Vern
As far as I know, my bed is bone stock. I will try to take some pics for you tomorrow. Would pics of my cross memebers help as well? i will also put a tape to the space between the top of the front panel and the back of the cab. If my memory is correct (did I say that?), there is a lip or curl on the top so yes the top is closer than the body of the front panel.

There are a couple of shots of my crossmembers in my gallery about the bedwood install and in the main gallery. On our trucks you HAVE to use the wood on top of the crossmembers to get the bedwood up over the hump in the frame. Otherwise the outer bedwood won't sit flat. This is the "special bedwood conversion kit" sometimes mentioned by vendors--it allows just the wood without the metal overlay ($450!).

I'll also take some measurements of my bed wood length. When I was working on my bed, no vendor could/would ever explain to me how it all fit together before I bought the stuff. I understand why, but I wasn't about to buy the stuff not knowing how it all fit together. Consequently, I ended up cutting mine from planed wood stock and generally followed the dimensions found on this site. Pics in the gallery. At least your wood is long and not short!

Unfortunately, yoou will never find this kinda stuff in the instructions, if you get any. I think that is because they have basically tried to retrofit a later model kit to our 48-50 model trucks.

Tim

 

Bobby,

What are angle washers?

Vern

 

Vern,

They are square flat washers that are beveled. One side is approx 3/16" and the other side is approx 1/16" they are mainly used when bolting stuff to the flange on "C" channel since the flange is not flat. This allows the bolt to sit flat and profide an even pressure.

If you are using stock bed crossmembers then you probably won't need them as the crossmembers are designed to accomodate the rise in the frame rail as it goes over the axle. I made my own x-members out of square tubing so I had to use them.

Bobby

 

At least on 51-52, the roll or curl is on the inside of the front panel, so the front of the bed is (or was when new) perfectly flat.

 

That's how this bed is, flat on the front panel. So, the question remains...how big should the gap be between the bed and the cab and how long is the bed wood supposed to be? There is no way 80 inch boards could fit a 6 foot bed unless somehow a portion of the wood extends beyond the front panel which seems impossible if I have it assembled the way I think it goes. I inquired to ProsPick two days ago for some answers to some of my questions but nothing back yet. It will be interesting to see how long it takes for them to answer my email or if they do. If I don't hear anything by tomorrow I'll call. They can't ignore a phone call. I think the one size fits all theory is at play here too. This "51-52 styled" bed is the same one this company sells to fit up to 72. That's why the fender holes are not drilled so it is definitely not like a stock bed.

Vern

 

Tim.

The way this bed is made I won't need any wood on top of the cross members but they mention haveing to notch the kickup portion of the frame in some instances if necessary. I think I would raise the bed somewhat before I'd take that approach. I appreciate anything you can add as far as pictures or measurements as I am dead in the water right now waiting on further information. As nice as this bed kit seems to be it absolutely astounds me that better installation instructions and pictures are not included.

Vern

 

Having not heard from ProsPick three days after I emailed them I called today. The guy who handles the email was out of town and that's why I had not heard from them so I spoke with someone else. I was told that the space between the cab and the bed should be about 1 3/8 inches and that gap should be constant from top to bottom. Obviously, since I have a 3/16 inch gap at the top and 1 3/4 gap at the bottom I have to raise the front cross member some. In fact, I may have to re-drill the front cross member mounting holes in order to get the gap right. The explanation for the 80 inch bed wood was that they give you the extra length because not all trucks are exactly the same. You can cut them to the desired length and use the cut pieces to experiment with stains and/or other finishes. It would have been nice if they had told me that in the instructions. I asked why they did not include any pictures with the bed installation instructions since it would make installation much clearer. They said they were working on getting pictures in their instructions but had not gotten around to this particular bed yet. Their 48-72 bed is the best selling bed they offer. You would think they would have started with this one...

Vern

 

Vern
I will get some new pics today. I was going to list some stuff on ebay anyway because it's just too dang hot to work on Big Red. I need to validate my install on the bed because I am ready to do a permanent install.

Sorry for the delay. I had a "week of Mondays" at work.

Tim

 

I can't believe no one jumped on that measurement! NO WAY it is that much on mine, it is 3/4 inch (see pic). Mine is bone stock, original bed, etc. Maybe theirs is "universal" to the point it has to be bigger but that dimension sounds bogus to me. Also, if you averaged your top and bottom measurements, you'd be around 7/8, which is close to mine. I think they need to check their data. Or is it me??

 

Vern
Mine is closer to yours. Kinda tight at the top.Hmmm!



Could this be 48-50 specific? Could this be why we should use the "shims" mentioned in the DC catalogue? I didn't think they were necessary since the catalogue says they go under the bedboards

 

I agree with you. I think I got bogus info too. I tried positioning it 1 3/8 inches away like they suggested and the gap was too wide to suit me. I also tried the original mounting holes but that would put the bed in contact with the cab at the top. This old truck did not have a bed on it when I bought it but there is evidence on the back of the cab where a bed was apparently rubbing against it at one time, so it doesn't surprise me that the front cross member mounting holes are too close. Today I re-drilled them one inch further toward the rear. That places the bed about the width of a piece of thick cardboard away from the cab at the top and about an inch at the bottom. I think this is where I would like it. It looks decent there. I could raise the front cross member some to get the gap more constant from top to bottom but I don't want to do that until I get the running boards and rear fenders fitted. Yours looks great. Did you have to raise the front cross member any on yours to get that gap constant from top to bottom?

Vern

 

That picture represents about a lot of my spare time (maybe 6 hours) of jockeying everything around to get the bed, RB's, and fender in harmony! I have two washers under the front crossmember on this side only. I should have qualified my "bone stock" statement to say I had to fabricate a new lower portion of the front panel. When I welded in the bottom patch panel, I think I was off a little, plus my crossmember is undoubtedly a little tweaked, etc. Not wanting to replace everything on the whole bed I just shimmed with the washers, and everything came out right. But the bed has always sat just as you see it, in terms of clearance to the cab.

Have you replaced your cab's dogbones? How much clearance is there to the frame where the cab's lower seam crosses over the frame? There is a notch in the seam for clearance and I have found that to be the most reliable indicator of whether the cab is sitting right, both elevation wise and side-to-side.

In other words, are you sure it is the bed that's not right, could it be the cab?

BTW, the one place you have some leeway in the fender-RB-bed arrangement is the gap between the RB and the bottom of the bed; as long as they are parallel, it won't look bad.

 

Wonder what happened?

 

Looks about the same as mine, doesn't look like 1-3/8"... may depend if you measure in the middle of the cab or at the edges.

Tim, just curious, have you drilled a bigger hole at the bottom of the stake pocket for drainage? I wonder why they closed it at all?

 

DOGBONES?

I didn't do a frame off so I guess my "dogbones" are still there and all original. If the cab is off it will have to stay off. I have my limits...

Vern