Truck bed options

[Mertz]

I have the ash cross members nearly complete and want to start on the bed boards. I’m having trouble finding boards that are 8” wide. Has anyone used hardwood plywood ripped  down to 8” strips and have it hold up?  Hardwood plywood is normally indoor use but I was thinking about soaking it in Thompson’s Waterseal and then applying a waterproof finish like spar varnish. 

[kencombs]

Well, my plan is walnut as I have some rough sawn random length and  width stuff that has air dried in my shop for about 20 years.  My plan is to plane to slightly oversize thickness, rip to the largest I can get out of each board, glue the boards with waterproof glue, probably epoxy.  The cut the bed boards from the glue-up and plane to final thicknesn and   repeat as needed until I have enough.  I'm months away from that and plans may change, but that is the current one.

[47 dodge 1.5 ton]

Don’t think I would use plywood. If for a pickup, there are guys that you can buy pre-finished. I had to hand cut each board to match the pre-existing holes and transfer from the bottom. That made a lot of work but the alternative was Swiss cheese my bed frame. I basically took a measurement for every board per the drilling prior to the mill work. Most boards were around 9 1/4” width. I did end up using 3 rows of spaces though the picture only shows (2).

Edited February 4, 2022 by 47 dodge 1.5 ton

[Los_Control]

1 hour ago, Mertz said:

I have the ash cross members nearly complete and want to start on the bed boards. I’m having trouble finding boards that are 8” wide. Has anyone used hardwood plywood ripped  down to 8” strips and have it hold up?  Hardwood plywood is normally indoor use but I was thinking about soaking it in Thompson’s Waterseal and then applying a waterproof finish like spar varnish. 

First comment is Hardwood plywood.

Plywood is made in layers and then glued/pressed together.  I have used Hardwood plywood in the past. Usually for it's intended purpose indoors.

Here is one time I used oak plywood as a tool for outdoor use, though it was stored inside when not in use. I call it a Giddi up.  Gets you up off the ground.

This was my 2nd one I built ... 1rst one using regular smooth on one side AC plywood lasted about 5-6 years. Was still in good shape but moving out of state we had no room to bring it along.

The one here in photo ... I used it for 8 years.

Since I was a professional remodel carpenter, I lived in Albuquerque at the time. This saw went through sun, rain, snow.

I want to say it did hold up better then I thought it would.

You can imagine being carried around in a work van, lumber of all sorts being tossed on it to be cut.

I often used it as a work bench .... 8 years of abuse and it held up ok. Edges were chipped, It never did de-laminate on me like I thought it might.

 

About the Thompson water seal .... Best I ever heard about it is works well on concrete ... on wood it is worthless.

I used Sikkens with cetol back then. I had the best luck with it in the New Mexico sun. It did last the longest.

 

Today the sikkens is hard to find. Things that work well often go away.

I am now using penofin ... it works and probably 2nd best to sikkens ... Thompson water seal I would not even consider.

 

With all of that said, I probably would not recommend using oak plywood for the bed of a truck.

I would worry about driving in the rain and soaking the underneath of the plywood with water.

Possible if you were to treat the underside with a undercoating or bed liner, would keep the plywood dry.

You get caught in a quick summer shower, the bed would hold water like a swimming pool.

 

Oak plywood is pretty good stuff, may last you your lifetime. I myself do not plan to use it.

 

[Dodgeboy49]

I have an early '48 pickup bed in service as a utility trailer; when I first put it together I didn't have wood or much money to buy anything good, so I ripped out some strips of exterior sheathing and slapped a coat of house paint on them to serve as bed planks. I fully intended to replace them with something better after the first year, but after four years of uncovered outdoor storage they are still as sound as can be. Granted, the exterior plywood may have better glue but I think any advantage would probably be offset by my admittedly slapdash preparation and installation. Well prepared oak plywood on a truck which actually receives some care instead of being a compost bin on wheels would probably last very nicely. Are the savings worth the risk? That's a question only you can answer.

[Young Ed]

If you plan to ever met this this truck see rain I wouldn't use the plywood. If you really can't find wide enough boards you could always use narrower boards and add a skid strip or 2.

[kencombs]

Not mentioned in my first post is the answer about plywood.  IMO it all depends on the expected use and how you want it to look after 6months, a year or maybe two.

 

Hardwood plywoods have a very thin veneered surface, just slightly over 1/64" IME.  Some older version had 1/32 or more but those days are long gone.

 

Any impact from a moderately sharp object, even another piece of wood, or a scape from sliding something, will break the finish ply and expose the underlying wood. 

 

Most, if not all modern plywoods and OSB are made with waterproof glues, so delamination will probably not be a problem.

 

 

In most cases, white oak boards would be the best choice because of its rot resistance.  But good white oak can be expensive.  Red oak or KD SYP would be good second choices.  I think both those can probably be found as cheaply as a hardwood veneer ply.   Another good choice, if you can find some at a lumber salvage place, would be old growth, quarter saw pine.  It was found if a lot of buildings in the late 1800s through the 1950s.  Heavy, strong and very rot resistant.  I occasionally see 2x framing stuff that could be ripped and planed for bed boards.  Not so much lately because locally building demos have started to rely on excavators so most lumber is broken and dropped in a dumpster.

 

But the major point I tried to make earlier is that wide individual boards are not necessary.  Modern glues are stronger than the wood, even in the wet.  Don't reject the wood of your choice because it's not wide enough.

 

SYP was the original choice for most 50 trucks from all brands.

