bumpy box floor

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Feb 5, 2013 | 12:13 PM

lefty rodan

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bumpy box floor

While stripping the paint from my 65 pickup box floor I found about 8 "pooched up" spots running crosswise on the floor where it is spot welded to the rear box crossmember. My first thought was rust out but there doesn't seem to be any rust above or below the floor. The metal seems solid.
My thinking is that after almost 50 years of absorbing bumps the harder spot welded areas have forced the softer metal above to stretch.Other than that the box is exceptional.
Any suggestions on how to deal with this?
Thanks for your time. Lefty

Feb 5, 2013 | 04:27 PM

jmf66

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From: Near Nashille, TN

It may have been severely overloaded at some point in its life. Got pics?

Feb 5, 2013 | 06:00 PM

schoo

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From: placer county usa?

Just sold my 57-60(wrong bed)was like the Bering sea wave after wave you get sea sick looking at it
Roy

Feb 6, 2013 | 09:06 AM

lefty rodan

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Thanks for the replies. I have to agree that overloading mabe the culprit. I haven't yet mastered the photography yet but I think it would be very difficult to see the "pooches" in a photo. I'm going to try to work them down with heat shrinking and hammer and dolly. If that doesn't do it I'm thinking about using a hole saw to drill out the stretched metal from below--going through the crossbrace and then plugging the hole with circular metal blanks.
The thing about that approach is that I haven't found a source of solid circular blanks other than knock out plugs from electrical boxes. Any other ideas along that line? Thanks again. Lefty

Feb 6, 2013 | 11:03 AM

carras

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I used an air hammer with a flat attachment to hammer out any dings and high/low spots in my bed. It didn't come out perfect, but did improve things a bit.

Feb 6, 2013 | 03:12 PM

jmf66

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From: Near Nashille, TN

They make a knockout punch kit that you can make the round blanks. It'll take some work to weld these in and then do the body work to hide the patches.

Knockout Punch Kit - Knockout Punches at Harbor Freight Tools

Another option might be a machine shop to punch out some blanks for you .

Feb 7, 2013 | 01:26 AM

jpbecker

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From: San Diego

It sounds like you're describing something we call "oil canning" in the aviation community. Called that because of the popping sound it makes when pushed back and forth. It's usually more of a nuisance than a structural concern. Best long term fix is to trim out the areas and do a "flush patch". Two patches, one the exact size of the hole, the other just larger. The little/inner patch is spot welded to the larger/outer patch The outer patch is of course welded to the cab floor outside. Makes it really durable and keeps your floor smooth. I hope that makes sense.