Anybody have any directions about how to install the wood into a bed and the bed onto the frame? My bed was complete toast and not even bolted on when I got it. How do the cross rails fit, how does the wood meet the head, sides and tailgate end, are there pads underneath whatever bolts onto the chassis? I don't want to start any rabbeting until I've got a better idea of how it goes together.

Thanks.

-Scott

'53 F100 flathead "Elvis"

 

Maybe this picture will help...



It was taken when I was disassembling the truck to be painted. After I took off the end cap you can see the rabbets at the edges and how they fit under the sides.

I'll take a look and see if I have any more pictures of the re-assebly.

 

I just took a long bed apart and here's what I did (in reverse order) to give you some idea of how a bed is put together.

1) Attach the front bed panel to the front bed support

2) Set that assembly on the frame, and bolt it (temporarily) to the two metal supports that are riveted to the frame rails and stick up just behind the cab.

3) Set the rear bed support across the end of the frame rails and bolt it in place(again, temporarily) through the two frame rails.

(These front and rear bed supports were sitting directly on the frame on my truck, no pads, but it would probably be good to put some kind of rubber pad underneath these four frame attach points to cut down on the squeaking.)

4) Lay the "middle bed supports" across the frame. (There are four "middle supports" on a long bed, but I think the short beds only have two). The "middle supports" have wooden blocks fit inside them where they cross the frame rails. The blocks are slightly taller than the support and so the weight of the bed sits on the wooden block. The wooden blocks are also various heights such that all the supports are level with each other. The wooden blocks have a 7/16" diamter hole bored through them that the bed to frame support bolts will pass through.

5) Set one of the bedsides in place and have a helper hold it while you attach a few bolts where it joins with the front bed panel, then go to the back and attach the rear two bolts down through the bed side into the rear support. (The long bed had a couple more bolts on either side of the rear stake pocket that connected the bedside to the rear support, but I'm not sure if the short bed does.) The bed side should now stand up on it's own. Repeat for the other bed side.

6) Now you're ready for the wood. Remove the bed to frame bolts you temporarily put in place in the front and rear bed supports (steps 2 and 3 above) since the bed is now balanced and will sit in place.

7) The first two wood planks to go in are the ones that run over the frame rails. The planks just lay in place, resting on top of the bed supports. From underneath the truck stick a pencil up through the middle supports to mark where the bolt holes should be for the two bed to frame anchor bolts in each of these planks. Take the planks out and drill 7/16" diameter holes on your marks.

8) Install the two wood planks over the frame rails, this time using what the parts catalog calls "special flat head tapered bolts", which are 7/16"-20 x 3 3/4" long. They take a special countersunk washer 1 7/8" in diameter that sits on top of the wood planks, and on the bottom they have a special "tapered" washer that is thicker at one end than the other so that it can follow the slope of the frame rail as it rises and falls over the rear axle. All the bed bolt kits will have these special bolts and washers.

9) The rest of the bed wood held in place by metal bed strips and the flange ont the bedsides. Carriage bolts (5/16"-24 x 1 1/4" long) are used. Most of the carriage bolts drop down and bolt into a bed support (front, middles, or rear), but some do not and are just there to hold the wood planks up against the bed strips. The carriage bolts that don't line up with a bed support have a large flat washer on the bottom side to hold the wood in place. Lay the planks down one at a time, mark the holes from underneath, then drill and install.

For a great description of the wood planks, look on Earl's website, way down near the bottom of the page:
http://www.clubfte.com/users/earl/Re...%20This%20Page
He's got the cross section dimensions of the planks and shows how they fit in.

Hope that helps. Keep in mind this was written based on tearing a bed apart and taking notes along the way. Haven't built one up yet.

Hopefully somebody will chime in if there's any gross errors. They usually do...

 

Go to my gallery on bed modifications. Plenty of pics when I did mine.

 

Scott, the two blue supports in Ed's pictures are the bed supports I was talking about.

Ed, did you get a bed kit that hides the bed to frame mounting bolts? The stock beds have those four countersunk washer/long bolt things in the middle of the planks that are above the frame rails. I don't see them in your pics. Did your kit have those bolted somehow underneath the planks?
Here's how the bolts lay out on a stock bed.

 

Thanks, guys. Lots of information. The turn in at the bottom edge of my bed sides was so bad that I didn't know that there were supposed to be holes there! So the bed sides rest on the 1" wide rabbets and are through bolted. There are two bed supports (got those) that hold the bed via bolts that go through the wood (countersunk with special washers), through the bed support and through the frame holes. The wood front just rests on the lip of the bed front.

Nothing holds the front of the bed wood down?

The rear is held down by a 90 degree steel angle piece that runs the width of the bed.

I'll have to check my frame, I don't remember any bed attachment points near the cab or at the very rear. (short bed)

-Scott

 

The first and last carriage bolts on every bed strip are connected down into the front and rear bed supports, but not the frame. Since the front and rear bed supports themselves are connected to the frame, this holds everything down pretty tight.

There is no 90 degree lip over the wood on the tailgate side on the long bed, the boards just sit recessed in the rear support. It's a 90 degree recessed area, if that makes sense. Like a shelf.

The long bed also has four more special "bed to frame" bolts on the planks over the frame that go down through the front/rear supports and into the frame. There are a total of eight "bed to frame" bolts on a long bed, two in each end support, and four in the middle supports.

 

Note: You do not necessarily have to do the countersinking and the 2" washers. I left mine off and just bolted the bed to the front and rear cross members via the bolts that hold the strips in place. Much neater and you do not have the extra step of drilling the large holes in your boards. Jag

 

The repro bed strips that I got have the square holes already punched. One end has the hole closer to the end of the strip than the other. Which end goes cab-ward?

-Scott

 

I'm sorry I haven't responded earlier. Those four bolts came with mine also. I was going to install them but preferred the look of the wood without them. All I did was put a stainless hex bolt in the cross member and bolted it to the frame where the four bolts your talking about is. There is an opening in the crossmember where you can slide the bolt in, and then fasten it as you do with the regular four bolts. The wood just goes over it because the bolt is now inside and still fastening the crossmember. I didn't have the four bolts and they wanted something like $60 for the kit. Another reason I didn't install them.

Narwahl- The end of the strip with more metal goes up front near the cab, the end with the lesser metal is on the tailgate end. There is another angle strip that goes on the end to cover the strips at the tailgate.

 

Here is a link to my assembly... http://www.achievethought.com/f100/bedwork.htm

here are "some" of the pictures from it, but the page has more:

 

and since you can only post 3 pictures per post, here is the bottom:

 

Thanks Create for posting pics i,ve printed them for referance later as my truck has no bed at all so i now have answers to some of my questions!

 

no problem kiwi. that is what the site is for.... my bedwood/assembly was completely missing when i bought the truck as well. The only thing there was the box

 

Hi can you let me know where the wooden bed strips and the chrome strips and hardware where purchased from? thanks in advance.