Hey Gang,
I've got a couple of questions about replacing a wood bed in a 1985 Ford F150 Flareside...I'll post pictures as soon as I can.

The bed in my 85 is starting to look pretty bad. Some places it can be flaked away with a finger.

I inspected the top deck and it looked to me like there were 6 long wooden planks. That apparently is not the case. I crawled underneath today and had a look around. I saw instead large pieces of plywood that seemed to make up the floor. Looked like there were three of them in total making up the faux 6 planks on the top deck...

So, my question here is what is the best way to replace the floor of the bed? I would prefer to replace them with better looking planks that I can throw a nice stain and polyurethane coat on so it looks sharp. And, there are plenty that I can buy online. Are they a direct replacement for the plywood pieces that Ford used originally? Or do things need to be modified?

Bed Wood and Parts - Classic Truck Parts & Accessories
(They are also pretty freaking expensive. So, are there cheaper options out there that people have utilized with good results?)

Also, another problem. The very bottom of the front bed end panel has rusted completely away. LMC Truck sells a replacement panel and it seems pretty straightforward. Is that basically a bolt on part? I'd prime it and paint it etc...but I can see the bolts...seems to me I could unscrew them, pop that panel off, pop in a new one, screw it down...good to go. Am I wrong?

Thanks in advance...appreciate the advice...good or bad!

 

They group your wood kit with the trucks from 73-86. So any of those kits should fit, but i am going to guess it will be real wood and not plywood.

I made my own for my 53 using a router and treated 5/4 boards from Lowe's.

The front panel may bolt in, but I bet it's not going to be that easy. Things get rusted over the years, and you may end up drilling the heads off some of the bolts to get the panel out. I have never replaced the front panel, on mine I had a little rust right at the bottom and I just installed a piece of angle iron over it to cover it up. Something like old bed rails would work if the rust doesn't come up too high.

 

Its been a long time since I did my '82 but I used cut wood purchased from a lumber yard. Then I slid the boards to the sides after sitting in the middle then bolted the rails down on top of that. I never took anything off on the bed itself.


When I go to redo it, it will be done the same way just using stained red oak over regular treated lumber painted blue to match the truck.

 

Here's a thread from my bed replacement a few years back, there's a few pictures of the front panel unbolted from the bed sides.

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...eside-bed.html

My old bed too had rotten plywood for a bottom. Replacement bed I picked up had that weatherproof decking material, it's held up very nicely since then. I never understood why they used wood for bed bottoms, holds moisture and rots away the metal.

My old bed was trashed and I found the bolt's for the front panel came off rather easily with some pb blaster, heat and an impact gun.

I still have my old front bed panel, it's in great shape if you're interested. Hope this helps!

 

I'd guess that originally truck beds were wood because car floors were (my '29 Model A had a wooden floor), and they went with what they knew (also explains why the metal on the bottom of a vehicle is called the floorboard).

Then they realized that when you were carrying livestock in your truck they didn't slide around and get hurt as much if the floor was wood.

By the time you got around to the '80s not many pickup buyers were concerned about hauling goats, but I think at that time Flaresides and the like were considered an old-school design (I'd say "retro" but I don't think that word was in vogue yet in the '80s), so they stayed with the old-school wood bed floor.

 

Wood planks were cheaper than pressed steel ....
Easier to repair also .

 

Just did my Flareside, It was originally 3 pieces of Ford wood and 5 steel strips.
Local lumber yard, get 2 pieces of MARINE grade plywood, use old pieces as a template, cut to match, paint to match. looks like original

 

I bought a pre-cut oak wood kit for my '81 two years ago when I restored it. Got my stainless steel strips and bolts from him too. I also used about six coats of Epifanes Wood Finish Gloss that I purchased from Amazon.com.

 

Your bed looks amazing. Any idea who the retailer was?
And, if you remember, was it a direct replacement for the plywood bed? Any modifications needed on the braces or underneath the bed?

 

Thank you sir!

He goes by the eBay name of polished star. Here is a link to one of his items: http://www.ebay.com/itm/BED-STRIPS-Polished-Stainless-Steel-97-inches-long-Ford-Chevy-Dodge-Truck-Wood-/271537182012?hash=item3f38e0953c&vxp=mtr
No modifications at all. Lightly sand, varnish wait to dry (one day between coats and one week full after) and install. All boards were separate and routed for a perfect fit. Easy easy.

The Epifanes clear that I used was for clearing wooden boat hulls and after much research I decided that this was the best way to go.

I didn't mind spending a little extra money to have it look the best that I could while doing it all myself.

My bed wood still looks new but I'll have to say that I drive the truck only once or twice a week and it has a reserved place in my garage.

 

I've got my precut oak kit here: MAR-K Catalog - Select Your Truck
They also sell lots of other related staff.

 

Damn, that's nice!

 

yea, really beautiful work there on your bed NikMish...love the painted bed rails.

 

separate dumb question for all of y'all...
Is it a LOT easier of a procedure to perform with the bed removed? Or, is just as easy with the bed still attached to the truck?

 

Thank you! It was a lot of work...