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I am in the process of converting my ’53 from a pickup bed to a Ford Script flat/stake bed. The bed frame cross members have 13 holes in them. Nine of them are equally spaced and appear to be for the steel strips between and at the edge of bed boards. The other 4 may be for bed, hold-down bolts but their spacing doesn’t make sense to me. Would someone who has an original Script bed be kind enough to send me a picture of their bed from the top so I can see where the various bolts appear to be located? Any advice or comments would be appreciated.
my new to me 9 foot flatbed has 10 boards, 9 skid strips. They are the same width except the outer two. They are wider. I haven't measured the width yet.
After looking at your bed, I believe I understand what I need to do. My truck is an F100 and I believe the bed is the same. My bed looks just like yours but it only has 3 stake pockets per side. The bed has 2 cross members and a bolting flange around the total inside perimeter. The width from inside the side rail to side rail is 68”. The holes in the flanges and cross members will allow for 7 skid strips and 9 boards. The boards will be about 8” wide, depending on the width of the skid strips. The puck-up beds also us 4 flat head bolts with a large diameter escutcheon plate through 2 of the boards in 2 locations to secure those boards to the frame. Does your bed use any of these bolts? Thanks for your help in understanding this.
After looking at your bed, I believe I understand what I need to do. My truck is an F100 and I believe the bed is the same. My bed looks just like yours but it only has 3 stake pockets per side. The bed has 2 cross members and a bolting flange around the total inside perimeter. The width from inside the side rail to side rail is 68”. The holes in the flanges and cross members will allow for 7 skid strips and 9 boards. The boards will be about 8” wide, depending on the width of the skid strips. The pick-up beds also use 4 flat head bolts with a large diameter escutcheon plate through 2 of the boards in 2 locations to secure those boards to the frame. Does your bed use any of these bolts? Thanks for your help in understanding this.
After looking at your bed, I believe I understand what I need to do. My truck is an F100 and I believe the bed is the same. My bed looks just like yours but it only has 3 stake pockets per side. The bed has 2 cross members and a bolting flange around the total inside perimeter. The width from inside the side rail to side rail is 68”. The holes in the flanges and cross members will allow for 7 skid strips and 9 boards. The boards will be about 8” wide, depending on the width of the skid strips. The pick-up beds also use 4 flat head bolts with a large diameter escutcheon plate through 2 of the boards in 2 locations to secure those boards to the frame. Does your bed use any of these bolts? Thanks for your help in understanding this.
The F350 with dual wheels would be wider than your F100
There are no big bolts in the boards like the pick up beds have. On my flat bed there are big bolts on the outer edge of the outside boards that apparently hold the bed down. You can see them here.
Thanks for the additional pictures. I believe I am now ready to buy some skid strips and mill some boards. My only question is whether I can get strips with holes in the correct location or have to drill and file the holes square for the carriage bolts.
Thanks for the additional pictures. I believe I am now ready to buy some skid strips and mill some boards. My only question is whether I can get strips with holes in the correct location or have to drill and file the holes square for the carriage bolts.
Mar-K will punch holes in what they call Custom bed strips. Your strips will be shorter (around 85") while for my 9 foot bed I need strips 106" long. I measured the center of my existing bolts and sent Mar-K the dimensions. They will punch square holes in your strips. Jennifer got back to me and said it will cost me $288 for 9 steel strips and $386 freight from Oklahoma to PA. Here is a link to Mar-K's Custom bed strip page: https://www.mar-k.com/webPage.aspx?ID=7 You'll see a page like this:
Since your bed is shorter it will cost you less to ship.
so, I called Mid West Early Ford today. I can get 10 foot steel strips for $22 each for a total of $198. They will bring them to the Spring Carlisle Show later this month. So no charge for shipping. Carlisle is 2 hours away from me. The downside is that I will have to drill the holes myself and I do not have a square bit! And I am not gonna file 54 holes square. So I will buy ribbed bolts.
Abe, those diagrams are a great help for knowing what I need to do to my truck, and a great source of information on stake beds in general. I enjoy working on mine, but I also really like learning about these trucks in general. And the input about the Mar-K custom bed strips really helps me out! It sure beats trying to square up round holes. I leave town for the winter, but I am anxious to get back home in May and start working on this. Home is about 25 miles north of Indianapolis. This should help with shipping, along with the shorter length required for my bed. Thanks again for taking an interest in my project and educating me on stake beds in general.
