hey everyone looking for replacement wood for a dually flatbed. where can I find it??? lumber yard??? what kind of hardware is used??? please help?? !!!
Thanks,

Jeff K.

 

I recently did my old '87 F350. Call a lumber mill, and tell them you want decking for a flatbed, it's like 1 1/16 thick. Get oak or ash, oak is better but you might have to wait a few days before they can mill it for you. Some keep it in stock. It's WAY cheaper than lumber stores. I paid $58.

As for screwing it down, I toiled over this a long time before deciding to do it the right way. I'm very glad I did. Call a commercial truck body store, like where they sell flatbeds, dump boxes, utility bodies, etc. Tell them you want some 1/4 by 1 1/2 deck screws. They are heavy duty torx drive screws built for this purpose. You'll need a certain size drill bit to go through the wood and steel frame, and I can't remember the size 7/32 I think - ask them. I did a 8 foot by 7 foot flatbed with 4-5 drill bits. Get a few torx bits and make sure you drive them with a beefy drill. The srcews are pricey IMO between 6 and 13 cents a piece, I paid 13, but saw them online for 6.

The actual work went very fast, a helper will pay off. Mine took about 3 hours. Hope this helps.

 

I refurbed a bunch of 48 foot trailers back some years ago. The standard decking is tongue and groove. I called up the pallet supplier the company used, and had them cut me up a bunch of oak to my spec. It was 1/4 the price of the T&G wood. The screws are pretty much as described in post #2, but they are self drilling. You do need to drill a pilot hole thru the wood first for best results.

 

Self drilling screws would have been great, mine were not. Just self tapping. See if you can find the self drilling ones like DetailerDave describes.

 

Steve here... I was told White Oak is the best for outdoor use