'67 stepside bed cross members

[ga-stepside]

There were 4 cross member that were not attached to the frame. The center one where the shocks mount and the rear one are riveted to the frame. One of the loose ones was sitting on those plates at the front of the frame. Are the other 4 just suppose to attach to the floor and then the floor bolted through the frame? I guess I should have paid ore attention when I pulled it apart.

[summitflier]

I dont see the rails that run along the bottom inside of the bedsides. These have the holes where you line up the cross members. If you're missing the rails, the three in center will just "float" on top of the frame. The smaller one goes in the middle of course.
For the front one set it on top of the flat plates that are attached to the frame in the picture above. I have a wood bed, if you have a metal bed I'm not sure how it works.
But if you still have the wood with the holes drilled, or the metal spacer strips that go between the wood pieces, you can also use those as a template for where the cross pieces go.

I still have some of the wood out of mine, I will take a pic when I get home.

[ga-stepside]

Originally Posted by summitflier

I dont see the rails that run along the bottom inside of the bedsides. These have the holes where you line up the cross members. If you're missing the rails, the three in center will just "float" on top of the frame.
I still have some of the wood out of mine, I will take a pic when I get home.

I removed the bottom side rails because I could see rust starting there. I have new ones. I am reconditioning the wood floor that was in there.

[summitflier]

I forgot to mention, one of the bigger ones will have holes drilled in the side of it.
These are for the stepside hangers. That one has to go in the front.

[ga-stepside]

Originally Posted by summitflier

I forgot to mention, one of the bigger ones will have holes drilled in the side of it.
These are for the stepside hangers. That one has to go in the front.

Yeah I found out that when I took the bolts out of one side and the whole bed dropped on that side, scared the hell out of me, LOL.

Do I want to attach any of these to the boards before I start putting them in the bed? Are the gray brackets in the picture the normal exhaust hanger brackets? You can see how the PO welded his brackets to the frame and the pipes making it impossible to drop the exhaust without cutting, WHY would anyone do that?

[summitflier]

Originally Posted by ga-stepside

Yeah I found out that when I took the bolts out of one side and the whole bed dropped on that side, scared the hell out of me, LOL.

Do I want to attach any of these to the boards before I start putting them in the bed? Are the gray brackets in the picture the normal exhaust hanger brackets? You can see how the PO welded his brackets to the frame and the pipes making it impossible to drop the exhaust without cutting, WHY would anyone do that?

I've never seen that exhaust pipe "frame attachment" on any of the trucks I have worked on. I'm not sure how I would go about removing that exhaust pipe. You could put the wood in first, but that is problematic.
The two outside pieces go under the bedside rails. In fact it seems to me that the rails are the primary thing holding up the weight of the bed sides.

So if you put the wood in first, how would you attach the rails? Also do you have the bedsides marked in some way so that you know where the rails go?
(how high up)

[ga-stepside]

Originally Posted by summitflier

Also do you have the bedsides marked in some way so that you know where the rails go?
(how high up)

There is still the paint line I can sue for the side rail alignment. But I bought polished rails so they can't be welded to the bed sides, I guess I could screw them one we'll see how it goes.

[ga-stepside]

Originally Posted by summitflier

I've never seen that exhaust pipe "frame attachment" on any of the trucks I have worked on.

Okay I feel like an idiot. That "exhaust hanger" is in reality the bracket for the bump stop.

[GR8-68]

I assembled mine off the truck, much easier than trying to crawl under the truck and work around the frame

[ga-stepside]

Originally Posted by GR8-68

I assembled mine off the truck, much easier than trying to crawl under the truck and work around the frame

That is what I was thinking. I took it off the hard way don't want that same experience putting it back in.