Is the front bed panel on 58-59 fleetsides the same as 60-66?

[bbc26]

I want to put a fleetside bed on my 55 and picked up a complete pair of 58 bedsides (both inners and outers). I know that the tailgate is the same for 55-66 fleetsides.

I have a 65 Fleetside bed and am hoping to use it to transfer the 58 panels onto. I just dont want to tear apart a perfectly good bed only to find that the front panel is gonna require a ton of cutting and fabbing to make work.

Anybody know if these panels are interchangeable?

Thanks in advance.

[Rude Dude]

Go to LMC online catalog and see if the numbers are the same, just a thought.

Originally Posted by bbc26

I want to put a fleetside bed on my 55 and picked up a complete pair of 58 bedsides (both inners and outers). I know that the tailgate is the same for 55-66 fleetsides.

I have a 65 Fleetside bed and am hoping to use it to transfer the 58 panels onto. I just dont want to tear apart a perfectly good bed only to find that the front panel is gonna require a ton of cutting and fabbing to make work.

Anybody know if these panels are interchangeable?

Thanks in advance.

[bbc26]

LMC, Classic Parts, and Mar-K list different part #s. I'm gonna call Mar-K tomorrow and see if they can give me any specifics on the differences, and what pieces they sell that I'm gonna need and what pieces I'll have to fab.

Anyone out there with a 58-59 fleet care to help me out with some measurements of the front bed panel? Width, height, distances for the bolt holes from the bottom of the panel. Then I can compare them to the bed I have.

Any help would be appreciated, as these beds are hard to come across.

Thanks.

[bbc26]

Talked to the very helpful folks over at Mar-K today and they told me they both have the same width but the 60-66 panel is an 1/8" taller. I think I should be able to make it work.

Seems odd that GM would change something like the front bed panel by only an 1/8 of an inch. Or am I missing something?

[MAR-Ktech]

The top of the 58-9 front panel curves inward, and you will have to cut your 65 panel to make it fit your 58 bedsides. Suggest you make a cardboard template of the area where the front panel bolts to your 58 bedsides and compare that to the 65 front panel. You will see what I mean.

Mar-Ktech

[bbc26]

Thanks for the info. My 58 panels are in Phoenix. Spotted them on Craigslist and had my uncle who's down the road in Chandler pick them up for me. When he comes out in a couple weeks we'll be able to see what you're saying.

Might just end up selling the 60-66 fleet bed to help fund the front panel and some other things I need for the truck. It's complete and in decent shape. They aren't as hard to find as the 58-59s are, but they still pull a decent price here SoCal.

bbc
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