Front Bed Panel Difference - Steel Floor vs. Wood Floor

[Mieser3]

Was wondering if anyone could tell me what the difference is in the front bed panels between steel floor beds and wood floor beds (fleetsides). My '71 swb fleetside has a wood floor but I am wanting to put a steel floor in it. Also, what are the differences in the cross sills?

Thanks

[sixtyeightchevykid]

not sure about the cross sills but the front panel is deeper i guess you could say, if i remember right its 3/4 of an inch.

[RustyParts]

The cross sills are for the steel bed are turned 180 degrees from the wood bed and the rear cross sill is different from the wood bed. The wood bed rear sill is indented so the wood has something to sit on.

[Tim Christian]

Steel floor front bed panel is shorter than the wood bed front bed panel. The reason the wood floor front bed panel is taller is to make up for thickness of the wood. As far as the cross sills go on the wood floor they are sperate pieces were on the steel floor they are spot welded to the floor itself and will not interchange. Hope this helps, Tim

[Dano69c10]

I was wondering what the height difference is.
I have a wood floor front panel that I want to convert to a steel floor front panel, but I was wondering about how much to cut out.

[Mieser3]

Thanks for the advice guys. Went digging around in my father's parts and found a steel floor front panel in pretty good shape. It is 3/4 inch shorter than my wood floor front panel. The wood floor panel measures 19 3/4 inches while the steel floor panel measures 20 1/2 inches.

Any suggestions on where to buy a reproduction steel floor? Having trouble finding an original one and LMC wants about $1,000 for one and Classic Parts has them for $850. Any other companies that may be a little cheaper?

[TripleNickel]

Ok... here's a related question from a newbie.

Are the bed sides the same on both metal and wood bed fleetsides?

I'm back into the 67-72 game after about 25 years away.

About 6 months ago I picked up a well worn but all original, 4-owner, bare bone optioned 70 C-20 Chevrolet 307 w/ 3-speed (with the original protect-o-plate) and last week I picked up a 72 C-20 GMC (originally 402 powered) for its factory air and possibly to become a donor of its full chassis or at least power disc brake setup.

The 70's wood bed is in sad shape but the 72's metal bed and wheelwells are decent. The 70's sides are poor, but the 72's are worse so I am looking at some 'mix and match' options.

Thanks in advance for any insight.

[bguild]

This isnt related but somewhat is.. Classic Parts makes a adaptor for people wanting to do the reverse of what you are doing. its 20 bucks. It coverts a front steel panel to a wood floor. I am buying it soon.. I would just ask you guys to trade me but my steel wood front panel is rusted bad so it will just be as easy to convert it.

[bguild]

Also the bed sides are the same.. The cross sills and the front panel are the only difference.. The wheel wells are the same as well.