bobby,

rear c.m. sllides into bedsides where the rear stake pockets are... and the tailgate hinge and tail light bolts hold it in place. No way to move it... it's backside is flush with the bed end and the roll pan mounts to it on that side...

Sam... never thought of that... duh ? My rear c.m. has no holes in the top like yours but then again I bought it a looooong time ago...

notching the orig will solve the problem of getting nuts up in there to hold down the rear cover angle for sure

but thinking about notching the orig... the rear c.m. really helps support the bed sides and the wood right ??? I don't want to weaken it, do I ... that's why I thought of the tubing... my c.m. is a three sided thingy with the bottom open... think adding the notches would make it weak enough to cause a problem ???

see... that's why I ask you guys these questions... you get all the cobwebs out of my head...

 

John,
I was afraid of that. I knew it sounded to simple.

You could try notching the original. If it seemed too wimbly-wambly after poking holes in it you could possible add a few cross pieces across the open bottom end of it to stiffen it back up.

....or.....if you do decide to fabricate a new rear x-member you might be able to fab it out of 1" wide tubing instead of 2" wide, thereby eliminating the need to spend all the time notching it.

...just tossing crap out there.....

Bobby

 

well you got me thinking Bob...

instead of cutouts... why not just wack a corner off the 2x4 tube the full length???



sorry the drawing is a little sketchy... was in a hurry

still have plenty of meat for strength and a slot to get the nuts into for the bedwood and the rear sill ???... by george... I think we have a solution...

Bob, you're not nearly as dim as Penn Dick says you are...

j

but thinking a little further.... leave the ends intact... so it would fill the stake pocket properly and just notch out the whole "inside bed" part !!! but I'm not trying to sketch that... it's late

 

Penn Dick? what does he know....LOL

It looks like it could work. It should give you plenty of room for washers and nuts


Bobby

 

I would make 6 half moon cuts in the ecm, and fold that edge UP, level with the top of the cross member..

then drill hole for bolt thru that new flange.

this will hold the boards DOWN (don't need much strength here), and the cross member will still support the weight.. you gonna haul a bedload of rock? in your pretty bed?..

most thats been in mine is me, cleaning the bed floor.

to do what you want you have to completely disassemble the bed.. mine is remove the wood. (yes it would be easier using a drill press to make the cuts)

 

this what you mean ???




my bed will be like yours in weight carrying !!!

 

correct. I think the rear sill (ecm) is 14ga. so plenty strong for hold down.

 

John, are you sure the front cross member is in correctly, it is offset so maybe it needs to be swapped end to end .

 

Well Sam... you know me well.... there is always that possiblity... I've been bassackwards before

but I don't think so... here's a pic of the front crossmember attached to the bed... if it were backwards (spun around on the wrong axis) the mounting tubes for the bed bolts would be outside the bed and wouldn't line up with the bed brackets that are mounted outside the frame rails... would it ???



and here's Mid-50s pic

 

front looks correct.. but wasn't me that asked!

Sam

 

sorry Sam.... it was Homade that asked... but at least I know it's right

 

John;

I'm having some of the same issues in bed as you; I originally thought it was attributed to age, but I think fitment on the cross member comes into play as well. :0)

I will have to remove my gas tank in order to get the nuts on the carriage bolts at the back of the bed; as well my cross member seems to be lower than the frame crossmembers. I will need to shim the back to have the boards level with the rest of the bed. I am goiing to use a s/s end trim across the back of the bed, so having the gas tank off will make this install easier.

When I installed my bed boards, I did not layout the whole bed prior to fastening them down, so I ended up with a gap that is wider than the last board. I will have to "fill the void" with wood or metal . The spacing between boards compounds as the centre is reached. I was going to have to make some adjustments to the bed anyway, as I will be routing in a fuel door to cover my gas filler cap.

 

so here's an afternoon's work...

first I took the 2x4 tubing and added 5 in or so to it to get the right length



I started cutting out notches with a hole saw... and didn't like that... then tried using Metabo with cut off wheel and making square notches... didn't like that... gawd I'm picky... then I cut the whole corner of the tube out with my plasma cutter, dressed it slightly and added the mounting angles on the inside (bedside of truck)




then I slid it into place for fit (sorry, some of the pictures are a little busy, but I wasn't gonna move all that crap... zoom in !

[IMG]http://jniolon.classicpickup.com\bedassembly\crossmember3 .jpg[/IMG




so, Sam, Bobby, et all..... watcha think

john

 

why don't your pictures show?

 

they are showing for me ?????