Need some help with 67 C10 bed

[SilverGT3RS]

Hey everyone

I have a 67 Shortbed that has a pristine bed on it-except for the bed floor. Someone along the line replaced the OEM floor with diamond plate. It’s done nicely as far as overall fitment (nothing was cut or changed from OEM fit), but I’ve already started to remove it because 1).- it’s extremely heavy and is not bolted down securely plus they shimmed areas with wood etc.

2.)- I’m going with a floor that allows me to use 13” tubs for my new custom 11” rims on the back.

My main question is about the bed rails. The original rails are under the diamond plate, but they’re just sitting there. They aren’t welded to the floor, the bolts aren’t tight and are rusted, weird wood shims are in between them and the floor…it’s just a cluster under there.
Several suppliers for the new bed floor are telling me the bed rails are welded on the new floor and I won’t need the old rails.

Is this correct?

[68bowtie]

Was it originally a wood or steel bed floor?

[SilverGT3RS]

Originally Posted by 68bowtie

Was it originally a wood or steel bed floor?

I have no idea…..is there a way to tell?

If it did have a wood bed can I still replace the bed with the OEM metal floor?

[LS short box]

I think the wood and steel beds are the same. The reason I say that is because when I built my 68 I bought all after market bed parts. I could have gone metal but went with wood with the the box sides, front panel and wheel wells.

[raggedjim]

I'm assuming it is a fleetside because all of the stepsides were wood.

On the fleetside the rear cross sill will be completely flat if it was steel and will have an indent and a ledge for the wood to sit on if it was wood.

Good luck, Rg

[raggedjim]

Steel

[raggedjim]

Wood

[SilverGT3RS]

Originally Posted by raggedjim

Wood

Thank you Roger!

[68bowtie]

From your description it sounds to me like a wood floor. Maybe the “weird wood shims” are old original floor boards left in place to make the height work.

Either way you can do it. If it’s a wood bed you’ll need a new floor (with braces attached) and front panel (the wood panel is 3/4” taller). The sides, tubs, and tailgates are interchangeable.

[doug_p]

The front panel behind the cab, is actually 3/4" LOWER (closer to the ground) than the same panel behind the bed on a steel floor, due to the thickness of the wood. Easy fix - weld in a piece of 3/4" square tubing, drill all the through-holes for mounting and then the new steel floor sits on top of this modified panel lip/edge. The bedsides themselves sit on top of the steel floor, as do the inner fenders. I did the exact same thing to my bed. Piece of cake, just be sure to use weldable primer, or caulk/seam seal all the edges of the 3/4 sq. tubing so it doesn't leave a spot for rust to form.
Good Luck - If you have any questions, let me know-
Doug

[SilverGT3RS]

Originally Posted by doug_p

The front panel behind the cab, is actually 3/4" LOWER (closer to the ground) than the same panel behind the bed on a steel floor, due to the thickness of the wood. Easy fix - weld in a piece of 3/4" square tubing, drill all the through-holes for mounting and then the new steel floor sits on top of this modified panel lip/edge. The bedsides themselves sit on top of the steel floor, as do the inner fenders. I did the exact same thing to my bed. Piece of cake, just be sure to use weldable primer, or caulk/seam seal all the edges of the 3/4 sq. tubing so it doesn't leave a spot for rust to form.
Good Luck - If you have any questions, let me know-
Doug

Thanks for this info. However, I’m still confused. The loose cross sills that are on the truck now, they stay there and the new floor sits on top of those, or does the new metal floor come with the new cross sills already attached??

[raggedjim]

If you buy the complete bed floor assembly it will have the cross sills attached including the rear cross sill. You will remove the cross sills you have (including the rear cross sill which will have 6 bolts and some welds holding it to the bed sides). If you have a wood bed style bed you will also have to remove the angle brackets on the bedsides (also welded on and are usually a bear to get off).

[doug_p]

raggedJim is spot on - if you buy a new "full floor" all the underneath cross sills come already affixed. Those you currently have on your chassis, you remove. The "half floor" sections where you get a front half and a rear half with a seam in the center of the bed (from driver side to passenger side) do not come with the sills.

Doug

[SilverGT3RS]

Originally Posted by doug_p

raggedJim is spot on - if you buy a new "full floor" all the underneath cross sills come already affixed. Those you currently have on your chassis, you remove. The "half floor" sections where you get a front half and a rear half with a seam in the center of the bed (from driver side to passenger side) do not come with the sills.

Doug

Thank you!

[doug_p]

One more consideration you may, or may not, be familiar with . . . if you are buying a new steel floor, and ever have aspirations of wider wheels/tires, they make steel floors with 2" wider wheel openings already in the floor. Of course you would then also need 2" wider inner fenders, but they are readily available and really look good, without being too much, IMO. 4" wide, too me, is too close to Pro Street wide (which is still cool, but too much for me).
Anyway, just wanted to let you know that was an option -

Doug

[SilverGT3RS]

Originally Posted by doug_p

One more consideration you may, or may not, be familiar with . . . if you are buying a new steel floor, and ever have aspirations of wider wheels/tires, they make steel floors with 2" wider wheel openings already in the floor. Of course you would then also need 2" wider inner fenders, but they are readily available and really look good, without being too much, IMO. 4" wide, too me, is too close to Pro Street wide (which is still cool, but too much for me).
Anyway, just wanted to let you know that was an option -

Doug

Doug you read my mind, and I’m in agreement. I’m going with 2” wider tubs, as I’m running a 20x12 rear rim on the truck. I’m hoping Keyparts makes good stuff as they are the only repop company offering the 2” wider tub/floor combo.

[doug_p]

Pretty sure the ones I bought (floor and inners) were also KeyParts... I am very happy with them. Nice quality imo... If you are looking for show quality flat inner fenders, they will need some work, but for a bed that isn't finished in magazine quality paint, they are golden!

[SilverGT3RS]

Great information.

[SilverGT3RS]

@doug_p @raggedjim Another question out of curiosity….I’m trying to gauge how much extra weight the diamond plate added over the factory metal bed floor. Most data I’ve found show Diamond plate at around 6.5-7 pounds/sf. I’m guessing there’s roughly 34SF in a bed floor, so that’s around 238 pounds or so. Data on the standard bed floor is around 100-140 pounds. That’s a significant weight difference to be carrying around, let alone the the change on the rear ride height.

Any feedback?

[raggedjim]

Don't know much about the added weight from the diamond plate but any weight reduction is good in my book.

Rg