The truck I'm putting together doesn't have chrome bed strips, but the bed strips I'm using were bought from Dennis Carpenter and I'm milling the wood myself using white oak.

-Scott

 

Actually, they are stainless bed strips and Sacramento Vintage Ford or Mid-Fifty should be able to set you up. Jag

 

I got the wood, stainless strips and hardware all from mid-fifty.

 

Thanks Guys , ill check them both out .

 

And Northern Classic Trucks Where I got my bed.. see my gallery

Sam

 

Just looking for info on the stepsides and found everything I needed to know from all the great pics and input from everyone. Thanks

 

I just put on my bed and I seem to be missing the two metal supports rivited to the frame rail just behind the cab. I have the bolts but they just hang in midair. Does anyone have a picture of the frame with these supports in place?Or for that matter, a set of supports for sale?? Erik

 

on the front edge of the bed, the is one piece that fastens the bed to the frame. It is shaped

like: _
:.... ...I_

So I call it the Z support. If you can't find one, it should be an easy job for a metal shop to fab one. Good luck, Jag

 

I 've recently gotten my new polished stainless strips, got the paint to spray the inside of the bed, and today took my rough hewn wood to my bud's wood shop where we will be planing and rabbeting, etc.. I have not taken my bed apart yet, and will be paying attention when I do, but will the dimensions I got off Earl's world work for all 55 shortboxes? By that I mean, would I be wise to wait till dissasssembly of my box to note any differences, in you guys' opinion, or can I proceed with the wood work? Time is of the essence. I am only concerned that I did not buy new bed side strips, and so will not be able to "hide" any discrepencies. I also want to rabbet the wood so that the strips fit EXACTLY in the rabbet, with no excess side tolerances, as I have now on my pine boards. I prolly have 1/8" on both sides of each strip. Thanks, Fellas!

 

I'd be careful rabetting with no side tolerances. Wood is a living thing and expands and contracts with humidity and temperature - that's why the boards are fastened the way they are, so they can expand and contract as they will. Expansion takes place mostly across the grain (width between the bed strips) rather than along the grain (length down the bed).

Wood's expansion and contraction power is very impressive. When I was in college, I built a desk using 1" oak glued into side panels. One night in winter (very low humidity) I was suddenly awakened by what I thought was a gunshot in my room. I found out next day that a split in the side panel fully 18" long and 1/2" wide had suddenly appeared, ripping the inch thick oak in two.

If you don't live in an area where the humidity changes, you may be OK, but otherwise, if you don't leave some breathing room, your boards may shrink back from the bedding strips or expand. If they expand, they may bung up the edges of the rabbets, cup the boards or blow the bedding strips off!

-Scott

 

If you install the strips without any space with the wood in a very low moisture content state, the wood will expand when it gets wet and probably bow the strips. If you install the strips without any space with the wood in a high moisture content state, it'll shrink and create a space between the strips. Just the nature of wood. In other words, the space is there for a good reason. One way to minimize the space dimension is to prep the wood by sealing it on all six sides, but over time nature will take its course.

 

I say follow the dimensions you have and proceed with the wood planeing now. The deminsions allow for a little adjusting so you can butt the sides up to the rabbit's edge. For a great fit, take into count that the rabbit depth will decrease as you apply your spar varnish. How many coats to you plan on putting on the wood? Mine had six coats and the fit showed it. The rabbit was only half as deep as the metal setting on it from the sidewall. Maybe you can experiement by coating a scrap piece of wood the same way you plan to finish your boards. abefore-and-after measurements should tell you the amount you may need to adjust the depth of your rabbits. Jag

 

Hello all:
MAR-K has the metal bed parts and the wood bed kits for this truck and all the Ford Short Flaresides 51-72. Our wood kits have many different options including the one with mounting holes that go through the wood and the ones that don't. The parts come with VERY DETAILED bed assembly instructions with pictures that tell you exactly how to put your bed together, where the cross sills go, and how and where to drill the mounting holes.
Our website has a great deal of technical information that can help you as well.
How to make your own wood boards: http://www.mar-k.com/bedwooddimensions.pdf
How to drill mounting holes: http://www.mar-k.com/drilling_mounting_holes.html
Wood finish testing: http://www.mar-k.com/wood_finish_testing_ii.html
Hidden mounting hole information: http://www.mar-k.com/FORDhiddenholes.pdf
Bed Mounting information: http://www.mar-k.com/bed_mounting_information.pdf
and much more.
The main page for technical information and installation hints is: http://www.mar-k.com/installation_hints.html
Hope this helps and thanks for letting us be a part of the site!
PS Our parts are made in Oklahoma City, USA!

 

Nice links. Thanks, Jag

 

Thanks to all who replied. I have 0 experience working with these beds as yet, so bear with my naivete. In humid Florida, what do you spose is the minimum clearance- strip to board - that I can get away with? Thanx again. "No teacher like experience" or if you prefer- "no teacher like making mistakes"