FTE Friends,

I recently cut the rabbets on oak bed boards for my 56 F100 following the bed wood schematic widely circulated on this Forum. They show a 1-1/4 inch wide rabbet at the tailgate end of all boards. Just recieved new bed wood stainless steel end cap ordered from Sac Vintage Ford and find it is only 1 inch wide!!

So this leaves a 1/4 inch wide gap of rabbet not covered by the end cap - which will look like s--t! This extra 1/4 inch rabbet width also results in the bed strips ending 1/4 inch out in front of the boards at the front bed panel end- which would also look like s--t! .

Surely I cannot be the first to find this error - when others on this Forum say the schematic worked good for them. I am now faced with having to toss these bed boards- lots of money, time and effort wasted. YUK!!.

What is going on here??

_____________
Ron C
56 F100
Western Oregon, USA- Where our air is clean cuz we wash it every day!

 

I wonder if you could give us an idea of the total costs and effort in doing your own boards as opposed to ordering " pre fit" from the bed suppiers. I for one would be very interested in the comparison. Thanks
PS: sorry I an no help with your issue........

 

Any chance the stainless end cap is not the same dimension as the stock end cap? I don't have access to my bed stuff right now, and it's an F-250 anyway. Maybe somebody can check the stock end cap and see if it's 1-1/4" wide. In that case, you might be able to return the end cap and find a different one.

 

Is it possible to return the 1" end cap and get one that is 11/4"? I would think since the wood is all completed, you should be able to fabricate an end cap easier than replacing the wood. I wouldn't get rid of the wood.

 

Ron

I would think it is far easier to get a different piece of angle iron for the end strip. It would be an easy fab. I have circulated the schematics you refer to. I prefer to not drill the four hold down bolts leave the boards a little long until a test fit is done.

El Cabron

Depends on your wood source, but $60-120 is probably a good price range for oak lumber. Then you have to throw in the stain and varnish.

 

I haven't had much luck with reproduction parts. I'm with George. Check the end cap against your original.



Kevin Kessler
1953 Ford F-100

 

Check out Lowes, they have 1 1/4" angle aluminum in various lengths. You can even buff it out and make it look good.

 

I would take the 1" wide piece to a fabricator and have them make a new one that is 1-1/4". My pre-cut bed kit was about 1" and I had no problems with fit. I would not replace the wood. Good luck, Jag

 

I have always found that the best way to cover up a mistake is to make it look intentional. You may be able to inlay a contrasting wood to fill in the 1/4" gap. You could do this at both ends and make it look as though you planned it that way. Make sure you use a waterproof glue and seal the wood when you are done.

 

I went and bought the boards, but at the last minute returned them and just ordered the kit. After reading about your experience glad I did.

Rod

 

Some people have commented the rabbets are way too big on the pre-fab kit boards to make sure they fit any truck. I was paranoid and cut mine conservative and did a test fit. Sounds like that might need to be added to the instructions. Those schematics were faxed to a friend of mine by Mid-Fifty a few years ago. That doesn't make them right of course.

 

Dewayne,

Can you send me a copy of the bed wood instructions? I'd be willing to add the comment regarding the rabbet width and trial fitting. I also need the info for my bed (eventually), even if I need longer boards. I'll probably stick it up on Earl's World so we can reference it there in the future.

 

Yes, I'll get a copy to you. It is crappy clarity and could use a tweaking. I feel bad about this happening. When I was sending them out I was able to add a few words of wisdom to go along with each copy. But then a friend sends it to a friend sends it to a...... But then two years went by so I figured it must be a pretty good set of plans. But anyway, we need to get some warnings and make wide dissemination after a little research.

Ron,

I re-read your post and it sounds like your boards are just too short period, in addition to the rabbet issue. How long are your boards? And what is the measured length of your bed?

 

I recently finished making my own boards using the same schematic, and rabbeted them 1-1/4" at the rear. I'm using a repro plain steel end piece (LMC or C&G, I think), that measures about 1-1/8" from outside vertical surface to front end. It leaves a nice 1/8" gap that I think is necessary to allow for some movement. I needed to make the rabbet a little deeper than the schematic said to get the boards all the way under the cap; could this be your problem? The radius of the bend may just limit how much you can push the cap forward.

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.

 

PS -- I also re-read your post and it sounds like the boards are just plain too short, by 1/2".