Q: Any issues just repairing 2 bed boards?

[JMC1965]

The bed is in pretty good shape. However there are two bed boards where the finish is cracked pretty bad.

One is next to the wheel well...the other dead center.

Is it simple or advisable to just refinish them one at a time? I don't want to do a full bed restore as I don't think I need to.

thanks for any advice or experience on this

[Old_Gold]

I think you could certainly repair or replace a board or two. The one in the middle will probably be easier than the one by the wheel tub. The main reason most beds are done all at once, is that the wood, and finish is the same age on all of the boards. Meaning, if you do a couple of them now, the rest may be ready in a couple years.

Jim

[In The Ten Ring]

What Gold said.....you can certainly fix what you have to get by. If you want it all to look the same, fix it all at once.

I like the look of stained and polyurethaned floors....that's what I would do, with the addition of strategically located tie down rings.

[JMC1965]

thank you. I'm wanting to just do the 2 board fix now. I need to plan out the bed re-do, color, etc. Then figure out a bed cover of some kind to keep some stuff dry

[In The Ten Ring]

Originally Posted by JMC1965

thank you. I'm wanting to just do the 2 board fix now. I need to plan out the bed re-do, color, etc. Then figure out a bed cover of some kind to keep some stuff dry

What most of us do all the time. Do what you need to do (and can afford to do) for the moment, make a plan for the future, complete that later.

Not having a garage or at least a carport really puts a strange on vehicles.

We do need pics though. *I am the worst at providing pics! My cellphone sucks at it, I refuse to buy a smartphone, and I almost never bother with a camera.

[JMC1965]

I'm lucky...got all the reliability, safety, and driving issues taken of from July until now. Nice to be onto things like the bed.

PO didn't garage it...I've turned this into my daily driver so it's got a prime spot in the garage now

RE: Pics...will post when I get to it.

thanks again for the advice and info.

[Ironangel]

I use used motor oil on my wood beds, mop it on liberally on top, spray it on liberally from the bottom...Protects the steel hardware as well and never have to worry about scratched finishes...I'm a retired Ironworker, hate jackin with wood! LOL

[In The Ten Ring]

I spoke with a guy who bought a 1971 Custom/10 whose PO would take the oil from oil changes and spray it underneath.....wet oil combined with the dust from his dirt road protected the underside like cosmoline!

[mike16]

the fact that the old finish cracked is a factor in choosing to redo all the boards and what finish to use so you dont do a repeat performance down that road too. all the trouble your ever going to run into is going to happen removing just those two pieces of wood. for that effort and a litle more you could simply remove... and replace all that wood and make a wiser choice on finishes. keeping in mind that the current finish has failed and you dont want to do this again. the choice becomes simple. Linseed oil has been the choice for maybee 4 hundred years. it can be made to shine up like fancy finishes but with one major and significant atvantage. It can be maintained semi annually . other finishes only work once then they must be stripped and re applied. Thats why so many woodies never servived. and woodies got used in the real world, if your truck is a kind of show truck and its finish doesn't servive. the choice becomes even clearer. But. as I have found out. wood bed finish choices can be very emotional for some people.

I often consider what impact my choices, now, will make 50 years from now.