48 F1 Bedwood
 

Does anyone have a pic of how they installed exposed bedwood with strips in a 48? I am ready to start this project and have a few questions:

Does the bedwood sit flat at the rear of the bed or is there a "lip"?

What holds down the outer boards next to the inside of the bed? I don't think the strip will do the job. It would appear that the holddown bolts go in the second board if I did it the way most installs are done.

Did you use a wood strip on the drossmembers to raise the bedwood? I guess I could dado the underside of the wood so things will sit flush.

I have some pics of my issues and will post them as soon as I find my USB card reader.

Tim

I can't figure out how to post a picture with a reply but have posted pictures in my gallery. Any help would be appreciated.

Tim

I like the body parts in the dining room. Your wife must be VERY understanding!

Ron
http://rons55ford.blogspot.com

She was very understanding--for about two weeks!!! At least until I explained to her how much SHE had wrapped up in body work and paint. Some of the sheetmetal is now on the truck and some is wrapped up for protection in the garage. Turkey day will be celebrated in the dining room.

I think the 48 is the same as my 52 as far as the wood goes; if not, just "never mind" this.

There is a row of bolts on the flange of the bedsides that keep the outer slats from "falling off". The flanges are essentially like the strips between the boards.

The back edge is rabbeted so a strip ("bed end strip" in most catalogs) can hold them in.

Do you have the drawing that shows wood dimensions? It might clear up your situation, although I can't swear it is for the 48 beds. Email me if you need it.

-- Ross

I looked at your pictures again and I don't see a row of holes in the flanges. Did you replace the bedsides? It almost looks like your bed was designed for the metal floor.

-- Ross

There is no flange on the bedsides. The 48 was originally equipped with a metal floor. My bedsides are bone stock.

I have seen pictures of a 48 with the wood floor though. Seems like I also read somewhere that the original wood was much wider which would allow the thru bolts to hold down the outside boards. Does anyone know how the flanges attach to the bedsides? Please don't tell me they are welded.

Seems to me 4 12" boards would do they trick.

I have seen the plans but would love you to get a new copy since I lost them when my hard drive crashed.

Tim

Sorry, I checked and the plans I have are for '51-'70 only. I wonder if the wooden bed you saw had holes drilled in the flanges?

-- Ross

Ross
I don't recall that the bed I saw had the flanges. I do not believe that 48-50 used them at all since the truck had a metal floor. How are the flanges attached? I guess I could go that route as long as they are not welded on the bedsides. I am in paint!

I am not really that concerned about plans for the wood as I have seen them and understand how things go together. I do, however, want a solid install and need to noodle out how to attach the outboard boards.

Tim

I'll toss in my 2 pennies. You're right, 48-early 50 used the sheetmetal pan for bed floor. So using wood means using the 51/52 setup with some modifications. The wood sits directly on the crossmembers, and rests on the lip of the roll pan at the back. You need to get creative with the inletting around the box frame rails over the wheels. OR raise it all up and use whatever you need to cover the wood ends at the back.

Any width board works - use more skid strips if necessary. Try to have the frame mounting bolts located close to the center of one board for strength.

You'll need the back trim angle to cover the ends of the wood. On the bed sides you'll need the trim angles that Sac Vintage lists for 53-56. I bolted mine in place cause I was also painted. There's no way to fasten them to the box side without bolts or welding. I went with short SS carriage bolts and nuts. Hardly notice them on the outside.

In regards to taking over the dining room, when I was in high school we rebuilt the engine of my F3 in the dining room because we didn't have any other sheltered work area. Mom was very understanding.

mtflat, I didn't know that the 48-early 50 trucks had metal bed floors. Does that include the F2 and F3? Mine has a wood bed that I can tell isn't original, it doesn't even have the metal strips, but figured that it had been wood originally.

MTflat
You have obviously done this before. You are right on the money on my issues. Guess I will order the side flanges to make this a simple install. Wider boards would work but would probably be more expensive than the flanges. Did you raise the whole thing up to clear the cross member? I have been thinking about a dado cut. Although a spacer across the xmembers would be cheaper. What is this going to do to my thru floor hold down bolts?? Seems like they will be short.

Tim

j gibbs, I'm not sure about the F2/F3's. I suspect it was only on the short box F1.

I put my boards directly on the crossmembers. It got pretty involved inletting for the box frame height and width - compound cuts. The rise in the box frame is very close to the wood thickness. The side flange comes right to the edge of and sits on top of the box frame. Thus you don't have any room for 'oops' or you will have daylight showing thru. Add 3/4" wood crossmembers and you eliminate most of this problem.

Your bed bolts that don't go thru Xmembers need to be plank thickness + a large washer + nut so something in the 1 1/2" range for length should work.

MTflat
I agree that the strip bolt length should not be affected but if I use a board on the cross member to raise things up a bit, the bed hold down bolts (all six of them) need to be correspondingly longer. Also, I assume the bed board end cap that I currently have will not cover sufficiently and I will have to come up with something else.

Thanks for the input guys!

Tim

Anyone know where I can get the bed side flanges in stainless? I have found them in steel. Also, they look like just a piece of angle iron and I assume do not have holes drilled. Anyone ever seen them and have observations on dimensions. I think they will be oversize and cost a fortune to ship.

Tim