Bed Offset Washers

[damnyankee36]

I'm ready to start drilling my bed wood but I'm not sure exactly how the offset washers are supposed to be positioned. I did a few searches and it looks like they are to be rotated until the the bolt aligns with the holes in the sills and frame brackets. Am I correct?

I guess they don't necessarily have to be all in the same position. In other words, the hole where the bolt goes through can wind up at any clock position, correct?

[OhioDan]

IIRC, when I did mine, all the washers are supposed to go one direction. It's been a couple of years, and I ain't getting no younger. To cold to run out to the garage right now to look.

[msgross]

I would get the bed on perfectly square and lined up...then see what position they need to be in to mount to the sill...

[damnyankee36]

Yeah, I just did another search and found the stepside instructions for the bed installation on mar-k. They also say to orient the washers with the hole towards the front. They also say to drill a 15/16" hole! That leaves a lot of room for any possible mis-alignment but, dang, that's a big hole!

I still don't see what the purpose of the offset is for.

[Richard8971]

I'm sure there has to be a good GM reason for the offset, but when I did mine, I just used good 'ole washers and I haven't had any issues. I just couldn't come up with any good reason (for me) as to why you NEED them to be offset. And I didn't drill a hole for the washer...

D

[damnyankee36]

Originally Posted by Richard8971

I'm sure there has to be a good GM reason for the offset, but when I did mine, I just used good 'ole washers and I haven't had any issues. I just couldn't come up with any good reason (for me) as to why you NEED them to be offset.

D

The only thing I can come up with is from a post I read somewhere is with that big of a hole in the wood, you can rotate the washer until it lines up with the sill holes.

I guess I'm too much of a "symmetrical" kinda guy to have them all rotated in different positions. I'm sure I can get the holes drilled close enough to rotate them all in the same position.

[chipflyer]

This is from Mar-k's site, it can be found in this instruction manual http://mar-k.com/67-72conv.pdf

19. Drill a 1/8" pilot hole completely through the boards in the center of each
of the marked locations.
20. Turn the boards over and measure forward from each pilot hole exactly
3/16" towards the front of the board and make a mark. See figure 22.
21. Using a 1-9/16" Forstner bit, a drill press if available, or a hand drill,
countersink each bed-to-frame location approximately 1/8" to 3/16" deep
on each mark from step 20. This offset hole is for the offset washer supplied
in the bed bolt kit. The offset washer keeps the bolt from turning in
the wood board. See figure 23.

Jeff

[damnyankee36]

Originally Posted by chipflyer

The offset washer keeps the bolt from turning in
the wood board. See figure 23.

Jeff

I remember reading this one sentence a while back. Makes sense now, although I don't think it's much of an issue for a hand assembled bed like what we would be doing. Now, on the assembly line, I can see it helping speed things along.

I'll be installing the washers all in one direction like the Mar-k instructions.

Thanks Jeff!

[Spoof]

I'm not far off from undertaking the same operation. I'm under the impression the entire effort can be skipped and the bolts can simply be hidden under the bedwood by drilling a divot in the undersides to accomodate the bolt heads. I have to assume others smarter than me have come to the conclusion the strip bolts will hold the bedwood down just fine.
Please understand I have not fully thought this through and I'm only repeating something I heard quite some time ago.

[Beuford]

I believe they drilled the hole off center so it would not turn when tightening from underneath.But I could be wrong.