After an arduous disassembly (which some of you followed on this board), and staining the wood, painting misc. parts, etc..., I am ready for the big install.

First problem: I temporarily attached the 2 middle crossmembers so that they wouldn't move around. Laid the rubber seals along the rabbited edges of the two side boards. Then, I tried to install the 2 side boards first. Nope. Won't even come close to fitting under the lip. Fit no problem at the rear by the tailgate. Impossible to slide into place up by the front of the bed box. What is the trick or what am I missing? Do I need to pry up the lip? Do I need to sand down the boards? Do I need to scrap the box and install a flat bed?

Second problem: Thought I did a great job painting the new bed strips a factory black color. Just from moving them around the garage they are already scratched up in places. I probably will pry open my wallet again and order a set of stainless ones. Anyone want a brand new set of steel (painted black, albeit poorly) bed strips?

Thanks...

 

There was no room for rubber strips with my homemade boards either, and there was no evidence of there ever being any rubber there to begin with. If you followed the board plans that are all over the 'net, I don't think they account for rubber along the sides.

Is it worth powdercoating your strips? Black powdercoat is usually cheap because they do so much of it.

 

Thanks, Albuq. Did you end up using the rubber strips or did you go without?

I think I determined part of my problem, the front panel is "tweaked". The bolt holes aren't even lining up now. This caused the bottom of the very front crossmember to be pitched upward a relatively steep angle. I fooled around and got it partially back to its original position, but still have a ways to go. It will definitely give me more room to play with, however the boards still bottom-out on the center crossmembers. I think I just need a buddy to come over and pull upwards on the bed while I hammer the boards into place with a rubber mallet.

Regarding the strips, I think I will see if anyone does powder coating up here.

 

I had similar problems when I put mine together. I also said forget the rubber seal. Was NO way it was going in unless I modified the board. I ended up prying up on the front panel while I used a rubber mallet, like you say. That front crossmember likes to tilt forward, which closes that space down. I came to the conclusion that you're supposed to assemble the boards and crossmembers first, then bolt the front and sides to it afterwards. I couldn't really do that without screwing up my paint job. Oh..and don't forget to swear a lot while prying. I think that helped.

 

I applied my 4th coat of varnish tonite to my boards, and will prolly go with 4 more. (satin spar varnish) But while I've had my bed apart, I 've done a lot of homework and thinking. I first put the rubber bed insulators from Mid Fifty under all 4 X-members as directed. I pulled a string across them from front to rear afterwards to see how flat the bed would be. It wasn't. I had some rubber belting material laying around, and after some swapping around, it's now nice and level. I test fit my rabbeted boards b-4 varnish and had the same problem as you guys even tho my outboard boards are rabbeted either a 1/16th or 1/8th, I forget. Mainly my old carriage bolts had distorted the sheet metal. I broke out a large set of dykes, padded the jaws and staightened that problem. Pulled that same string down the hole line where the bed wall meets wood. Not straight. Going to have to get some help to gently pry in the bed wall come time to drill the holes in the outer boards. I think someone pulling out on the upper bed rail will help getting the boards under, in your case...same with the front. I bought new polished stainless stips, but would have jumped on your offer of plain steel ones, which i would powder coat black. I think that would have looked better in my case.

 

Thanks for all of the advice. Sounds like I need to pry, hammer and pull with the help of a friend and perhaps some PBR.

 

It's been a busy season at work thus far, but I found the time to invite a friend over last night to help me with this project.

First thing we did was loosen the two bolts holding the very rear (painted) part of the bed to the frame. When lifting up on that end, it gave me another 1/8" or so of wiggle room. Next, there is a metal "lip" that runs up along the bottom of the bed edges towards the front of the box. We positioned the rubber insulators from that point back, giving me another 1/16" or so of wiggle room. Finally, with one of us pulling up on the bed, alternating from front to back, we were able to tap in the two side boards with a rubber mallet.

As soon as I receive my new chrome strips from Mid-Fifty, I can put it all together finally!

 

My 55 had no rubber between the boards and flange.The bed had never been off since the truck was new.

 

Just a thought, and its probably too late now for you now, but I put my wood on top of the side flanges.
My truck came with a steel floor and I had always assumed that the wood went on top of the flange like the steel and when I went to replace the back panel and do the bed work I didn't realize where the wood really should go. I kept the original bed sides and had to do some welding along the flange and it didn't look too pretty. When I went to mill the wood for it I realized my wrong assumption, but I just decided to place the wood above the flanges.
I had to create wood cross members that sit on top of the steel ones and raised the bed the 3/4 inch and I got a new end cap bent for me at a the local steel yard. As well, to keep the sides along the bed wall down and not have bolts looking weird (no steel strip along the side) I put in threaded inserts in the wood and snugged them down from underneath.
I think it looks better than the original way and no one notices that its not supposed to be that way.
There should be a pic of it in my galleries.