Removed the flareside bed
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Removed the flareside bed
Hey all,
I took the bed off my 80 F-150 flareside yesterday (with the help of a neighbor), getting it ready to replace the sheet steel that the P.O. put over the old wood. I can't understand the reasoning behind using steel, because its making the bedside flanges rust.
Topping this off, the P.O. tack welded the bedsides and steel at various locations and even put a tack on several bed bolts (!!!???)
I'll be pressure washing the truck frame and bed to get an idea of how many new nuts/bolts etc I'll be needing
Anyways, I will be replacing this steel mess with a piece of 3/4" plywood, undercoating the bottom after staining the wood. If anyones interested, I'll make a drawing with the dimensions showing the shape of the wood bed. I'll be posting pics in my gallery as I go along.
Love my flareside,
Dave S
I took the bed off my 80 F-150 flareside yesterday (with the help of a neighbor), getting it ready to replace the sheet steel that the P.O. put over the old wood. I can't understand the reasoning behind using steel, because its making the bedside flanges rust.
Topping this off, the P.O. tack welded the bedsides and steel at various locations and even put a tack on several bed bolts (!!!???)
I'll be pressure washing the truck frame and bed to get an idea of how many new nuts/bolts etc I'll be needing
Anyways, I will be replacing this steel mess with a piece of 3/4" plywood, undercoating the bottom after staining the wood. If anyones interested, I'll make a drawing with the dimensions showing the shape of the wood bed. I'll be posting pics in my gallery as I go along.
Love my flareside,
Dave S
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UPDATE:
I managed to get the bed taken apart yesterday. Its definately a day job for 1 person. If anyone decides to do this, have a sawzall, 2 socket sets, BFH, small grinder and patience. Soaking everything down with PB blaster or its equivilent is a must.
The cuts for the new bed will require some thinking through, as the bed is 53 1/2" at the rear and front, but tapers off to 48" in the center of the wheel wells.
FREE TO A GOOD HOME:
a 1/8" thick(14 guage?) piece of sheet steel that will cover your rotting 80-86 flareside bed.Simply remove your bedsides, lay this piece of steel down and reinstall the bedsides and bolts.Its made to sit right on top of the steel straps and bed. Holes are drilled for bedside bolts.There are also holes drilled for mounting on the frame. I would suggest painting or making some kind of barrier to go between the steel and the bedside flanges to avoid rusting like mine.
I'm in south carolina, so someone in the upstate come get this thing.lol
Theres a very bad drawing of the dimensions of the steel in my gallery
Updates soon
Dave
I managed to get the bed taken apart yesterday. Its definately a day job for 1 person. If anyone decides to do this, have a sawzall, 2 socket sets, BFH, small grinder and patience. Soaking everything down with PB blaster or its equivilent is a must.
The cuts for the new bed will require some thinking through, as the bed is 53 1/2" at the rear and front, but tapers off to 48" in the center of the wheel wells.
FREE TO A GOOD HOME:
a 1/8" thick(14 guage?) piece of sheet steel that will cover your rotting 80-86 flareside bed.Simply remove your bedsides, lay this piece of steel down and reinstall the bedsides and bolts.Its made to sit right on top of the steel straps and bed. Holes are drilled for bedside bolts.There are also holes drilled for mounting on the frame. I would suggest painting or making some kind of barrier to go between the steel and the bedside flanges to avoid rusting like mine.
I'm in south carolina, so someone in the upstate come get this thing.lol
Theres a very bad drawing of the dimensions of the steel in my gallery
Updates soon
Dave
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I got a lot of work done on the truck bed today. I got the new bed wood cut and most of the holes drilled for the straps and cross sills. I'll be making the new mount blocks and priming and painting the sills and straps tomorrow. A coat of stain and some thompsons water seal and the wood will be ready to go. Hopefully I'll have the bed back together this weekend. Still need to grind the welds on the inside of the bedsides (thanks P.O.)
Something to note: if you decide to do this, you'll need 2 sheets of plywood because the end of the bed at the tailgate is 53 1/2", tapering to 48" in the middle of the wheel wells and then back to 53 1/2" at the front of the bed.
cut 1 sheet at 30 1/2" and the other at 23" and you can hide the joint under a strap. Make sure that you drill your holes first then measure outwards. 3/8" holes for strap bolts (1/4" x 2.5" carriage bolts) and 3/4" holes for cross sill bolts (1/2" x 5" carriage bolts)
Progress pics in gallery soon
Something to note: if you decide to do this, you'll need 2 sheets of plywood because the end of the bed at the tailgate is 53 1/2", tapering to 48" in the middle of the wheel wells and then back to 53 1/2" at the front of the bed.
cut 1 sheet at 30 1/2" and the other at 23" and you can hide the joint under a strap. Make sure that you drill your holes first then measure outwards. 3/8" holes for strap bolts (1/4" x 2.5" carriage bolts) and 3/4" holes for cross sill bolts (1/2" x 5" carriage bolts)
Progress pics in gallery soon
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FINISHED!
The final product looks good, considering I used pressure treated plywood. Overall I'm satisfied. This is my daily driver so it won't be entered in any shows.lol. I'm going to hold off on the drawing with the bolt holes as I had to make some minor corrections when I drilled them.
I also didn't cut anything from the fender wells. Theres only about 2 3/4" of exposed wood and the wheels clear it with no problems. Total cost was around $125.00, plywood $35 p/sheet,water seal, nuts bolts etc. If the bed of your old flareside is looking a bit worn, this may be a quick fix worth looking into. I hope this posting has helped or will help someone in the future.
Pic is in the gallery
Now on to other repairs
Dave
The final product looks good, considering I used pressure treated plywood. Overall I'm satisfied. This is my daily driver so it won't be entered in any shows.lol. I'm going to hold off on the drawing with the bolt holes as I had to make some minor corrections when I drilled them.
I also didn't cut anything from the fender wells. Theres only about 2 3/4" of exposed wood and the wheels clear it with no problems. Total cost was around $125.00, plywood $35 p/sheet,water seal, nuts bolts etc. If the bed of your old flareside is looking a bit worn, this may be a quick fix worth looking into. I hope this posting has helped or will help someone in the future.
Pic is in the gallery
Now on to other repairs
Dave
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