Bed floor supports are rotten dilemma

[Mattchu60]

I am working on acquiring parts for a large truck rebuild process. One thing I am not sure what to do on is the bed. The PO of my truck had it restored in the early 2000s and had them put new NOS GM bedsides on the bed. They are really nice and very strait with no rust or dents/dings. He didn't do anything with the bed floor at that time however, and the floor is pretty junk, several supports are rotten, the ones behind the wheels are pretty much gone and the bed is soft in areas.

So here I am faced with a dilemma, should I go the route of disassembling the box, removing the old floor and replacing with an aftermarket one - which I assume are not as good as a GM floor (none of the aftermarket sheet metal seems to fit well or be very thick, just assuming the same for a new floor). A new floor is about $900-1000 after shipping from most places.

Option 2 would be replacing the entire box with one from the south - probably cost more, and I live in north Iowa so its a pretty far drive to go get one thats rust-free. And also I would probably be getting a box with dents or dings in it.

Either way - I plan to repaint the truck - its nice now but could be better - single stage paint dulls fast and has many scratches from 15 years of use.

Feel like a replacement floor is a better option here, but would like opinions from some folks that have disassembled a box, I assume it doesn't just fall apart - probably have to fight rusted bolts at every turn and not sure how easy that seem sealer stuff will come apart.

[USSkoval]

I'd just replace the floor.

This last summer I dismantled the old shortbed from my '84 that spent it's life here in Ohio. Bedsides were good, wheelwells good, floor was shot. It all came apart surprisingly easy. There were only a few bolts that put up a fight.

[Mattchu60]

Any recommedations where to buy a bed floor at for a long bed? Many venders have them, I would guess they are all made by the same company. The price range is $600-1,000 depending on the seller. I think Classic parts has the lowest price from what I have found:

http://www.classicparts.com/1973-87-.../#.WKMhM1PadhE

Or if anyone knows where to buy the cross sills for a wide box that may be helpful, all the ones I see are for stepsides with wood beds.

[Bloodhound]

I'm in the same boat. This may be a dumb question but does the replacement floor have the sills on it?

[Mattchu60]

I found these on Ebay today - looks like someone is making a some sills close to the factory ones - I need to measure still to see if they are the correct height. Not sure if the factory ones are 18 guage metal or not either.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/192082144169...84.m1436.l2648