Bed Assy

[OhioDan]

When you get to the point that you're ready to assemble your wood floor bed, does the rear crossmember have to be welded in? I mean, you'd have to partially assemble the bed in order to weld it, or you'd burn your paint trying to weld it. I was just going to have my painter do the body work and paint, then I was going to assemble the bed. Then we remembered that in the corners where the rear cross member and the bedsides come together, it was welded. I know that this adds somestrength to the whole bed, but is there a way to get around it? Any info would be appreciated. Thanx.

[mcmlxix]

I saw them build a bed on TrucksTV.Com for Copperhead. They bolted the entire bed together... No welding. . .

[Huck]

Dan, when the beds were assembled at the factory, it was done on a JIG which created a perfectly square assembly. You can just bolt the bugger together but then you have the problem of it moving just a bit. What I did was to bolt everything together but not tight till I had the floor, front panel, wheel tubs, and most important ---THE TAILGATE---square and with even seems. Then I tightened the bolts making sure it stayed square. Spot welding the lower rear is an option to keep everything square. If for show, might not bother but if you will be hauling crap, I would re-weld.
I have done several rebuilds of metal floor beds but a wood floor bed---not sure I would leave just bolted as they can't be as strong alignment wise as a metal floor bed.
Good luck---Huck