i am having a lot of down time with the truck now so i have been brainstorming about what i want to do to the beast. first off i was wondering if any of yall have heard of putting in a "professional looking"wooden bed to replace the old one? i have been looking around the local junk yards here and they want around 200 for a used bed so yeah out of my price range for now. second is paint. i want to strip off all the old paint to see what im really dealing with as far as body and rust damage; any body have any articles or websites that can help me with these two projects?

 

get fiberglass bedsides and just put a aluminum diamond plate floor. If you save some
weight you save some gas mileage. May as well get the fiberglass front clip too!!

 

thanks for the idea but i was really wanting to do the whole wooden bed thing and all i need is to find some blueprints/schematics for the dimensions and what i need as far as equipment and supplies.

 

Dude, not trying to offend you or anything.......... but are you sure you didn't mean to post this on: www.i'm-a-redneck.com?

You can't be serious with a post like this. Could you?

Forget about the wooden flatbed and put a REAL box on a REAL truck. It would cost you more in lumber than it would for a respectable box any way.

 

..well next time, just don't bother hitting the Submit Reply button...

The bed size you will be looking for is about 2000x2700mm
The dimensions below were taken off my '82 F100 LWB. The chassis rail at the back is at different levels so the packers need to be different thicknesses.

The design of the tray is up to you, but remember these chassis were designed to be very flexible so don't try to make the tray super rigid. The dimensions shown are to the bolt holes in my frame, yours may be different but it will give you some idea of the sizes. I haven't yet designed a flatbed tray so unfortunately I don't have any details on how to construct it.

There is a hump in the chassis rails above the diff housing. the bed clearances to the chassis rail shown leave about 20mm clearance to this.


When it comes to rust, it's probably easier to tell you where it might not be! I've just finished extensive rust repair on mine and it seems that the majority of rust stems from panel joins so check these areas closely. Due to the double skin nature of nearly every panel in these trucks it can be very hard to tell where there is potential rust lurking. There's a few spots around the cowl area where there are 3 panels joining, i found a lot of rust around there.

Paint stripper is easier than sanding if you want to remove all the layers, but it's very very messy. Don't use it where the stripper can get stuck inbetween panels as its is very corrosive and will rust out in a flash.

google "how to auto body repair" for some informative sites.

Body repair is not cheap and to do it properly you'll need at least a small MIG welder, angle grinder and a drill (a die grinder comes in handy sometimes too). A selection of sheetmetal offcuts, cardboard for templates, sealer (recommend Sikaflex), cutoff wheels, grinding discs, sandpaper, spot weld drillbits, filler and one heluva lot of time. There's probably lots i've forgotten, but there's the basics.

To completely do it properly you will have to totally strip the cab, usually the glass will have to come out too as it's a favourite area for rust.

I've also found rust in the radiator support panel around the mount area and across the bottom crossmember. The mounts on the chassis also rust out too.

I've had no professional training when it comes to body repair, so i think it's possible for anyone to give it a try. Maybe you can find a local college that does night classes on auto body repair. Good luck

 

I used to have a rather decent looking wooden flatdeck on my 82 F100,

It was based roughly on this design:
https://www.ford-trucks.com/contents...?DIY%20Flatbed

 

Well "decent looking" is rather subjective and subject to interpretation.

I personally believe that wood only belongs on houses, not trucks.

With the cost of lumber, hardware, mud flaps, paint and rear lights and the labor to build it, $200 for a used bed is a pretty good deal and it woud look much better.

To each his own....... I guess.

 

thank you very much for your help in this matter as i couldnt find anything yet and was gettin aggrivated trying to look

 

$200 for a used bed? Not where I used to live, try $1000-1500 for a decent one, especially a short bed, that was why I built that flatdeck.... Lumber was free, lights were free(truck was a FlareSide) stain was free.
I recently picked up one for $100 for my diesel, but, it's probably going to need a bedside, wheelwell patch panel on the other side, and probably some more TLC once I get it upside down and check out the sills....

 

Yep. That's what he said ...... 200 smackers.

I got a mint, rust free 8 foot bed out of the Papershop here in Pa. for my 84 F250 and I stole it for $300!

80-86 beds here in Pa. are extremely hard to find in good condition. I just happened to be the first one to call on the bed the day the new edition came out.

 

hell i can get rust free bed no dents tailgate and gas doors for 900$ might think about doin this seenin my bed is about shot

 

so far i have found a few sites on autobody repair so thank you all for your input (well most of yall hahaha) what i wanna do now is research how to make my truck into a 4x4 and put a 6" suspension and a 4" body lift on her. what would i have to do to the truck so it could with stand all the stresses of the lift?

 

You could play some nice soft music to it and talk to it in a real quiet, gentle and reassuring voice. A light massaging motion on the rear end doesn't hurt either.

I do it all the time when my truck gets stressed out.......

 

Just get a winch, block and tackle, high lift jack and a selectable locker and you will
be able to do just about everything a 4x4 can do. I do alot of wheeling in 2wd, with the right size tires aired down to match the conditions and driving sanely you will be
suprised what just having both rear tires locked togther can get you through!!
Keeping the truck 2wd and adding the parts listed will be cheaper and a lot less work
not to mention have less parts to break down the road!!

 

boy you just gotta be a smart *** huh? well thanks for all of yalls input and i will defiantely post some pics of before and after when i get some of the work and mods done!