Anyone use a cabinet grade plywood in truck bed?

[Bullett]

Just tossing a few ideas around. I am stripping the wood from my truck and I would like to replace with something that looks nice, not overly expensive, and relatively easy. The wood I am removing is some type of plywood that was stained and urathaned many years back. I have some 1 1/2" polished stainless strips that came with the truck. They are 1/16" thick and just flat. I will snap a couple pics in the morning since this is hard to explain. I don't need a magazine cover wood bed, just something that will look nice but not over the top. Have any of you used a finish grade type of plywood and been very happy with the end result? Thanks...Bullett

[Rich 5150 69]

If your going to use plywwod you`ll need to use exterior grade marine plywood, anything else will delaminate due to the moisture..jmo...

[oem4me]

True. Most "cabinet grade" ply is for interior applications. The effort required to keep it from getting ruined would quickly outweigh the convenience of doing a bed in one piece (or two). If your style is not to worry about such things, the bed would probably look shabby in no time.

[hotrodder]

I used 5/8 plywood and did what you are talking about, one side was smooth so i stained it and put the stuff that resturants put on wood tables. I sprayed undercoat on the bottom side to keep the rain or whatever off of it. Its been 3 yrs. Still looks good and i drive it everyday

[Bullett]

Here are a couple pics of what things look like as I tear it apart. These are the s/s strips that came with the truck that I would like to reuse. When I bought the truck, it had a black, thin, rubber type membrane with the strips. After I pulled up the strips and pulled off the rubber membrane, I can see they had at one time, used a type of plywood.


Now the exterior marine grade plywood mentioned above, is that the same thing as pressure treated plywood I can by at Lowes? Does it have a finished side that would look good stained? Is there any way to fasten to truck without all the bolt heads showing?

[AcampoDave]

Pressure treated is usually exterior grade, suitable for basic outdoor stuff. Marine grade is a more expensive denser plywood built to eliminate internal air pockets which often occur between the various laminations in the wood. This increases its resistance to water. I used exterior grade and oil based paint. Marine grade was just too spendy for my truck.

[Bullett]

Ya, I am trying to avoid the $750-800 for the conventional wood bed kits from various vendors. I will do it if I have to but want to weigh out all the options. The rest of the truck is very nice so I want the body to fit in with the rest of truck. Thanks

[Bullett]

Also forgot to mention, fwiw, The bed will never see any cargo, and the truck will prob see very little rain. If the weather is rainy, truck will stay in garage.

[classicchev]

You can use any kind of wood, you will have to make sure you use a quality clear, and make sure you coat everywhere including all the holes, edges... The wood is only as good as the finish