Bed Wood

[Marcus4800]

Looking for a place to buy bed wood for my 63 stepside. I checked LMC and Classic just wanted to know if anybody knows of other vendors. Also would like to get the pre drilled. Thanks....

[dstarrett]

Mar-K you won’t be disappointed.

[northern 85]

Yep, Mar-k , very nice!!!!

[vin63]

I purchased Mar-K for a previous truck project and went with Bedwood and Parts this time around. You'll be happy with either.

Just finished the Bedwood and Parts wood and used Mar-K strips.

[jbgroby]

Everything I needed for my bed I purchased from Mar-K. - front of bed panel, frame cross rails, bed wood, bolts and bed strips, OUTSTANDING QUALITY. I chose to go back to factory, plain black painted pine boards. When you get to their site, look for the test link. The kiln dried yellow pine was coated in two coats of POR-15 (dried 48+ hours between coats) then two coats of Behr Exterior Grade Semi-gloss. The Por-15 literally seals the wood against ANY moisture that southern climates have. She's garage kept, but I'm sure I'll get caught in a rain storm sooner or later.

http://mar-k.com/

[studeclunker]

Originally Posted by jbgroby

Everything I needed for my bed I purchased from Mar-K. - front of bed panel, frame cross rails, bed wood, bolts and bed strips, OUTSTANDING QUALITY. I chose to go back to factory, plain black painted pine boards. When you get to their site, look for the test link. The kiln dried yellow pine was coated in two coats of POR-15 (dried 48+ hours between coats) then two coats of Behr Exterior Grade Semi-gloss. The Por-15 literally seals the wood against ANY moisture that southern climates have. She's garage kept, but I'm sure I'll get caught in a rain storm sooner or later.

http://mar-k.com/

Forgive me if I sound a touch obtuse, you painted the floor-boards, correct?
My truck is not garage-kept so I have to figure out how to do this so that the boards will last as long as possible. You method sounds like a really good one.

Funny how my Father went down to the local Hardware Store to get "bed wood" to put in his truck('60 or '61 Apache) in 1968-70. All he had to do is drill the holes. It looked beautiful when he was finished.

[studeclunker]

Originally Posted by vin63

I purchased Mar-K for a previous truck project and went with Bedwood and Parts this time around. You'll be happy with either.

Just finished the Bedwood and Parts wood and used Mar-K strips.

Looks almost like this one is being set up for a Goose-neck hitch. What's the little trap door on the left-rear for?

[jbgroby]

Yes, The manner in which I painted them came directly from the MAR-K recommendation. On their website they have/had a section explaining and showing the boards as exposed to weather. I tried to find the page but could not. Never the less, the 2 coats of POR-15 and 2 coat of Behr is what they recommend if you want the black bed. The board they showed on their site were continually exposed to the elements for several years and lasted. they also had all sorts of other finishes shown.

Originally Posted by studeclunker

Forgive me if I sound a touch obtuse, you painted the floor-boards, correct?
My truck is not garage-kept so I have to figure out how to do this so that the boards will last as long as possible. You method sounds like a really good one.

Funny how my Father went down to the local Hardware Store to get "bed wood" to put in his truck('60 or '61 Apache) in 1968-70. All he had to do is drill the holes. It looked beautiful when he was finished.

[vin63]

Originally Posted by studeclunker

Looks almost like this one is being set up for a Goose-neck hitch. What's the little trap door on the left-rear for?

The center access door is to the rearend housing and oil filler. The smaller one is access for the gas tank filler.

[Praxiss454]

Everyone says Mar-K, you won't be disappointed, but I am disappointed by my Mar-K wood. 3 boards warped after they were painted w/ the recommended POR-15 + Black exterior paint, and my bed does not really fit together all that well. I have not contacted them about it because the last damn thing I want to do is try to lift the box off of the truck alone again, and undo the hundred bolts. Since it lives outdoors and is not a show truck, I figure it's "good enough". In retrospect I wish I had just cut the wood myself on the cheap.

[vin63]

Oh, no! When you painted the planks, did you alternate painting bottom and top sides (coat one side, let dry, then coat the other side)? Every bedwood kit I have installed on my projects, or helped friends/customers with, I always had to do some trimming and fitting, and a lot of sanding before finishing the wood. On my bed above, I had to trim the outer planks by about a 1/2" and at a bit of an angle to get the spacing correct for the strips.

[Praxiss454]

Originally Posted by vin63

Oh, no! When you painted the planks, did you alternate painting bottom and top sides (coat one side, let dry, then coat the other side)?

I followed Mar-K's instructions for the POR-15/paint method as best I could, and I was also trying to get everything painted and installed within their no-warping time frame. So I was pretty disappointed when they warped. We did have a couple of hot days here, so maybe that did it, I don't know.

I was also disappointed that the holes along the outer edges were not pre-drilled, I was under the impression they would be. If I thought I had the craftsmanship to do a good job at drilling precise holes w/o them chipping out on me, I really would have just cut and drilled the wood myself.

Maybe y'all are more skilled or more lucky than me.

[The Rocknrod]

Ya they're never drilled.

[vin63]

Yeah, the tough thing is if there is fitting/trimming needed, it's those edges that usually need to be trimmed, so it would not be practical to have those pre-drilled.

Originally Posted by Praxiss454

I was also disappointed that the holes along the outer edges were not pre-drilled, I was under the impression they would be.

[rvrfoot]

Brothers