Pictures of my wood bed install last weekend

[OregonNed]

This is a new thread of the bed build we did this last weekend. Thought I'd share some pics of how it all went in. Its been a several month process taking the hand picked boards and having a friend mill and finish them, using my old bed wood for a template. He struggled with time as well as weather to get everything done, include all of the coats of marine varnish. Temperature was a huge obstacle. During the winter and spring, however, I was able to get a lot of things done on the truck. Along the way I elected to strip, smooth and paint the inner bed sides - along with replacing the box front and wheel houses with new. The inner fenders in the front were also stripped and painted to match the body color. For the wood we chose hand picked quarter-sawn red oak for stability and looks. My friend finished with 13 coats of Epiphanes Varnish and ended with a few coats of a crystaline wax on the top surfaces. Its great having good friends! Here is how things went down:

Bed sides and front panel put together.





Tailgate and new rear cross sill installed. I used aftermarket trunnion bearings as well:



Newly finished boards delivered to my house on a special rack built by my friend. The two boards underneath were from my old bed.



First boards going in after the box was squared up:





Everything laid out and checked:



Eventually, we ran out of clear space!



Materials set-up:



And, the finished project: