Bed Strips..... Round Holes......HELP

[66 GWN]

Hello everyone.

Removed the wood from the bed,along with the strips. Almost every hole is round. The strips themselves are in pretty good shape. The problem is that if I was to install new carriage bolts they will just spin.

Anyone have a solution? Is there an easily found bolt like a carriage bolt with an Allen key or torx drive? Any way to tighten the carriage bolt without the square hole under it?

Any help is appreciated.

66GWN

[AcampoDave]

You may want to test this on a wood scrap first, but I drilled my holes in the wood to tightly fit the shank of the bolt. Then, as the square head of the bolt began to sink thru the metal it grabbed the wood and held tightly enough to tighten the nuts. A couple of them did need an "assist" from above with a buddy and a vise grip, but it worked out pretty well. They didn't get too scarred up and I do haul loads anyhow so cosmetics took a back seat to function.

[andyh1956]

If you use a regular nut on the bottom of the bolt, then use a nylon lock nut on top of that it should work ok. Gonna need a second set of hands to hold some tension on the bolt head prolly.

[oem4me]

It would be a lot of work for that many screws, but you could cut small slots in the ends of the bolts, and use a narrow straight blade screwdriver to keep the bolt from spinning as you twist the nut tight. You'd need some pressure from above and at least two hands below to get it done. Maybe only do the ones that won't cooperate? From memory, it seems the square on a new carriage bolt is slightly bigger than the diameter of the original serrated holes, so should grab well enough.

[Sam63c10]

I noticed this tonight whilst doing my bed wood, most of the bolts holding the bedwood down have a splined part on them stopping them spinning in the bed strips rather than a square head and hole. Think all the aftermarket bolt kits have a square section underneath the dome head? Mine all look to be factory on my 63 long fleet

[66 GWN]

thanks for everyones help. decided to go with a truss bolt. hopefully they work.

ill let you know....

66GWN

[vince1]

I don't remember having much trouble just using the carriage bolts that were supplied in the kit. One thing that I wish I had done though was to coat them with an anti-seize lubricant.

[KVB]

Try finding Ribbed neck carriage bolts.

http://www.mutualscrew.com/media/ima...ge%20Bolt3.jpg

[bpmcgee]

The key to the carriage bolts isn't the hole -- it's the washers!

The washers have a square hole which is offset from center, so when it drops into the countersunk hole it won't spin, and will hold the carriage bolt firmly.

B

[oem4me]

Originally Posted by bpmcgee

The key to the carriage bolts isn't the hole -- it's the washers!

The washers have a square hole which is offset from center, so when it drops into the countersunk hole it won't spin, and will hold the carriage bolt firmly.

B

Wrong holes, I think. I believe OP was discussing the many ribbed holes in the steel bed strips which have rounded out from spinning. See pic below from above link.
The big carriage bolts with special offset washers are a cinch.

[bpmcgee]

Originally Posted by oem4me

Wrong holes, I think. I believe OP was discussing the many ribbed holes in the steel bed strips which have rounded out from spinning. See pic below from above link.
The big carriage bolts with special offset washers are a cinch.

Ah. Sorry. And just for a minute there I felt so smart!

B

[forestb]

Originally Posted by KVB

Try finding Ribbed neck carriage bolts.

http://www.mutualscrew.com/media/ima...ge%20Bolt3.jpg

I bought some of these from mar-k a while back and they did not work at all.

[impalex]

I realize I am replying to a post from 2017 but I believe many people/readers are still currently facing or soon to be facing this challenge if they intend to try re-using their OEM skid strips when rebuilding their wood bed floors. In my case, I'm building a patina style truck. Initially I was open to buying replacement skid strips (in my case, unpolished stainless strips) at $115 for a set to fit my 1969 C10 Longbed. I could swallow that but I changed my mind when it was clear the shipping would be $149 more dollars.

Once it was clear I'd be reusing my old strips I bought the reproduction splined bolts from Mar-K (pricey, especially when I needed 73 of them because all the original bolts were rotted to their literal breaking point, but Mar-K is the only source for these bolts I could find). The holes in my strips too were a bit too loose. I used them anyway by hammering the metal down a bit, thereby closing up the hole diameter a bit. Then I put the threaded end of the splined bolts through, slipped a very small deep socket over the threads and splined, turned the skid strip upside down (supporting the bolt if needed) and then hammered the socked down to crimp the metal of the skid strip hole around the splines to grab the bolt tightly. When I installed the strips between the wood slats I was careful to not over-torque the bolts. You don't need to put more pressure than what is needed to get the lock washer to bite into the cross sills.

In hindsight, i'm sure I could have saved some money by buying, instead of the Mar-K proprietary splined bolts, the right length standard 1/4-20 bolts (truss head with threads all the up way to the head), then inserting bolts through each hole in the strips, next tightening a nut on the bolt after it has been inserted through the strip to keep it from falling out or spinning, and then laying the strips in their places. At this point I would have had access to all of the threads underneath the truck through the cross sills, and I could have tightened them like normal with the lock nuts, Etc. It also would have made it a "One man job" and I know that might appeal to those of you out there who, like me, are doing it all on your own (or just hate asking for help even if it is easily available to you).

I like that my truck looks old and weathered and I like that my reused skid strips match that weathered look. Was the effort that I put in worth it versus buying brand new skid strips? Arguably, no. But every single one of us will personalize our trucks in various ways that make no sense to anybody else. Luckily, it doesn't have to make sense to anybody except me. Do whatever you like with your truck and maybe this post will help you.


--Alex