I have a 82 stepside and I need the bolts to bolt the wood to the bed the metal strips to the bed and the bolts to bolt the bed to frame. Any help would be appreciated Thanks!

 

1976-1987 Ford Short Flareside BedWood® Kit

Bedwood has a lot of the parts, they have the bed rails and carriage bolts in OE steel to paint or bare/polished stainless steel. Im personally going with the polished stainless steel for mine.

 

I have two Stepsides and I just finished installing the wood floor in my 1980 last weekend. I did them both very differently...but the hardware I used was the same, or similar. For the lighter blue 1984, I bought the main bed-to-frame mounting bolts and washers from Mar-K in Oklahoma. They are 1/2" x 5.5" long with special Phillips button heads that fit their own tapered washers. I used their instructions and counter-sunk the washers using both a Forstner bit and spade bits to get the taper to fit. The bed wood bolts I used were all stainless 5/16" carriage bolts 1 1/2" long, and I also used stainless 5/16" fender washers with them where required. If you are using stainless hardware you must use antiseize or you will have a bad time...little bolts like 5/16" will gall very easily.



On the 1980 that I just finished...I built new bed bedsides for it myself (you'll notice there are no fender humps). I bought the main bed mounting bolts locally. This time I used 1/2" stainless carriage bolts in 4" and 4.5" long, depending on which locations I used them. I used 1/2" stainless washers under them...which I had to turn the 1/2" round holes into square holes. For the rest of the bed bolts I used the same stainless 5/16 carriage bolts in 1 1/2" long, but used regular not stainless nuts and fender washers on the under side. I used stainless nylock nuts on the other bed and they were a horrendous pita to do alone, so I used just regular hex nuts and lock washers on this one.



Hope that helps. If you need anything else, just shout.

 

Oh, and fyi...after you install a new wood floor and bolt it to the frame, check and re-tighten the bolts again after a couple weeks. They will loosen up a bit as the wood settles and finds it's new home.

 

Cory, Cory Cory
You should know better being you own 2 they are called Flare Sides not stepsides

BTW what is this wood you talk of on flare sides
Dave ----

 

Hahaha...very good Dave!

After all these years, I still have an issue with the whole Stepside / Flareside name fiasco...lol. Except for a very small handful of people online, the vast majority of people in the world still call them Stepsides...I mean like 98.5% of people...lol. So, having said that, I just use whatever term the people I'm talking to use. Stepside has become the generic trademark name for ALL trucks with steps on the side...I know some people don't like that and will argue vehemently that it is not true, but it is lol.

 

Interesting that you have both 6 and 7 boards. I think BedWood in the paperwork they sent me stated its a 7 board kit for 1980 - 1989.

Also what wood did you end up going with? Im still trying to decide myself but leaning towards cypress as it naturally resists decay.

 

Ya, all of the aftermarket bed wood companies only reproduce the earlier style kits with 7 boards and 6 metal strips. They came like that from Ford, but only until late in 1982. I think the changeover was in July of 1982, but after that point the bed wood floors were 3pc marine or MDO plywood, with 5 metal strips...only two of them cover gaps...the other 3 actually sit on top of the plywood. The 3pc plywood floors from late 1982-1987 also used different metal strips. Since they sit flush on top of the wood, the edges are curled right around. The earlier strips fit into grooves cut into the boards.

So I did each floor as they were originally, the 1980 with 7 boards and 6 strips, and the 1984 with 3pc marine plywood and 5 metal strips.

On the 1980 I used red oak that purchased locally, and then cut the grooves in them with a dado blade on a table saw. I used a Minwax Provincial colored stain, and 3 coats of marine spar varnish on all sides of the boards, top and bottom. On the 1984 I used marine plywood, but left it natural color and also did the 3 coats of marine spar varnish on all sides. The '80 got unpolished stainless metal strips from Mar-K, and on the '84 I used aluminum strips that I had painted the same color as the truck.

 

The only issue I would see with Cypress is it a soft wood and would not hold up well to abuse (actually being used) .

Originally most of these trucks were done in white oak.
White oak stands up well to abuse and is extremely rot, and water-resistant, so much so it was used in shipbuilding for framing and planking for centuries.
But clear white oak in the width and thickness needed for truck beds may be pricey today.
Given how open the grain appears in Cory's oak bed I suspect it could be red oak.

 

Yup Stepside has become the default term for all fendered narrow pick-up boxes.
As it paints a good visual as the boxes do have steps on the side of the box.
Lets face it GM got the terminology and name bang on in this instance. So no one can really fault anyone for calling them stepsides as that is exactly what they are, pick-up boxes with steps on the side.

Ford did not do too bad with Flareside. But I kinda wish the original Ford of Canada terminology caught on for the Styleside boxes, as Flushside makes way more sense than Styleside. And in the '50s sort of kitch both would have started with the letter F.


