Installed new bed

[Ole Greenie]

Recently installed a new bed in Ole Greenie. It is a 70 CST S/S which had the original bed in it...allbeit fragments of the original wood. Bed had been covered over the past 18 years or so with a 3/4 plywood...sliding around back there for a while.

I was interested in dressing it up while maintaining functionality and know that wood was NOT the way to go. This was a Calif truck so it had weathered quite nicely for it's age.

All hardware had to be cut off because the original hardware was too rusted to soak in penetrant. This was the hardest part!

After removal of the original wook planks the only real areas of any reasonable concern were the mounting holes at the front of the bed where the boards had mounted.

Here is another:

As you can see, although there was a bit of perforation it was not really enough to worry about welding in new pieces. So I treated the metal and repainted all the surfaces.

Here is with all the hardware removed:


As you can see there is also quite a bit of unsupported span there. I bought a new cross member to be installed just about over the axle.

Now not wanting to use wood...which would have to be replaced at some point again, I opted for a decking material made by trax. Fortunately, Trex makes the widths I needed that are OEM to these trucks. I acquired the dimensions needed to plane and router the sides, and off to wood-work I went. I cut the synthetic boards to length and finished the sides on the table router. These boards are about 5X heavier than wood but will last 100 years or more. There is no need to coat 20 times with a poly and no worry about scratches. The core is the same color as the exterior. No stain and no poly! I used all stainless hardware- strips and nuts/bolts/washers.

I countersunk the C/M hardware into the bottom of the boards so I didn't have any bolts coming through the boards. Made for a nicer cleaner finish.
http://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47a0...D550/ry%3D400/

As you can see, I installed the new C/M and started from the RT side making my way to the left.


Final picture before the last two strips were installed for reference.
http://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47a0...D550/ry%3D400/


Again, it is significantly heavier than wood but took weeks off of a kit install. Cost was about the same without the staining and poly. Bed is more durable and should last a whole lot longer than any wood bed out there.

Trex is a 50/50 composite material and is also quite a bit more than wood. Will not fade, warp, crack, etc. I wanted to use my truck as well as go to a few shows with it.

Take care...John

[wHATANERD]

Very Nice work.

[71meangreenc10]

Looks good.

Smitty

[AusTx68]

I'm in the middle of doing an oak bed myself. Never even thought to use synthetic wood. Makes sense considering the real stuff doesn't last long. You said price is comparabel to a wood kit. How much we talking? Does it come in stained colors? I imagine the texture is like real wood. Does it come in a varnish like finish

[Ole Greenie]

The whole shebang cost me about $580 which includes the planks, stainless fasteners and brushed stainless strips. What was ideal about the whole thing is that I didn't have to spend hours upon hours of staining, adding layer upon layer of poly and the associated drying time. An additional benefit was that moisture retention was gone with the wood. This is of particular importance at the ends of wood boards and the rust associated with these areas.

The planks I bought were bought at Lowes and I grabbed what they had in stock. I could have ordered textured boards...for an extra fee of course. But you can go to www.trex.com and find out all about it. There are other composite manufacturers out there so give them a look too. I found that for personal reasons, I liked the durability of the trex the best. Multiple textures and multiple colors are available, though I don't believe there is a high gloss texture available. It really depends on what you like and how it fits best with the rest of your truck.

I too thought it was a good idea so I thought I'd send the idea out there for the folks on this board to consider. This made the perfect sense for me since I was planning on using the truck/bed as well as show it occasionally.

Since I am active duty Army, I don't think I need to mention that I have no affiliation with Trex or Lowes.

Originally Posted by AusTx68

I'm in the middle of doing an oak bed myself. Never even thought to use synthetic wood. Makes sense considering the real stuff doesn't last long. You said price is comparabel to a wood kit. How much we talking? Does it come in stained colors? I imagine the texture is like real wood. Does it come in a varnish like finish