"Another thing on the schematic that ought to be considered is the location of the big bed bolt holes. Mine were about an 1/8th off from what the schematic said, which may not sound like much but it is obvious if you counterbore for the big washers and have no gap on one side of the big washer, and 1/4" on the other. I was fortunate enough to catch it before counterboring (measure twice, cut once!). A warning to measure and trial fit wouldn't hurt."

Albuq

That was the main thing I tried to warn everybody I sent the plans too. I learned on the first set. Wait until the boards are fitted and mark the hold down hole centers from the bottom. The location for these is critical, and it's not reasonable to think every bed is dead on identical. Whether used original or repro new. You got some squirmin room on most of the dimensions, but the hold down bevel holes dictate where those two boards will be located. A couple 32nd errors here and there add up to a bad fit.

 

'fenders, I guess I should have clarified that I didn't get the schematic off this site. I found it from a web-search. It's all over the various truck sites, flathead sites, etc. One of the vendor sites even has it.

 

Albuq

If you don't mind, I'd like to see your plans and compare dimensions before we make up a new set and add the tips.

 

Ross

Got your email. Yup, that's the exact same drawing. I'll forward to George so we can add the tips.

I suggest we add the following advice.

1. Do not drill the four hold down holes until the bed is test fit. After a test install, drill centering holes from the bottom. Then drill the washer reliefs with a forstner but. Approximately 1/8" larger diameter than your bed washers.

2. After cutting the boards to the correct width, it is best to leave them 1/2" long and do a trial fit. Mark and cut to length. Minimum 1/16" clearance at the front bed panel to allow for wood expansion. Verify the size of your bed end cap and adjust rear rabbet to suit yourself. You can avoid step two if you are unconcerned with a precision fit. But it is best to verify total bed length in any case.

These specs could easily be modified for a long bed truck IMO.

Anyone who has cut their own wood is invited to throw their two cents in here. I have only done a couple sets of wood. I made the clearance numbers up because it is what looks good to me. Some of it may seem unnecessary, but you really have to think about all the things that can throw off your installation. Bad repro bed parts, stretched stock parts, production tolerances, frame out of square, personal preferences.

 

Dewayne and I took a crack at a little clearer (we hope!) drawing of the F-100 bed wood. Just to make it easy, here is a link to the web page with the redone drawing. Bed Wood Drawing Link Go to the Vehicle Dimension Link on the page.

Please send me your comments, measure your bed and tell me the drawing is correct/incorrect, or tell me that the drawing doesn't make any damn sense to you. I will attempt to incorporate all reasonable comments (no comments on my mental capacity will be incorporated).

I would also like to add a second drawing showing the bed wood for the 8' bed on the F-250 (and later F-100s?). I will be needing this info when I redo my bed and I think it would be a nice addition to the documentation. Dewayne thinks the boards are the same except they are longer and there are six hold-down bolts in different places on the bed. I suspect that is true, but I don't have enough of Earl put together to make any measurements myself. Any input from you 3/4 ton guys ... er ... guys with 3/4 ton trucks would be appreciated.

Finally, does anyone know which years this bed layout actually works for? The original drawing Dewayne sent me doesn't say anything about which years it is for.

 

It is clearly designed for a 53-56. But I know some of the 48-52 gang has used it at least for a starting point.

I'd also like to hear if anyone has tried it with 5 1/2 wide lumber. I threw a pine 1x6 in my truck just screwing around. I'm convinced it would work fine (with 1/8 smaller rabbets of course). I only mention it because you can buy 1x6 lumber ready to go.

 

Very interesting.
I'll be watching closely because I just picked up 25 lengths of white ash last friday. I plan on trimming out 6 windows in the house next summer with it!!
I should have plenty left over to do the bed on the F-1
Later..Randy

 

Excellent drawing! I was going to offer to CAD it up but you've done a great job!

A couple of comments:

Fenders, I don't think drilling up from the bottom for the large bolts is practical. I mounted the cross-sills to the frame with the bed mounted (no wood), then measured from the inside front of the bed to each set of holes. (actually, I laid the boards next to the bolts and marked them, less room for error)

The drawing does not show the front two bolts (that exist on '48-52's at least). I have the dimension at home, will forward later. These two don't get counterbored, they hold the front cross-sill in place (round head bolts vs. countersunk).

 

Forgot to say, the site where I got it says (and catalogs agree) that this layout works for late 50 (straight sides) to 70 (72?). If you look at the compatibility for rear fenders starting in '53, it's the same end date.

 

PS -- that is an EXCELLENT reference site, George! Thank you!

 

Ron, I just realized that the current effort going into updating the drawing and dimensions may make you feel like your horse is already out of the barn and now we're finally getting around to addressing the issue. I certainly don't want to make you feel like you got left hanging. Do you think any of the solutions presented earlier in the thread will help you out? If not, do you have any new information that would help the rest of us come up with a good solution for your specific bed wood?

On the updated bed wood drawing we're debating, does anybody else feel confident that we should change the years so it reads 53-72? I don't want to do that without at least some sort of consensus.

Also, some of you F-250 long-bed guys, what's the story with your bed boards - are they just longer, or are other dimensions different? What about the extra two bed mounting bolts I had in my F-250 long bed? Anybody care to throw out some dimensions for their location?

And what about the earlier trucks - 1948-1952? Anybody have some reliable dimensions that will let us put together a drawing so folks have a reasonable starting point for those years?

If we can get the answers we need, I'll keep the short bed drawing the same and just add additional drawings for the long-bed and earlier years.

 

"Fenders, I don't think drilling up from the bottom for the large bolts is practical"

OK Ross, change that to mark the hole center with a short pencil from the bottom. That's how I did both the two sets I cut. I guess I actually removed the board and drilled the center hole off the truck, from the bottom. It's the only way I could find that marks it dead perfect for your truck.

 

George -

FWIW, I bought some new bedwood from a guy on Ebay. It resembles your drawing. However, when I compared it to the wood I removed (don't know if it was orginal or not) I noticed that the rabbeted areas on the outside boards and at the tailgate end were tapered on the old wood and flat on the new. I assume the taper would help promote water drainage. Don't know if this is worth noting on your information or not but I think I might taper mine before I finish it.

 

George, as far as I know, it fits the late-50 and on just fine. My 52 was dead on. The 48-early 50's have some sculpting on the sides that makes things different, but I can't say whether it could be made to work. I'm sure Barry and some others know.

 

Hello All,

This is Ron- who started the thread. Been gone a few days. Thanks to all of you that responded.

As I laid awake the night after posting the thread trying to figure out best way to skin this cat- I also came up with the fab a new wider end cap so that I can save the wood. That is what I am going to do.

For info, the new cap I bought from Sac Vintage Ford covers 1-1/16 inch at end of board. I found the old original bent up stock end cap under the house and it is the same dimensions as the new cap.

So, Dewayne and Earl, I recommend that you change the end rabbet width dimension on your drawing from 1-1/4 to 1-1/16 inch.

For Info, my bed boards are not too short. They are exactly 78 inches long. The bed strips are 76-7/8 inch long. With a 1-1/4 end rabbet, this results in the strip extending out 1/8 inch past the front end of the board- which probably will have to be trimmed off. Use of the 1-1/16 wide rabbet eliminates this problem.

Thanks Again

Ron C