Anyone make their own wood box floor?

[Russell]

Hey guys!

I figured you 67-72 fellas would probally know more about this than the 73-87 guys, but has anyone here made their own wooden box floor?

My 77 stepside truck has no floor, whatsoever, so I am needing to start from scratch.

I've got the bed strips, and cross-sills now, and I can easily get the carriage bolts I need, but I'm kinda stuck with the wood.

I found the link to GMC Paul's wood bed dimensions, but does anyone have any hints or tricks of how to groove them? Or are there any other ideas out there for a temporary floor? I wouldn't mind plywood, but it is my understanding that these floors need the old wood in there to act as a spacer.

I need a box for my truck so I can toss some weight in there before things eventually get real slippy out here -- I've got bad enough traction as it is, LOL

[wibilly]

russel i did one a year or two ago for a buddy's 67. I went to a local sawmill and got red oak, oraginaly they were fir i belive. you can use what ever you want, personaly i like black ash. i ripped the boards to width, there was just enough of the original left to get diminisions. i cut the groves using a datto blade on my tabel saw. i made a featherboard to keep the stock tight against the fence and another to clamp on the fence to hold the board tight to the table. you could probably use a router or a rabiting ledge on a jointer but i think te tabel saw is the fastest and easiest.

[sweet n rare67]

To avoid high cost and still have a nice lookin bed you can go down and get a 4x8 or 4x10 sheet of 3/4 inch Plywood make any trims for fitment. Place that sheet of plywood under the bed just like it was a regular kit, except it is all attached. Mark all your holes. Remove the board and drill the holes. Finish the side facing upwards just as a regular wood bed. Reinstall and then place the strips in over the top. No one will notice the difference and it will be good weight not to mention much cheaper and easily replaceable.
-Jake-

[BrianJordan]

Originally Posted by wibilly

russel i did one a year or two ago for a buddy's 67. I went to a local sawmill and got red oak, oraginaly they were fir i belive. you can use what ever you want, personaly i like black ash. i ripped the boards to width, there was just enough of the original left to get diminisions. i cut the groves using a datto blade on my tabel saw. i made a featherboard to keep the stock tight against the fence and another to clamp on the fence to hold the board tight to the table. you could probably use a router or a rabiting ledge on a jointer but i think te tabel saw is the fastest and easiest.

[wibilly]

i think the oak was less than $50 and ash would have been less the trick is buy it from a sawmill that has a dry kiln i got it surfaced on 2 sides and finished the milling myself to insure a perfect fit

[Russell]

Originally Posted by sweet n rare67

To avoid high cost and still have a nice lookin bed you can go down and get a 4x8 or 4x10 sheet of 3/4 inch Plywood make any trims for fitment. Place that sheet of plywood under the bed just like it was a regular kit, except it is all attached. Mark all your holes. Remove the board and drill the holes. Finish the side facing upwards just as a regular wood bed. Reinstall and then place the strips in over the top. No one will notice the difference and it will be good weight not to mention much cheaper and easily replaceable.
-Jake-

Hmm, I like this idea best!

Cost me 30 - 40 bucks for a sheet of plywood, but if I got a peice that has the wood grain top to it, it'd look pretty good, and be cheap enough not to break the bank

[sweet n rare67]

Even though I have never performed that job I have seen the finished product and talked to the owner and. The bed was beautiful. Russell If you go this route I would love to see some pics
-Jake-

[8bolt]

I'm no expert but I don,t think regular plywood would will stand up to well to out door weather you will most likely have delaminatoin in the ply you could buy boat builders plywood but the coast is very high$$$.

[wibilly]

8 bolt you are so right, that is why i recomended ash. at about $1.80 a bd/ft you wont find a better value or a ahrder or more pretty wood

[boundstaffpress]

A while back on the stovebolt page a guy mentioned using tounge and groove and just bolting it down with out any steel runners.

Someone here a while back questioned why a person couldn't use the new man-made recycled deck planks, but I don't think he got much response.

I've seen lots of plywood beds that are all torn up because the edges take in water, and the glue fails. Not a bad quick fix, but it's not permanent.

[Russell]

If it lasts till spring, thats all I need

[TP from Cntl PA]

We had some white oak we sawed up for boards that I had some extra's so I used them in the box on my C-20............I didn't cut a relief on the outter boards so the box would sit at the same height, and I bolted them with carrige bolts, instead of using those OE sillrails which IMO are nothing but a PITA. It actually came out really nice, but I removed the bed not long after and put a stake body on it.

We did the same thing on our C-10 farm truck with a short step box. We soaked them with a kero/used motor oil mix before we used them to protect the wood.

We had plywood in the C-10 for a time, and it wasn't heavy enough for farm work, it was replaced with 1" oak