I am now moving onward to the wood bed of my 1966 flareside. As I found out all thru the interior, perhaps the PO should have his fingers cut off.


Here's what I have. The bed frame lays on the frame on 4 cross bars. The bed seems to have an 1 1/2” angle welded around the perimeter base, since only the front and rear crossmember attach to the bed sides. The crossmembers are about 23” on center and the wood is 5/4 and seems to span w/o deflection. It appears that there are 2 crossmembers as well as other things missing.
Since I never saw a correct bed before, the question is:
1. are the crossmembers necessary only for the floorspan or do they provide stability to the bed sides that the welded angle replaces now.

 

the under side of my bed I believe this is original wood blocks between frame and bed, rubber at front and rear at the metal supports
this is a 63' 8' bed
used carriage bolts to tie the bed sides to cross members
suggestion get truck master parts cat it has exploded view

 

maybe ND will put an exploded view of 6' bed on thread
once again this is 8' bed shows angle at base of sides that carry the bed to wood to x member
if you double click on pic you go to my photobucket and more pic
also mar-k makes bed parts ck them out

 

Thanks Schoo ---a picture is that thousand words I needed. It looks like the wood is NOT attached to the crossmembers. Only at the metal strip with a washer. The bed is held down at the member at 6 or 8 locations? through the frame. Looks like the crossmembers attach to the angle on the panel sides. Do I have that right?


My bed does not have indentations for wheel well -its straight. Perhaps not original. 48 3/4 inside dimention.


did you find removing the bed easier than in place? I didn't plan on doing body work or or have the ability to paint


thanks again

 

Only 8' beds had wider bed your bed is the right width
Yes wood does bolt to xmembers
I'm at home so I don't have a computer just iphone double click on pic that will take you to photobucket and better pic

 

got my wifes laptop to work for how long??
block on the rt side of pic has a 1/2" or 3/8 bolt top of wood through frame

 

There are THREE different Flareside beds: 6 1/2' - 8' and the 9' F350 Express (1953/72).

The 6 1/2' bed wood (it's pre-rabbeted) is available in pine & oak from Mar-K (mar-k.com) and other repro parts sellers.

The repro metal slats (wood dividers) are only available for 6 1/2' beds, but...are actually only for 1953/60's.

The carriage bolt mounting holes in the repro slats are in different locations on 1953/60's then they are on 1961 and later.

The 6 1/2' tailgate is 49 13/16" long, the 8' & 9' tailgate is 54 13/16" long.

 

thanks for the blow up ND. My bed is 6 1/2 foot and has no wheel recess. Is that not a correct Ford part or does the blow up you show generic and shows a larger bed.

 

The 1964/72 parts catalog pic is generic for all 3 Flareside beds.

The two 1953/56 pics in the 1948/56 parts catalog are not as defined as 1964/72, but do list the different mounting hardware sizes for the 6 1/2' and 8' & 9' beds.

 

Back some years ago when I had a 52 F-1 I made new wood for the bed out of red oak. I'm a wood worker so it was fairly easy to do. I figured out the dimensions from the old wood and had to adjust because the wood was so old and dried out. All the boards came out great and I put on a Urethane clear finish.
There used to be a Ford guy back then and I took it over to him and he ended up purchasing some kits for the beds. So that was a win, win i actually made a little money on that deal.
The wood is not all that hard to do. Table saw or radial arm saw and a router then you're in business.
I did this back in the 70's when wood was not so pricey. I even did one from maple and one from walnut for a couple of guys.

If you're not a wood worker check with one of your friends that may. You can save some big bucks that way.

Good luck....

 

how did the red oak hold up? i was told maybe hickory was best. I'm also going to make my own slats, so i'm glad to hear it's pretty easy. DC has the metal separators for $25 for chrome and $8 for steel.

 

I used the red oak and and totally sealed it with urethane on all four sides with 3 coats. I also applied a marine grade UV inhibitor afterwords I sold the truck after about a year and it still looked new. I always parked it in the driveway in the sun and weather.

i did a special one for a guy that had a show truck and I applied a dark stain that brought out the grain. He never drove the truck on the street, it was a covered trailer queen and always parked in his shop.

I did one from maple and one from walnut for a couple of guys. I had some Honduras Mahogany left over from the ski boat I built and I made a bed kit from it. The guy had a vintage mahogany Chris Craft runabout and he wanted the bed wood to match his boat. Looked great.

If you don't have any woodworking tools or if you are limited to hand power tools like a skill saw and router you can still do it. Have the lumber yard rip the boards to the correct width then you can use your skill saw to cut them to length. Use your router for the rabbit on the edges of the wood and a slight amount from the rear.

I haven't made any kits for years so I don't remember where all the dimensions are. Just find a truck and whip out the measuring tape. I was also talked into making some kits for Chevy's.

Hickory is a good strong tough hardwood and is used more for utilitarian purposes. If you are going to use the bed to haul firewood or just stuff that would be the choice. There are also some other hardwoods that truck bed manufactures use that is imported and is extremely hard, heavy and tough. It's used inside dry vans and flatbeds also.

If you want to keep it nice then use a nice looking wood. The price of hardwood from the 70's till now is just outrageously expensive.

Have a good one...

 

I'm doing the bed too. Ordered 48 board feet of red oak from a hardwood supplier. They didn't have the boards cut to 5 3/4 so I ended up paying for way more than I'll use. My son and I will do the work so no cost there. Planning to use stainless hardware and original (restored) battens. My wood bed had been covered by sheet metal by PO but all battens/slats were pretty rust free.

Still pondering finish. Any thoughts? I don't want to redo poly every other year.

 

I used 4 coats of marine spar varnish. Hopefully it will hold up. Hand rubbed with 00 steel wool after each coat and it achieved a nice gloss..

 

that's freakin' beautiful