Building a Stepside Bed

[cliffsta]

So.... I just ordered (among other things) bedsides, front bed panel, tailgate, wood, strips, and hardware... basically an entire new stepside bed (my steps and fenders are in really good shape)... I'll post pics of EVERYTHING (about 2 grand worth, my graduation presents) on a later date...

But back to the topic...

How does one build a stepside bed? I would assume I start with drilling holes in the wood, then bolting the bedsides to the rear cross sill, then attach the wood?

Anybody got a detailed, step-by-step booklet or document? Any pointers or tips? What should I use as my platform?

Should I PAINT everything before putting it all together?

Please, everything you guys have to offer I'm all ears (or eyes). I expect everything to get here next week or the week after, so I have a while to read up, and print documents or pics.

Thanks in advance everybody, as i know this is a big topic with lots of info.

Cliff

[mbgmike]

its right under your nose. Did you look at Mar K's site? Yes I would paint it first

[72 CustomCamper]

I would test fit everything before you paint anything. That way if you have to fix any missaligned holes you won't hurt the new paint...


Chuck

[87 STEPPER]

Do not paint anything untill you have assembled it all for fitment then disassemble it and have it painted work with clean hands cuz all the parts you get will be in bare metal and any grease will cause problems when it's time for paint!

Heres what i know from all the times iv'e had my bed off or apart for upgrades
first you will have to attach the sides to the front panel and the rear cross brace/support then the tail gate.

Measure across diagonally to square up the bed then tighten the front pnl. and rear cross support.

I think theres 5 cross supports that the wood attaches to 2 are bigger than the others and they attach the bed sides and to the frame you will need to remove them all from your old bed if you didn't get new ones once all of thoes are installed you can start to place the wood planks down you should not have to drill any holes in the wood cuz the bed strip blots slip in between the plank slots.

I dont know how there wood kits are but you may need to notch the two outter planks in order for them to fit under the side panel bolts cuz there welded into place the factory wood had a hole in the wood but if you ever need to remove that panel with out having to remove the entire bed you should notch them that how i did mine.

The only other holes you will have to make are the ones for the mount blots
these are the hard ones to do what i did was lay the planks in place and using a big heavy plasic mallet i smacked the planel real hard where the mount bolt holes are on the cross support to make an indentation in the wood then i removed the wood and drilled a small hole for my whole saw then i cut the large hole for the large area washer sorry i dont know what the size is. you only need to go down 1/8" then i cut the hole for the bolt with a 1/2" whole saw then i used a wood chisel to cut out the wood for the washer.

I think thats it except take it all apart for paint and urathane.

Remember we need pics!

[cliffsta]

Originally Posted by 87 STEPPER

I think theres 5 cross supports that the wood attaches to 2 are bigger than the others and they attach the bed sides and to the frame you will need to remove them all from your old bed if you didn't get new ones once all of thoes are installed you can start to place the wood planks down you should not have to drill any holes in the wood cuz the bed strip blots slip in between the plank slots.

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Remember we need pics!

Ok, yeah, Chevy Duty didn't list the cross supports, and I figured I'd need them... so I guess I'll need to order those from LMC on Monday, but first I'll look at the shape of mine right now.

And of COURSE I'm taking like 2 rolls of film, my truck's a total camera whoaaa

Still waiting to receive order confirmation, I'm thinking I need to call them to get the confirm since its a truck-freight order.