[47 dodge 1.5 ton]

I agree on the white oak. When I did that bed last winter, price for the white oak boards 2 1/4” thick x 12’ long with all the mill work was under 900$. That was about 200$ over the original estimate. 
  I would like to know more about sikkens product. Does this soak in and allow touch up down the road? 

Edited February 4, 2022 by 47 dodge 1.5 ton

[Mertz]

SYP I believe was the original wood used and in rough form and painted black. It is very hard to find around here. My neighbor has an old barn that collapsed and he might be able to provide me with some wide boards. These would likely be Douglas fir. Plywood would be stable but you are right about the thin veneers. 

[ggdad1951]

I woudl think that you shoudl have a wood "candy store" somewhere nearby for local woodworkers?  A stop and chat at the nearest construction supply store manager might get a few names if nothing else.

 

[Mertz]

I do have a candy store nearby but they rarely have white oak that wide. I really don’t want buy 1x10 and cut them down. I can probably use the waste for some other project but it would be expensive and I hardly work with oak. 

[47 dodge 1.5 ton]

Not sure how much shipping you would have from the east. 1 x 8’s in oak here are called fence boards. You would need to make sure kiln dried to 15% and ask for white oak.  A local mill to me probably has them in stock and supplies to a shipyard in Baltimore Md.  Just a thought if you wanted white oak.

[Young Ed]

3 hours ago, Mertz said:

I do have a candy store nearby but they rarely have white oak that wide. I really don’t want buy 1x10 and cut them down. I can probably use the waste for some other project but it would be expensive and I hardly work with oak. 

You could do the opposite of what I mentioned above and just use 5 wider boards. 

[kencombs]

1 hour ago, Young Ed said:

You could do the opposite of what I mentioned above and just use 5 wider boards. 

Or, glue up the 'waste 'into usable boards.

[Mertz]

As you know 1x8s are only 7.25” wide so they are still short of the 8” or 7 7/8” required. I could go with narrower boards and another strip but that is not original. I like to do everything as original as possible  I can glue up with biscuits and get a pretty go joint but still dependent on Titebond III glue. 

[47 dodge 1.5 ton]

  Wood here from the planing mill can be purchased order specific, same from a saw mill. 
  Few years ago, I built this bar which sounds like an option you are planning. I had a walnut tree and saved the wood for a gun stock. Afterwards, I made this bar top, doweled, glued, relieved and used a 3/8” steel plate hidden on the underside. Very expensive approach, but if you needed to keep it flat over time and hide the fasteners, may be a good option.

[47 dodge 1.5 ton]

 Going back to the original question, were they just ship lapped, TG’d,  or spaced with a hold down strip?

[kencombs]

9 hours ago, Mertz said:

As you know 1x8s are only 7.25” wide so they are still short of the 8” or 7 7/8” required. I could go with narrower boards and another strip but that is not original. I like to do everything as original as possible  I can glue up with biscuits and get a pretty go joint but still dependent on Titebond III glue. 

Titebond or Gorilla will both work, but for this application, I'll use Epoxy.   One of the good boat building brands, not little tubes from the hardware store.  Not a chance in xxxx of that failing.

Biscuits are sort of handy but not at all necessary.  They help with alignment but any added strength isn't needed.  Modern glues are stronger than the wood.

 

I normally use pipe clamps and some long reach vise grips with swivel pads on the jaws.  Place the pipe clamps in place loosely about a foot apart and tighten the first one.  Use the vise grips to align the boards near the next clamp and tighten it.  Repeat.  Edges will be flush on both sides, assuming the boards were planed to the same thickness.

 

 

 

[Young Ed]

12 minutes ago, 47 dodge 1.5 ton said:

 Going back to the original question, were they just ship lapped, TG’d,  or spaced with a hold down strip?

I believe the majority of them were spaced with a hold down strip. I have however seen pics of a war time truck believed to be original that had smaller pieces glued together. 

[Plymouthy Adams]

the bed slats I am aware of are routed/cut in a fashion for the shovel strips to inlay and distance the slats to prevent swelling/buckling and yet stand a bit proud at the same time for shoveling without snagging the wood every action of the shovel.  Many folks forgo shovel strips and leave a space, may will use full sheets of finished plywood (not real trucks but show or fair-weather driver) and some will replace with metal flooring.  

Edited February 5, 2022 by Plymouthy Adams

[kencombs]

15 minutes ago, Plymouthy Adams said:

the bed slats I am aware of are routed/cut in a fashion for the shovel strips to inlay and distance the slats to prevent swelling/buckling andI  yet stand a bit proud at the same time for shoveling without snagging the wood every action of the shovel.  Many folks forgo shovel strips and leave a space, may will use full sheets of finished plywood (not real trucks but show or fair-weather driver) and some will replace with metal flooring.  

All the pickups I've dealt with were that way.  Each board has a groove on each side to accept the 'leg' of the shovel strips.  I don't think I've ever seen a factory bed floor with fasteners in the wood directly, other than an odd one on the sides.  Only the metal strips are bolted down and the mentioned groove holds the board in place.  You can sort of see the method in this pic borrowed from an ad.

[Mertz]

Just about finished with my cross members. I now have to figure out how to waterproof them. The wood is ash. 

[kencombs]

7 minutes ago, Mertz said:

Just about finished with my cross members. I now have to figure out how to waterproof them. The wood is ash. 

looking good!

I've had good luck with CWF by Flood.  Clear, penetrating protectorant.   No film build at all, just soaks in and fills the pores.  Stinks to high heaven before it drys but  seems to work.

 

 

A friend of mine has a house that is all cedar exterior, lots of cedar!  It is about 30 years old.  It gets pressure washed every few years and recoated.  Still looks great.