How close together do the fasteners need to be for the bed wood hold down strips. I will have to either use hidden fasteners or punch my own holes due to some custom bed changes. Just trying to figure out if I need one every foot or if they can be further apart. I suppose it might depend on how stiff the strips really are. thanks

 

These strips have 7 bolts per strip. I thought the extra support would be helpful due to the old uneven wood I selected. Plenty of support but I used an oak backer the full width under the bed wood in stead of the traditional metal washers.

 

Front xmember.




Front bed lip.




mid xmember




above rear axel




front panel




Had to add extra SS piece to cover 1/2" gap at tailgate.




Finished floor


I used a total of 7 per strip including one up front one at back. I posted pics of the underside , hopefully it will be helpful. The strips just hold the boards together and then there are six bolts that bolt to the cross member to hold them all to the frame. PS Sorry for the double of the 1st pic,

 

looks supper jimmy did you bolt along the side of the bedsides or what is holding the board at the side

 

Spacer to allow for wood floor conversion


Thanks for the kind words Roy, to answer your question there is nothing holding down the sides, it just rests on the 1/2 inch spacer you can see in this pic. Hmm now that you mention it , maybe I should get the side strips they sell. Ive never had any problems with it but, that doesn't mean I couldn't. Thanks for the thought.

 

I will be using a similar kit as yours on my bed and looked at other FTE members beds many different ways of doing it

 

You have got that rite, it all depends on preference, usage, and even storage. Sorry vet didn't mean to hijack the thread.

 

Jimmy, are your strips the standard hole locations or did you drill them yourself. I was concerned about the holes that appear to line up with the closed bottom U channels like the mid cross members. did the fasteners with your kit come that long? if so, then maybe I can buy a standard kit and it will all be okay. Does the standard kit bolt length allow for the extra 1/2 inch or so for the subfloor conversion spacer?


for your bedside board hold down, another option may be to run wood screws up from underneath. just make sure the length won't poke out the top.

 

The strips I chose were pre drilled with the standard locations, but you can order them undrilled or ones with the hidden clips. I believe they have slides in tracks on the under side. I think the hidden ones could be placed wherever you choose. As far as the bolt length yes the ones I ordered (from Classic Haulers) came with those bolts, if you look closely the bolts that are not in between the boards are the ones that go thru the boards and hold the whole board assembly to the frame. Now those I measured and drilled the boards and cross member holes myself. If I remember if you order the wood planks as a kit you have a choice of pre drilled or not also. Just fyi, the only problem I had was when all was done I had a 1/2" gap between the SS end strip and the end of my board ends, Probably because I did not order the front SS end strip that goes at the front of the bed?? I ordered mine in pieces not a complete kit. Oh yeah, there is a lot of info on this site about what is the best products to coat your wood with, certainly worth reading. Fell free to ask as many questions as you want, we all love helping where we can. I can take more pics of a particular area if needed.

 

DROPPING FLOOR BACK ON FRAME




new rear brace




Front bed lip.




rear roll pan




products used on bed floor. Several coats of each on all 6 sides of each board.


After checking an album I remember the individual boards are actually bolted down in the very front and back, I don't know how normal this is but you can see where I drilled up thru the front bed frame lip . Plus a pic of the coating products I chose for mine (it's garaged) 4 coats all 6 sides and holes.

 

To anyone,
Why would you need to bolt the boards down? The stainless strips should hold them and there are a lot of cross braces to bolt to. I'm making my own boards and now that it's time to use the real wood, I'm not sure how deep to cut the channels for the strips. I was going to leave about a 1/16 of an inch above the surface of the wood but it's been so long since it came apart I can't remember how high the strip was in relation to the wood. Does anyone know what the height should be?
Thanks,
Jim

 

Hi Jim I don't know your answer first hand but DonVito has a thread going that has a shemematic courtesy of Charlieled, that may help you. just click on this thread.https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...imensions.html