Bed Bolts

[STL_66 Chevy]

i have been working on installing the composite wood bed on my 66 fleetside and was wondering if the bolts that hold the bed to the frame have to go through the wood? i know that could be a stupid question but are there any draw backs from putting the bolts under the wood? i guess it would be harder to install and remove but once its done its done...
i like the clean look of the boards and would rather not run the bolts throught the wood and flush mount the offest washers!
thanks for any feedback!

[TwiggyTheDrummer]

Yeah that's how the bed attaches to the frame. The bolts go through the planks in the front and rear of the bed and mount into the frame rails. I'm not sure if there's any way to bypass that effectively and safely or not.

[joe231]

you can put the bolts under the wood...mar-k sells kits like that....you will have to clearance the under side of the boards to clear the bolt heads though..
only drawback i see is the harder removal, but cleaning up the look of the bed seems worth it to me

[STL_66 Chevy]

i was think about drilling the top hole in the cross sill large enough for the bolt to pass through and then using a large washer/ lock washer inside the cross sill that would then bolt to the frame.... basically bypass the wood and the top of the sill where the wood and sill touch.
what about welding threaded studs to the sills themselves?

[joe231]

yeah, I would think for strength, you would want the bolt through both sides of the sills.....welding may not be a bad idea...you could use a carriage bolt through the bottom hole and butt the head up to the under side of the top hole and weld the head to the top....make sense? if not I can draw a quick illustration....

here is the way Mar-K does it

[1964C10]

Interesting!! I have been thinking alot about doing this myself just not sure of the drawbacks. As far as fastening I have been pondering of forgoing the bed strips altogether and using a router to route out a groove in the edge of the plank and use that fasten it with bolts to the frame. Sorry the explanation is kinda cryptic. I will be watching your build for sure! Good luck with it

[STL_66 Chevy]

thanks guys for the feedback and suggestions!
last night i bought some shorter bolts and later today i am going to mock it up and see how strong and secure it will be bolting the the cross sills to the frame only using the lower holes of sill. i figured with 12 bolts holding the bed to the frame it wont go anywhere! i hope! heres an illustration to show you what i am talking about...
[IMG][/IMG]
i figured i would try this before i go welding studs to the cross sills. if someone does try welding threaded studs to the cross sills, it maybe helpful to enlarge or slot the existing holes on the frame to allow for some adjustment of the bed. I think welding studs to the sills would give it a really slick and clean look! not that you would really see them too often

[joe231]

12 bolts???

aren't there only 8 that mount to the frame?

what are you going to do about the rear sill bolts?

[STL_66 Chevy]

sorry i was counting the bolts for the rears sill as well as the bolts for all the cross sills (which on a long/fleet there are 5 large cross sills and 1 small plus the rear sill)!
i havent got that far yet but i may route out the underside of the board where the rear sill bolts are or weld threades studs where the bolts would be.... i think that would be the easier way to go for me!

[joe231]

Oh I thought you had a shorty....only 3 cross sills and the rear sill on those...sorry

[protrash64]

Originally Posted by STL_66 Chevy

sorry i was counting the bolts for the rears sill as well as the bolts for all the cross sills (which on a long/fleet there are 5 large cross sills and 1 small plus the rear sill)!
i havent got that far yet but i may route out the underside of the board where the rear sill bolts are or weld threades studs where the bolts would be.... i think that would be the easier way to go for me!

I may be totally off here, but couldnt you cut down the rear sill mount loops and then bolt down the bed with a big washer? Just a thought.

[Chevy Fleetside]

I make my own bed wood. I bolted the bed down with the carriage bolts first, then marked on the bottom of the wood where the bolt heads were and used a router ( I believe this was mentioned in an above post) so the wood would clear the bolt heads. There was no welding or cutting. I have thought about bolting the cross sills down the way in the picture above and will probably do so. For the bolts in the rear sill I will have to router out the bed wood, but that is no big deal.

[502tripower]

use a paddle bit or forstner bit to counter bore the backside of the bed wood then bolt through the cross sill. I never drill the wood for the bed mounts. I have done it this way many times.