Has anybody swapped out their steel bed floor for a wooden one? I have a fleetside so it didn't come with wood, but I thought it would look nice and I could put a fuel cell under the bed with access to it through one of the boards. Just wondering if someone has done it and if so, how much of a pain in the hindquarters it was.

 

Magee,

I've thought about this for years now. I have a 57 fleetside, and I can't stand the metal bed. I was going to just use angle iron welded to the bedsides to lay the wood down. I really don't think it would be that hard; except for the corners (in front and back of the humps). The corners seem to pose a problem. There would be a lot of cutting involved to get them out, then some small and short pieces of wood to go back in there. I think I have finally changed my mind however, and now plan to cut a metal bed out of a newer truck and fabricate it back in.

Good luck,
Vernon

 

I've been doing alot of thinking on this thing and it seems that either way it's going to be a pain. I just thought the wood would be different and kind of seperate the my truck from everyone else's. I guess if I do it, I'll have to take alot of pictures and post them in case someone else wants to give it a shot. I have a couple of other ideas I'm working on, but I was just looking for a little guidance on the "in's and out's" of a project like this.

 

I myself have a 66 that i have been thinking about puting a wood bed in and i was also trying to find someone who has done it for some advice. It would be a bit different for mine because its a styleside but with the right parts theres definantly some way it could be done. if you find anything out please let me know

 

Yes, please take some pictures. Sound like this may be a very interesting project.

 

I'm afraid "interesting" may be an understatement. I hope to start this project in the next couple of weeks, well, at least the mock up of this project.

 

When I first considered this mod, I thought about keeping the corner metal pieces in tact, and just having straight boards in the bed. This would take out a lot of trouble. However, one of my corner pieces is rusted out, so that idea went out the window...

 

Bruce Horkey sells a kit they call the "show deck", I think. It is a cover that goes over your existing floor. It comes in 2 pieces so that you can remove it in case you want to haul something in the bed. He started making these for new trucks but I know a lady that ordered one for her 63 Unibody. Sorry, I do not know what Bruce charges for them. Look at his website for more info,,,
www.horkeyswoodandparts

 

Since it is a very Chevy thing to do IMO to have a wood floor in a "Fleetside", why no just swap out a Chevy/GMC box on to your slick and be done with it.

All the warped, twisted, rotting wood will match the lovely aesthetics of that garish Chevy styling and you will truly have a "Fleetside" to boot Maybe you could toss in a SBC and a 2 speed powerslide to go along with the "improvements"

Or, just sell your Slick to someone who appreciates the superior properties of Ford trucks, including the Styleside with a steel floor
(which even Chebby finally saw the light on after 40 years of Ford prominence, and now uses BTW).

 

Dear Ringo,

PTTTHHHHHHH!!!

 

LOL
guess I deserved that

 

Just messing with you. There's nothing wrong with stating your opinion. I just like the wood since the truck is going to be pampered and live in a garage.

 

Do not recall seeing wood bed kits for the long body. Can purchase the kits, or entire box disassembled or assembled for the short beds thru Ford parts catalog, but they are costly and do not include the fenders. Replaced the bed on 65 short bed.

There is an article in the 'Classic Truck Magazine' how to convert metal to a wood bed. Interesting article and suggest reading if considering project. Sometimes can go to the magazine web page 'tech article' section and read their articles. The project was done on a bow tie truck, but from reading article certain would work for the Ford application.

Dave

 

I think I'ld use the wood-n-plastic decking that HomeDepot/Lowes sells. Looks like wood, feels like, wood, etc but isn't wood.

Your truck, do what makes you happy.

 

Thanks, I hadn't thought about using that stuff. I guess I need to check it out and see how it looks, what sizes are available, etc...