I'm looking for information on bed wood. I have a flareside shortbed. Can you tell me the number of slats, their thickness, and their length ? What type of wood do you recommend, given that I want to keep the natural wood and then varnish it ?

 

I saved one piece from my flareside truck as a template. It's in poor condition but it was the best I have available. The length is approximately 77inches long (I had a slightly eroded edge on one end)
by 5 1/2inches wide and 5/8 inch thick. There are recesses along both edges of the top surface as I tried to show in the first photo. The wood is not a hardwood and not particularly choice as seen by the knot.
I originally looked into replacing my wood with teak until I found out how expensive it is. I am looking into using a type of wood, I believe is from Brazil and is used locally for decking. It is very hard and is also used in semi-tracker trailer rigs, too.
Also, according to the LMC catalog there are 8 boards and the two that butt up against the bed sides need to be cut for clearance around the wheel arch.


This is the top surface of the only original board I saved from my flareside as reference. on BOTH edges there is a 1/16 deep by 1/2 inch wide recess, or rabbet (or Rebate) in woodworking terms

bottom side. note the presence of a knot, which should give you an idea of the quality of the wood. Likely a soft wood such as pine

Edge view attempting to show the depth of the recess. The photo is a little misleading, I think due to the dirt and foreshortening of the angle.

 

my computorizer is currently sick, so I can not copy n paste. Member "willb1" had a post on march 16 2025, titled "help with my wood bed", all the info is there if you read thru it.

 

*****, I think I read that the original wood would likely have been a type of pine, and been painted (sealed) in the color of the truck. Truthfully, I would personally not use pine, as it is a soft wood not known to stand up to the elements of time. Also, as a cabinet maker, I like to work with wood, and would not paint it, as it is a great opportunity to offer a lovely contrast.

I think what "jalls1" might have been thinking about as an alternative is IPE as it is a very dense hardwood with lovely dark Mahogany color that would look very nice against the blue of your truck. It is expensive, has to be predrilled and you have to use Stainless steel screws as the wood will react with normal metal. It is bug resistant and somewhat rot resistant, but does need to be oiled to keep the lovely color, or it will slightly grey over time if left untreated.

Another option might be Bamboo. I have done some decks with thermally modified bamboo, that I really like. One, it has a pleasing dark finish that is slightly less red than IPE. Two, as a pressed and engineered material, it is very rare, to have a board that is warped, at least not that I have experienced, and it is very dense. Three, the system that I have ordered, has had a 25 year warranty against rot, water and weather won't bother it, and while it is better to condition it and or oil it, if you leave it, it will still look pretty good even after direct contact with the weather for several years (as one of my customers can attest). What I am not sure about, or remember is what the tenth of the boards are, and they might not be long enough.

Naturally, Oak, Walnut, Ash, would all be nice woods, are hardwoods and likely hold up well if treated (oak you can leave untreated and it will only water and become soft and luxurious over time but last years).

When you decide what you want, and find out the dimensions you need and quantity, I would be happy to plane and make the boards for you if we can figure out how to get them to you.

Be well and keep the post coming, it is nice to see your progress and great craftsmanship!!

 

lookie here: https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...rebuild-2.html

has a nice diagram with dimensions. Slightly different from what I noted.

And yes, I was referring to IPE. I did not realize it reacted with normal steel. I need to look into the modified bamboo. I have recycled bamboo in my house that I installed and I like it but the extra pieces that I stored outside molded quite a bit. I was also considering TREK decking wood but putting it through a planer could be a nightmare.

 

Yes, thats the one! thanks for posting the link

 

Jalls1, Thermally modified bamboo will hold up against the elements (depending on whose I suppose) for 25 years. I have worked with both IPE and Bamboo, and the Bamboo was the same price as IPE 20 years ago. I think IPE is a fantastic choice, but it is toxic to work with (pressed bambop is probably toxic too) you would have to special wax the ends, and yes, it reacts to normal steal. If you run a rubber or plastic...or even tape, over the painted steal subframe of the bed, I would think that would be enough and then pre drill and use stainless on the rest, it sould be good go. The only real problem I see with the bamboo, is that for some reason I think they only come 1840mm long and that is only 72-7/16".

 

I once had a step side (Chevy) and it had oak in it. Took hits good too.

 

tbear853, where in Virginia are you? While I may live in Germany...I got my start in Virginia! Actually my truck is in Virginia and I spent a lot of time last year on a project in Madison County.

 

Thank you very much for your answers, I haven't had the time to translate everything yet but thank you for answering me, I'll look at all your answers tomorrow

 

Hello everyone, I'm going to use oak planks. I work in a company that manufactures and installs windows and doors. So I'm going to ask the factory to make these planks for me. However, I'm missing a profile to assemble them. I can't find one in France, and shipping a batch from the United States is too expensive. So I'm going to make my own fastening system.

 

I think Oak will be a great choice and weather nicely, if you so choose. While straps might be an option, I have no doubt seeing your skill level, that whatever you come up with will look great and be practical. Have fun and keep the photo's coming, it's always nice to share in your progress.