replacement wood

[4852dodge]

A question reguarding the wood in our beds. Did the factory groove the wood for the strips to sit in or were they simply on the surface? Both of the beds I have the strips were mostly rotted away. What remains was hard to tell.

[stevenelle]

The grooves are cut into the top long edges of each board in order to accept the metal rails and stay relatively flush. The metal rails, not only hold down the boards to the undercarriage, but also bear the brunt of the wear of heavy large objects. There is a detailed description of the dimensions and technique of cutting the grooves and replacing the bed - somewhere on this forum or the old forum.

[Bob_Koch]

The info you want is here:

http://dodgepilothouseclub.org/know/know.htm

scroll down to "information to cut your own truck bed lumber"

[Merle Coggins]

I got my new bed strips, and other bed parts, from Mar-K. They also have some good detailed instructions for making your bed wood.

See http://www.mar-k.com/bedwooddimensions.pdf

Merle

[H Suhling]

I also got my bed strips and thier bolt kit from Mar-K. Very easy to deal with.

Harvey

[grey beard]

48/52,

Couldn't help but notice that no one answered your original question. I have never seen anything authoritative on this question one way or the other. What I have to go on insofar as my own opinion on the matter is the original wood I removed from my truck, which was NOT grooved beneath the rub strips.

On the authority of my old bed wood autopsy, I did my new floor without recessing the strips. In this fashion, they stand up a small amount above the wood surface, and actually serve to protect it from scrapes.

After all, what good are rub strips that are level with the surrounding surface? I suppose it's just like all they guys who finish their bed floor lumber in natural shades. No new Pilothouse ever had a floor of this sort. Some guys even use chrome or stainless rub rails. Go figure.

My own is white oak with no recessed grooves, painted black.

I like!

[4852dodge]

Thank you all. I had a feeling that there were no grooves for the reasons Grey Beard described. The grooves make the bed look better but it has to be carefully laid out before cutting. I had read the section about the bed in the Knowledge section. The bed strips and angles are being orderd today, I may have a set of 90 inch strips for sale soon also. My trucks are 108 inch and I ordered the wrong lenght the first time.

[desoto1939]

If you are going to have you truck judged at an AACA offical event please consult with the AACA office in Hershey. There has been a change to the rule book that the beds need to be painted black. They have done an extensive amount of research and have determined that the majority of the beds were not the highly gloss oak beds that we see in the trucks and that alot had rough cut wood.

So before you go an order the wood and strips concult the AACA if you are going for an AACA judged truck ,you will lose points if not black. This is just an FYI.and this could stop you from getting a Senior rating.

If you are not going for an AACA judged truck then you can use the highgloss wood. Remember the trucks when they were produced were made to do hauling and delivery of materials, they were not being produced to be show cars and trucks. They were very utilitarian vehicles and ahd to take alot of punishment.

If your truck was already judged in a prior year that you have been grandfathered but all first time trucks fall under the new rules.

rich hartung

[4852dodge]

Judging won't be a problem. My truck is a driver and not show level. I use the truck weekly to go to work and run local errands. Lately I am using the 48 more that my 2004. At this time I am between using marine varnish(poly) or linseed oil.

[BulldogTom]

Have any of you considered using manufactured composit decking in your beds? I am considering this as the truck will be for my son, and he will be throwing his football gear in the bed every day. I am thinking this will be an easy to maintain solution that will look good and last for ever.

I know it ain't stock, but the truck is going to be a driver.

Opinions?

[4852dodge]

The composite material I have seen and used are too narrow to use the bed strips. They are also thicker. My sons cabinet shop builds displays for a fastner company and we have delt with most of the deck material out there. I thought about it but did not like what I saw. The pine or white oak boards will hold up very well. The beds were intended for heavy use from the beginning.

[rbeaudryvt]

I picked up a 1953 Pilot House this summer.  I found a .pdf file online that had all the directions on how to build a replacement wood floor for the bed.  I somehow lost the .pdf and it seems that all the links to where it was located have been removed.  Might anybody have a copy of the instructions that you are willing to share?  Thanks.  

[P15-D24]

If it was online here it should still be in the Downloads section. Nothing has been deleted. 

[Los_Control]

Borrow a photo from @Young Ed This is a good example for the starter side boards. Although it is a 1947 & different frame.

I would first lay out all the boards, if any trimming needs done I would want to take equal amounts from each side.

Now you can figure out where to put the kerf cut for the shovel strips on the side of the bed, also for the field strips.

 

While there may be a .pdf out there, I know @ggdad1951 did a nice write up when he did his bed, you might check his profile for his build thread?

I'm finding while I do my bed, I'm using a low side bed & also have a utility trailer with a standard bed for parts. I find the standard bed is ~3/4" wider then the low side bed.

Then a 3/4 ton truck has a wider & longer bed. So none of the wood dimensions would be exactly the same between the 3 trucks.

Then it depends on the shovel strips you are using. I'm using the original. They sell reproductions with the original profile & also some that have a different profile.

I do not know if they are different widths? .....

Just thinking that the pdf will not work for everyone, you will need to measure what you have & systematically lay out the floor and cut where is needed.

 

[billrigsby]

7 hours ago, rbeaudryvt said:

I picked up a 1953 Pilot House this summer.  I found a .pdf file online that had all the directions on how to build a replacement wood floor for the bed.  I somehow lost the .pdf and it seems that all the links to where it was located have been removed.  Might anybody have a copy of the instructions that you are willing to share?  Thanks.  

 

These are the two writeups I have, I believe both were from this site, I know the one @ggdad1951 did was.

 

Pilothouse Bed Reflooring.pdf

 

Building your own wood bed.pdf

[JBNeal]

additional information - grey beard's bed reflooring