Bed Strips..... Round Holes......HELP

[66 GWN]

Hello everyone.

Removed the wood from the bed,along with the strips. Almost every hole is round. The strips themselves are in pretty good shape. The problem is that if I was to install new carriage bolts they will just spin.

Anyone have a solution? Is there an easily found bolt like a carriage bolt with an Allen key or torx drive? Any way to tighten the carriage bolt without the square hole under it?

Any help is appreciated.

66GWN

[AcampoDave]

You may want to test this on a wood scrap first, but I drilled my holes in the wood to tightly fit the shank of the bolt. Then, as the square head of the bolt began to sink thru the metal it grabbed the wood and held tightly enough to tighten the nuts. A couple of them did need an "assist" from above with a buddy and a vise grip, but it worked out pretty well. They didn't get too scarred up and I do haul loads anyhow so cosmetics took a back seat to function.

[andyh1956]

If you use a regular nut on the bottom of the bolt, then use a nylon lock nut on top of that it should work ok. Gonna need a second set of hands to hold some tension on the bolt head prolly.

[oem4me]

It would be a lot of work for that many screws, but you could cut small slots in the ends of the bolts, and use a narrow straight blade screwdriver to keep the bolt from spinning as you twist the nut tight. You'd need some pressure from above and at least two hands below to get it done. Maybe only do the ones that won't cooperate? From memory, it seems the square on a new carriage bolt is slightly bigger than the diameter of the original serrated holes, so should grab well enough.

[Sam63c10]

I noticed this tonight whilst doing my bed wood, most of the bolts holding the bedwood down have a splined part on them stopping them spinning in the bed strips rather than a square head and hole. Think all the aftermarket bolt kits have a square section underneath the dome head? Mine all look to be factory on my 63 long fleet

[66 GWN]

thanks for everyones help. decided to go with a truss bolt. hopefully they work.

ill let you know....

66GWN

[vince1]

I don't remember having much trouble just using the carriage bolts that were supplied in the kit. One thing that I wish I had done though was to coat them with an anti-seize lubricant.

[KVB]

Try finding Ribbed neck carriage bolts.

http://www.mutualscrew.com/media/ima...ge%20Bolt3.jpg

[bpmcgee]

The key to the carriage bolts isn't the hole -- it's the washers!

The washers have a square hole which is offset from center, so when it drops into the countersunk hole it won't spin, and will hold the carriage bolt firmly.

B

[oem4me]

Originally Posted by bpmcgee

The key to the carriage bolts isn't the hole -- it's the washers!

The washers have a square hole which is offset from center, so when it drops into the countersunk hole it won't spin, and will hold the carriage bolt firmly.

B

Wrong holes, I think. I believe OP was discussing the many ribbed holes in the steel bed strips which have rounded out from spinning. See pic below from above link.
The big carriage bolts with special offset washers are a cinch.

[bpmcgee]

Originally Posted by oem4me

Wrong holes, I think. I believe OP was discussing the many ribbed holes in the steel bed strips which have rounded out from spinning. See pic below from above link.
The big carriage bolts with special offset washers are a cinch.

Ah. Sorry. And just for a minute there I felt so smart!

B

[forestb]

Originally Posted by KVB

Try finding Ribbed neck carriage bolts.

http://www.mutualscrew.com/media/ima...ge%20Bolt3.jpg

I bought some of these from mar-k a while back and they did not work at all.