Wood bed photos/Bed stakes photos requested.

[Jeff Balazs]

Hank;

Yes I will have to do a bit of searching to find the right fitting. They want to be located in the outboard edges of the deck.

If I were going to haul machinery or ore I would think that a sheet of heavy CDX plywood or even OSB board would work well. Bolted in place over the existing deck it would spread the weight out nicely and provide a good working surface.

Jeff

[1948mopar]

Would anyone know what type or thickness the rubber pads are that the box mounts use? When I took mine off all were missing but one and that one was in several pieces.

Thanks,

[HanksB3B]

It's one eight inch thick cloth reinforced rubber. Bruce Horkey carries it

http://www.horkeyswoodandparts.com/page35.html#boxtoframe

Somehow I think I picked up some roll stock of it and used my Harbor Freight hole punch set to fabricate my own. an old tire would be a perfect start.

Definately not Rocket Science,

Hank

[wallytoo]

How heavy is this ore? You might want to upgrade to a hardwood.

i'd guess it would depend on the wood. which pine species, and which hardwood species. but for the ore hauling application, either should work, as the strength of the wood of nomimal 2" thickness will exceed the load capacity of the one-ton.

some softwoods are more durable than some hardwoods, especially with regard to rot-resistance.

nice pun by bob in the next post, too. and ironwood is certainly heavy/rugged wood, but the planks would be narrow, since it rarely gets to be sawtimber sized.

[Young Ed]

i'd guess it would depend on the wood. which pine species, and which hardwood species. but for the ore hauling application, either should work, as the strength of the wood of nomimal 2" thickness will exceed the load capacity of the one-ton.

some softwoods are more durable than some hardwoods, especially with regard to rot-resistance.

nice pun by bob in the next post, too. and ironwood is certainly heavy/rugged wood, but the planks would be narrow, since it rarely gets to be sawtimber sized.

Thats great except at least for 46 my bed is only 13/16s thick not 2"

[wallytoo]

Thats great except at least for 46 my bed is only 13/16s thick not 2"

even that will have enough strength, pine or "hardwood".

[albolton]

not as nice as alot Ive seen on here

[wallytoo]

I plan on doing black rough sawn white oak in a month or so on mine, I read in Bunn I think that is the "original" style?

Got my B1D to haul ore down from the mountain. Almost got it road ready now, but cosmetically it's a mess. Wood is rotten so I need to redo before I can use it. Pine is plentiful and cheap enough. I was going for something nice until I thought about the scraping it will get from 5 gal. buckets full of wet clay and quartz. Still haven't decided whether to put in metal strips over the joints.

i finally got a chance to read don bunn's b-series book. went on vacation to south central maine last week, and read it cover to cover, twice.

according to bunn, all of the beds that he's inspected have been made of southern yellow pine, yet he refers repeatedly to "hardwoood" and "hard wood" beds. i have no real opinion on the matter, as my 1.5 ton doesn't have an original bed, and it's a platform/stake side anyway, and my dad's '52 3-c has a sheet metal cover over the likely original wood bed (his truck has been tucked away in the back corner of his garage since 1987), which is in turn covered by a painted plywood insert that we put in the bed way back in the mid-80s.

[Plymouthy Adams]

evidently it is most clear you have never tried to drive a nailinto season southern yellow pine..you would get fewer splits from a hgh school cheering squad..

[wallytoo]

evidently it is most clear you have never tried to drive a nailinto season southern yellow pine..you would get fewer splits from a hgh school cheering squad..

my downstairs floors are southern yellow pine. it is hard wood, but not hardwood. no different than dry hemlock, which is extremely difficult to put a nail into without bending the nail. my p-t decking is also southern yellow pine, and i can drive nails into it, even the stuff that is 15 years old. the ends do split once in a while, but not always. especially when i flatten the nail point first.

but that wasn't the point. the point is that according to bunn, the original bed wood isn't oak, or ash.

[ggdad1951]

my downstairs floors are southern yellow pine. it is hard wood, but not hardwood. no different than dry hemlock, which is extremely difficult to put a nail into without bending the nail. my p-t decking is also southern yellow pine, and i can drive nails into it, even the stuff that is 15 years old. the ends do split once in a while, but not always. especially when i flatten the nail point first.

but that wasn't the point. the point is that according to bunn, the original bed wood isn't oak, or ash.

sooo....I'm striking out on Southern yellow pine.....anyonehave a good source or a GOOD alternative that would work well (resists checking/splitting/low knot count)?

[HanksB3B]

gg, Are you painting it Black?

Hank

[Jeff Balazs]

Hey Mark;

I would think that white oak would be a great substitute. It should be reasonable in your area.

I am doing mine with some off color 7/8" thick black walnut that I had left over from a project. It looks just fine. One change I have made is to recess the bed strips just below the surface of the wood. I will do the same with the mounting bolts. It will be a much better surface for hauling lumber, doors and furniture that way.

Jeff

[NobbyofTexas]

There has only been a few photos posted of the wood beds and/or stake trucks, I would request that you post photos please..

