Herr Otto Posted November 5, 2009 Report Posted November 5, 2009 I am in the process of dis-assembling the bebox on my truck and noticed that the two center supports for the bed have a curve in them. Is that normal or was the bed overloaded and they bent? In addittion, when I get to building a bed for the box I was thinking of using the composite wood that they use on decks. It is weather resistant and will not require the metal strips. I know this is not traditional but my truck is far from being original. Has anyone used this composite? Thanks, Herr Otto Quote
Dodgeb4ya Posted November 5, 2009 Report Posted November 5, 2009 (edited) They should all be straight. I just redid my 1952 108" bed. Bob Edited November 5, 2009 by Dodgeb4ya Quote
lugnut123 Posted November 6, 2009 Report Posted November 6, 2009 The 39-47 dodges used wood cross pieces they didn't have the metal ones like my 49 B1B.On my 46 I put the oak cross's and then plywood with the metal strips . Find some oak or if the composite will hold the same load use it. I don't think you will be hauling anything to heavy in it. lugnut Quote
Herr Otto Posted November 6, 2009 Author Report Posted November 6, 2009 Thanks for the reply. I hope I will be able to straighten these back up. Any suggestions? Herr Otto Quote
Herr Otto Posted November 6, 2009 Author Report Posted November 6, 2009 I was thinking the composite boards for the length not the cross pieces. Thanks, Herr Otto Quote
aero3113 Posted November 6, 2009 Report Posted November 6, 2009 Can you put a floor jack under the bed and use a pipe or a long piece of metal butt it up against the cross member and jack it up? It should straighten them out using the weight of the truck. Quote
coW52Dodge Posted November 6, 2009 Report Posted November 6, 2009 Thanks for the reply. I hope I will be able to straighten these back up. Any suggestions?Herr Otto If they are badly bent, maybe replace them with square tubing. I did my bed recently and two of mine were bent around where they are bolted down to the frame so boxed those sections in. Quote
desoto1939 Posted November 6, 2009 Report Posted November 6, 2009 I recently installed composite deck material on my deck. You should read the information from the specific manuafacturer. They basically recommend that the spacing between your frame or joists should be 16 inch on center and if useing the material on a diagonal then 12 inch on center. If you plan on standing on the bed and the bracing is greater than 16 inch on center you might have an issue and the boards might not support the wieght and then cause some injury. This would be very dangerous if you had several people in the box and then it colapased and or even if you had somethin in the box and were going down the road and the material then fell onto the roadway. Just make sure the composite boards are supported properly. They even tell you that you can not use this material to support the decking basically it can not be used as your joists. rich Hartung desoto1939@aol.com Quote
Dodgeb4ya Posted November 7, 2009 Report Posted November 7, 2009 I took mine out and carefully straightened them in a press. Took 1 hour to straighten 4 of them. Back one was wasted. As you can see they are straight as an arrow now. I love to take on bent metal! Bob Quote
Herr Otto Posted November 9, 2009 Author Report Posted November 9, 2009 I straightend mind using a bottle jack on top of the braces and placed the jack under the frame of a Fire engine. They are not 100% but they are a lot better than when I started. I will gather more info on the composite decking before purchasing. Thank you, Herr Otto Quote
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