Had a few days off so thought i would try my hand at a trail bed assembly. I've had to scramble and search some old threads etc to find some pics as Early Midwest doesn't include any instructions and my bed was taken off while i wasn't there and no pics were taken.

So i have it put together and starting to lay out the wood and having all kinds of issues. If you look at the images below I'm really not liking the way things are lining up. In the front, drivers side corner the hole on the front sill if being covered up. The board appears to be flush against the side. ??? None of the boards seen to be flush with the front panel. Then move to the passenger corner that board seems bad out at the from and is sticking out from the rear cross member about 1/8 . then when i just lay the rest board cover bracket bracket the routered seams are all over the place.

The bed is square or about as square as u can get it. it's close. Any tips, anything I'm doing wrong. been here about three hours now meeting with this wood and not getting any where

 

I just did my bed this summer. I cut all my own boards. Not much room for error It almost looks to me like your boards are at a slight diagonal! I did have to cheat a little on the bed sides, in fact I had to trim the edges of both side boards slightly to get them all to fit good. The lip on the bed sides will allow a little fudge factor. At least they did on mine. I also had to enlarge a few of the holes on the cross members to get them to line up. You will not see those on the underside anyway! Also, did you put a wood square on the ends of the boards to verify that they are square? Just be patient and maybe come back tomorrow and try. Sometimes that works for me Good luck.

 

It looks to me like the wood is machined out of square slightly. Start by putting a square that is square on them. Not all squares are square. Being a carpenter, I check my squares once in a while to make sure they are close or perfect. I would also measure the widths of the boards to make sure they are all the same.
Is that a new box or an original. Perhaps the box is not quite perfect either

 

Thanks guys I took Dave's suggestion of walking away and coming back fresh. I started over completely and began by getting the bed totally level then worked on getting it perfectly square.using a framing square on the inside corner until; finally both corners were pretty much dead on. This made a ton of difference and most things began to fall into place much better.. I say most as in all but each corner board still was tiny bit off. I checked square on the board ends, bed corners and everything was square. I then took my belt sander and worked on the corner of each board as that part is hidden and got the area where board meets bed to look much better. My biggest issue now is the gap between the first board on the drivers side and the second board. Nothing I did would free up enough of a gap at the front of bed end to even allow the screw to drop though (See 1st image above) In fact the first two screws I had to notch out the board just a bit allow enough room for the screws to fall though. Once again that work will be hidden under the bed strip to cosmetic worries there.So with all the boards and braces in place it is looking pretty good so far. Now need to mount the tailgate and fenders and see how that goes.

I do have another question, The decorative piece that covers the end of the boards. Is this supposed to slip in under the side rails on bed or over the top of them? I'm guessing under it. Also the two square holes in the center. I'm assuming I need to mark and drill the boards below them and secure with another of the pan head bolts like used on the strips correct?

 

Not sure about yours, but the bed on mine is attached to cross members that lay on the frame with corresponding holes. The bolts look something like this:

 

Thanks Steve yes, I have the cross members mounted to the bed without any issues I was inquiring about the small decorative strip that overs the end of the bed board. The strip has two square holes in it I was assuming is where two more bolts will go but before I go to drill I wanted to make sure.

Since the bed to frame was brought up. Maybe you or someone can tell me. Do I absolutely have to counter sink the (4 I think) bed bolts that go through the boards that help hold the bed to the frame. Seems I read one member said he just used the mounting bolts on cross members and avoided the extra work of countersinking the those other mounting bolts

 

Those four large washers are countersunk so they are at the same height of the bed strips..

 

are these the bolts we are talking about


if so need counter sink so that the shovel won't catch on the bolt head when removing dirt or gravel, i used a hole saw and chisel to remove the wood

 

56 Thanks I seem to be having trouble explaining myself LOL, Yes sir, I know why they are countersunk. What I was trying to ask and not doing a very good job of it, is do I have to use those bolts at all? I have read where some people have either left them out all together just used the remaining frame to bed bolts to secure the bed or mounted them a different way where they are not seen.

 

Yes, I have seen some beds with them and others without. I think have read somewhere there is an alternate method of mounting these beds and not having those bolts showing.

 

I would think you could weld bolts/studs to the crossmember as long as you can get to put the nuts on

 

An after thought use anti seize on SS bolts

 

Yea, got a nice can of never-seize ready when that time comes!

 

when you change the steps of assembly you will usually run into other problems farther down the line that requires more modifications == spare tire/ fuel tank

 

I have the same bed and the strip you arr referring to goes underneath.