Then there is poor old Dodge that got to the party late and ended up calling the Stepside beds a Utiline bed and the Stylside type beds a Sweptline bed.
Ya try to figure out which is which just by the names without someone explaining it to ya.

 

Yes sir, red oak. I thought the price was decent as I only paid $305 for the oak which was all cut to the correct widths for me. They even came in 8 and 9ft lengths, so I gave the extra pieces to a friend of mine that makes urns for ashes...lol. I forget what they quoted me for white oak...but it was at least double...and I think more like $750 for the same amount.

 

And of course there were the much less common International pickups and Jeep as well, which had narrow beds with steps on the sides. They're all referred to as Stepsides.

I know that people will argue the topic all day long, but there are dozens of other trademarked brand names that have become the generic names for a given product. Bandaid, Kleenex, Dumpster, etc...there's lots of them.

The Flareside name actually stuck pretty well in 1992 when Ford re-released the model and actually put the name "Flareside" on the side of the truck. If you're on Instagram or Facebook, all of the Ford Flareside groups only have those 1992-up trucks.

In any case, I'm fine with either name and will use whatever term is being used around me.

 

Well then I guess I am lucky as my truck is a late 1982 F150 made early in 1982 on February 1982. Mine has the 7 boards and I didnt know they reduced the number down later on. Not many flare sides around here and the ones that are around here are the same year as mine or older.

Im actually looking at BedWood myself they come pre cut and finished and I can opt out of the predrilled holes so I can drill them myself for the bed directly. Only thing is BedWood sells a clear finish to protect the wood from UV damage as well as preserve it but I dont want a clear I want a light stain for the wood. With my truck being a dark color I am leaning towards a lighter wood with a lighter stain to contrast the dark color of the truck.

The bed that is currently in the truck we put in back in '92/93 and we used marine wood at the time if I remember right. its still in good shape but around the bolt holes to the chassis the wood is crumbling apart and is in need of replacement. The camper will keep things protected till I get the camper off to have the truck painted and the wood replaced.

Interesting, I know on the site it states the following for Cypress

The company also states Red Oak was the original wood used in many trucks. They also have White Oak which states it wears well and is more resistant to exterior adversities than Red Oak.

My choices for wood that is either dense/durable or resistant to rot are as follows.

Brazillian Cherry : extreme hardness and strength, accepts stains and finishes well. $1,279.00
Curly Maple : incredibly strong. $1,279.00
Cypress : strong, light, durable, resistant to decay. $699.00
Hickory : extremely tough and resilient yet flexible. $699.00
Poplar : light weight, resistance to decay. $699.00
ThermX : thermally modified Ash, resistant to decay, will turn white if left unfinished. $1,279.00
White Oak : wears well and more resistant to exterior adversities than red oak. $699.00

Brazillian cherry while it looks good I fear may be too dark a wood for my truck that is a dark color itself.


Curly Maple looks okay in a sense but just something about it looks weird to me.


Cypress like I am leaning looks more like traditional wood and isnt too dark. Cypress is also local to me being a gulf coast wood.


Hickory is another choice of mine but I am unsure how long stained hickory would last in a truck that is driven daily which is why cypress is edging Hickory out.


Poplar is a no go for me as it looks like plain plywood.


ThermX would be a option but the photo reference provided doesnt hint to what the natural color of the wood is.


White oak is the last option and I am just not sure how well that would look stained with polished stainless steel hardware and strips on my truck.



Its why this is still a on going decision for me cause I think a light colored wood would go better with my truck being the truck is a dark blue. As far as durability goes, I dont really use my truck for hauling but I do currently have a thick rubber bed mat atop the wood bed currently and I would get a proper bed mat to fit my specific truck for those times I do have to carry something in the back to protect the stained finish. But for the most part the bed wouldnt really carry much in my case so I wouldnt need like a steel like wood to handle tool boxes and tools being tossed in the bed. Just need something that is stronger than the OE wood was and would be more resistant to rot than the OE wood.

Im not going to get a sheet of wood and cut everything out again I did that once and that was a chore, this time I will get precut wood and just drill the holes I need for mounting.

 

Ya, this is what the cross section of the later factory metal strips looked like. They sat on-top of the plywood, and not IN the wood grooves like with the boards. Nobody makes them like this in the aftermarket which is why everybody goes with the 7 board 6 metal strip style when replacing. The edges are curled right around for flush/surface mounting.

 

I knew ford switched to the trim that laid atop the boards some time after my truck was made, mine actually digs into the wood to sit flush. Since I cut the wood myself there was no groove and since I had to source new carrage bolts as I had to cut all the old ones off from being damaged I installed longer ones so the strips actually sit ontop of the wood. I plan to correct that with the new bed I want to get by having the proper cut wood so the strips will sit properly when installed.