I was talking with someone (email) at Mar-K about wood beds for my 86 Flareside. He mentioned that the original bed from Ford in my truck was plywood. And indeed it was badly rotted plywood I removed.

1. Is it true the original beds were plywood?
2. Does anyone make a plywood replacement?

This is going to be a daily driver for me and a $500-$800 fancy oak wood bed is a waste of money. I could make my own plywood bed but if there is a company selling them, I would like to look first.

Ed

 

I still have the original bed wood in my truck and it is not plywood. It has solid individual boards, don't think they are oak though, not sure as mine are painted black. Does yours have a single piece of plywood? If you'd like I can give you more pictures and dimensions and such if you want to do the seperate board thing., but you'd have to find the what I call rails to cover the seams and they hold the wood in.

 

From what I understand it was plywood planks used on the 1980-1986 that you can replace with solid wood. Painted the same color as the truck etc...

Plywood by definition is a wood that is glued together in layers. It could be cut to any shape and size etc... It wasn't a plywood sheet.

If it's a daily driver, you can go to home depot or some other home place and get the wood and cut it down to what you need.

 

Yes it was a single piece of plywood so maybe it was replace at some point in the past. The rails between the boards I can get. But looking at the bed I don't see how a single piece of plywood was installed unless they took the bed apart and reassembled it around the wood.

I'm pretty handy with wood working so if it's no trouble I would like the measurements of the boards. I really appreciate your time.

Ed

 

The hardest part is making the rabbet on the edge of the board, so the metal strips lay flush. I redid an old bed and thought I could get by without doing the rabbet on the edges, but the way the metal is designed, you have to do it or it won't work out. The rabbet on the outer boards fit under the bedsides, and also the front of each board fits under the front wall of the bed, and that dimension is set by the metal framework.

I used treated lumber from the local store, and used a router to make the rabbet.

 

I stand corrected the original bed wood IS in fact plywood. I've had a few trucks with wood beds and this is the first with plywood, and it's holding up much better then the solid board ones I've had.
Ok I took some pictures and measurements, hopefully it helps. There are 3 pieces of wood, all are 3/4 inch thick, and they are 78.5 inches long. I believe babbeted means the ends are routered down so the rails fit inside them, mine are not like that they are all flat pieces of wood, only the mounting holes are recessed. The driver's side outside board is 12.5 inches wide, from the front the curve for the wheel well starts at 16.5 inches and ends 20.5 inches from the rear. and is 2.5 inches deep. The middle board is 22.5 inches wide, and the center rib is centered on it. The mounting bolts for the outside pieces are centered at 2.25, 25, 47, and 77.25 inches from the front of the wood and are centered at 6 inches from the inside edge. I'm most likely missing some measurement, so let me know and I will get them. And now the pictures:

 

Oh and the mounting bolts are 1.75 inches around, all measurements are as close as I can get them with a tape measure as I can't find my rulers.

 

80,81,82 all used individual boards. 83,84,85,86,87 all used plywood with groves cut in and the metal strips just for show. For a user i would just use MARINE GRADE plywood and leave the meal strips out.

For a show truck/weekend driver i would use the individual boards

 

FE,I hate to break it to you,but your truck has Cancer.


Very interesting on the Plywood planks being factory.Good to know.

 

I'm not sure what you mean by grooves, but mine is just 3 pieces of painted plywood with roughly a .25 inch space between them, there are no grooves, as in one of my pictures the strips just lay on top of them. Being as nolan62's truck is a 86 I would assume it would be exactly like mine. For a work truck I think diamond plated aluminum would be way more durable, but I've hauled several thousands of pounds in my truck and the wood has not given out, and shows no signs it will.

And I know for a fact my truck is all original and has 110,000 miles. It was used as a sunday driver for most of it's life then the guy bought a newer truck and this sat in the weeds, then another guy bought it drove it for a couple of months, then basically sold it to me about 3 years ago as partial payment for rebuilding his car. I'm selling it now for about a third of what I have stuck into it. Being in the weeds didn't help it any, the box got the brunt of the rust, the cab and front end didn't get it too bad. I've been using it as a work truck and it was clearly not made for that.

 

Mine did not have grooves for the bed strips. I wish I had taken better pictures before I pulled out the rot.







It may be a daily driver but I want it to last. The plywood bed held moisture against the metal and frame. So I pulled the bed, cleaned and painted the frame. Now I need a decent wood bed to go back in. Maybe some exterior grade plywood and paint it on both sides. That would be easy to pick up at Lowes or Home Depot and cheap. I don't know of any place near me to get Marine Grade plywood.

 

Looks nice when it's cleaned up and painted. What paint did you use on the frame? I'm looking to do that to mine sometime soon.

 

First hit it with a wire brush to knock loose the dirt and rust scale.
Second blow it off with the air hose.
Third spray it down with Dulicolor's Prep Spray and wipe it off. (makes a huge difference)
Last paint it with Rustoleum Hammer paint, 3 coats.

I have had excellent luck with this. I can't say it stops rust but it sure does slow it down. It should help drastically once the new wood is installed. I plan to keep this truck till I can't find parts anymore. I hope to finish the whole truck in the next couple of months and I'll post pictures and everything I did on my personal web site.

 

I was planning on using Zep Rubberized undercoating on the frame and some other parts, after wire brushing and other prep work. I was possibly even thinking or using POR15 on some parts too. But, I'll keep your option in mind. Thanks.

 

I have a habit of asking questions, I'm an engineer. I only have time to do it once so it has to be right the first time. I rely on the vast knowledge (and patience) of guys in forums like this and manufacture support guys.

I would email Zep and ask them what they think of using their product on a rusty frame. Should it be painted first. I have also use POR-15. Here's a tip Mar-K gave me that I forgot to pass along. The wood blocks used under the cross sills for the wood bed, paint them with POR-15 and they will last longer. I confirmed this with POR-15 support. If you're not sure about a product's use email the company and ask. I didn't know POR-15 could be used on wood till I asked them.

Another example: Duplicolor support told me NOT to use their undercoating spray on rusty metal. They advised me to paint it first or strip the rust.