hidden bolts if I was going to do wood.

But if everything else is nut and bolt perfect I wouldn't stray off the reservation.
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[sameyrasmea72]

Your poll is flawed!! How about doing it the way it should be done instead of the way everybody likes it. Paintd wood is cheaper and correct.

[Frkypunk70]

As a carpenter, I'm always going to say wood (even though mine is steel) After seeing how the white makes the wood POP, wood is by far the winner. Have you ever saw a technique called white washing or bleaching wood ? The wood has the look of white but all the wood grain comes through. Just food for thought after seeing the green wood bed.

[Steve Hafner]

Originally Posted by Frkypunk70

As a carpenter, I'm always going to say wood (even though mine is steel) After seeing how the white makes the wood POP, wood is by far the winner. Have you ever saw a technique called white washing or bleaching wood ? The wood has the look of white but all the wood grain comes through. Just food for thought after seeing the green wood bed.

I'd never thought of "Whitewashing" - I might have to try it when mine needs to be re-finished ( many years from now, I HOPE !!! )