Thank you,

Gary

Miami Texas

[ggdad1951]

gg, Are you painting it Black?

Hank

Yep

Hey Mark;

I would think that white oak would be a great substitute. It should be reasonable in your area.

I am doing mine with some off color 7/8" thick black walnut that I had left over from a project. It looks just fine. One change I have made is to recess the bed strips just below the surface of the wood. I will do the same with the mounting bolts. It will be a much better surface for hauling lumber, doors and furniture that way.

Jeff

white oak was my back up...my bed strips were recessed so that is what I'm gonna do as well.

[Young Ed]

Recessed yes but I don't believe stock is flush or below surface. I believe they should be just proud of the wood surface.

[ggdad1951]

Recessed yes but I don't believe stock is flush or below surface. I believe they should be just proud of the wood surface.

mine will be measured off the originals

[HanksB3B]

Jeff,

Since you are made of wood, before I recommend this I'd like to bounce it off you. Since Mark is going to paint the wood black what about using Poplar. It's about as hard as yellow pine, is pretty much dimensionally stable and is not prone to splitting. Personally I'm very happy with my ash bed.

Hank

[beyert99]

New bed stakes on my "48"

[Jeff Balazs]

Hi Guys;

Here are a few shots of my "new" bed planks. It is not finished yet but you can see what it is going to look like. The material is 7/8" thick black walnut. It will be finished using a water base satin polyurethane varnish which will bring up the color in the walnut.

As you can see this is a 3/4 ton bed and it is larger than the 1/2 ton beds. It is wider and is 90" long so you can't use the chart in the pilothouse knowledge section for one of these.

I have incorporated a few changes to suit the way I will be using this truck. The first is the recess for the metal bed strips. Normally the recess is 3/16" which has the metal standing slightly proud of the bed surface. That is fine if you are hauling pallets or machinery.....but not so good on freshly sanded doors or finished cabinets and furniture. I also recessed the mounting bolts for the same reason. I want a flat wood surface for things to ride on...not thin metal strips. The last item are four 1/2" eyebolts in the corners for internal tie-down points. Too many trucks are missing good tie-downs points down low in the bed. For me this is a critical feature.

Hank;

Sorry Bud..... but poplar is a interior use wood only and is very prone to fungus and rot. It should never be used in an exterior application.

Ash is a very strong and shock resistant hardwood. It will hold up very nicely as long as you keep a good finish on it. If you allow the finish to fail don't be surprised if gets blue spot stains. Does not affect the strength only the looks.

White oak is totally awesome stuff......much stronger and heavier than any pine. And extremely rot resistant. This is why all the old ships of the line where built with it. I have used it for years and can vouch for it's extreme durability. I would venture to say if Dodge had used a decent grade of white oak in the bed construction most of our beds would not need replacement.....just a cleanup and refinish.

Jeff

[pflaming]

I like the look and the corner eye bolts, very practical. I am going to add two vertical parallel angle irons about 24" in from the tail gate. I can then place a couple of 2x10's in that channel and that will keep items by the tail gate. My friends' 2006 Chevy has such channels formed into the sides.

Very nice work. Well done.

[Scruffy49]

Mine was originally rough sawn oak. Could see the ellipses in the grain as the chunks came out. Had black painted pine side boards and a black painted marine grade plywood "headache rack". Grandpa used to haul a lot of heifers with the truck.

Oak is nice to look at. Pine is cheap. I'm going to need durable, as in almost impossible to mar. Seriously considering milling my own boards, have white oak, red oak, persimmon, bois d'arc (Osage Orange), black walnut... all in large sizes. If I can get a nice look as well as strength so much the better.

And as far as poplar, the original floor beams and ceiling beams in my 1841 plantation home are rock solid. So is a lot of the clapboard siding. You just have to use old growth heart poplar, not lumber yard garbage sap wood. I tried to resaw a piece of heart poplar from the barn, broke the saw (powered by a Stihl 036 chainsaw motor).

Using the truck (on a U-haul trailer) in my move last year the floor was 3/4" CDX held in with 1/2" eyebolts. Had enough crap in the bed to flatten the springs and the wood held up great. Looked like garbage but with a layer or two of black paint would have been quite servicable.

[dave5711]

It's good one side fir, with a cherry stain, and some out door clear finish to protect it.

[dave5711]

Another....

It's 23/32 thick. It made it much easier to install than the 3/4. I must have got the paint to thick on the box.

[wallytoo]

White oak is totally awesome stuff......much stronger and heavier than any pine. And extremely rot resistant. This is why all the old ships of the line where built with it.

not entirely. rot resistance clearly played a role, but so did resistance to water penetration/water movement within the wood. and white oak is exceptional at keeping water out (or liquid in, as in wine and whisky barrels), because of its internal structure. specifically, the tyloses in the cellular vessels of the wood. the tyloses prevent the movement of liquids through the wood. white oak wood does not readily soak up water, and does not become "water-logged", which makes in an excellent candidate for boats.

wally