long bed mod

[Raider L]

What do you think about putting in a wood floor like the step side trucks have got, but in my long bed fleet side truck? Order two sets of the rails that are between the boards, weld them together and grind the welds down and polish the joints to look like they're one piece?

Then either contact the companies that make the restore kits for the step side trucks and ask them if they would cut the wood to fit my long bed, or just go over to Lowe's and get the oak planks and take them somewhere and have them milled to fit the rails?

I don't know if the cross members are the same width, if so attach them however many would be needed to the side of the cut out bed floor of my truck. Cut the floor out leaving the side edges where the fenders, wheel wells, and end plate up front bolts up, maybe weld in a stiffener along those edges to give them some strength.

Then take the wood and stain it, spray on the polyurethane, put in the rails, screw everything down. I don't know what the end looks like back there at the end of the bed floor where the tailgate is, but do whatever is needed to close that off and there you go.

What do ya'll think of my idea?

 

[Goldie Driver]

I think the Chevy Longhorns of the era prior to squares got wood floors.

If not, this guy did it.

https://www.classictruckcentral.com/ads/1968-chevy-chevrolet-c20-longhorn/


Sounds like a helluva lot of work to me, but if you have the desire, skill, and time have at it !

 

[SDJunkMan]

https://www.mar-k.com/_assets/images/instructions/bed_wood_dimensions.pdf

This link gives info on how the wood is milled.

There were long bed stepsides, here are some, they also makr Longhorn strips:

https://www.mar-k.com/partDetails.aspx?LID=1262

 

[Raider L]

@Goldie Driver, @SDJunkMan,

Thank you guys so much for the info. I was reading one of my old car mags last night and in a '95 issue of "Custom Classic Trucks" in the back there was an ad for Mar-K and that's when I got the idea of putting in a wood floor. "I bet that would look cool.", I said to myself.

Goldie, I'm going to run down and pick up a couple of those old trucks, ha, ha.
I sent an email to Mar-K and see what response they send back.

 

[Raider L]

@SDJunkMan,

Yeah, the ad for Mar-K is for a long bed fleet side! Hell, I wouldn't have to do a thing but put it in...well you know what I mean.

Yeah, it would be a hell of a lot of work wouldn't it. But if I already had the wood all there would be left to do is cut my bed out, reinforce the edges, put in some more cross members, and drill holes,(it sounds like a lot of work already), and then paint the wood and put it in, (sounds like a hell of a lot of work, ha, ha).

 

[45tt]

Both my 67 C20 and 72 Custom Camper long beds had wood floors. I’m not sure how different the setup/measurements are between the years, but I bet with a little fab work it can be modified for your application. That’s if you have exhausted all other options for wood floor parts for your year of truck.

 

[bucket]

In the '73-'80-ish years, there was actually an option for a long bed fleetside with wood floor. It used specific bed crossmembers and wheel housings. It was also uncommon.

 

[Powerhouse Ranch]

In the '73-'80-ish years, there was actually an option for a long bed fleetside with wood floor. It used specific bed crossmembers and wheel housings. It was also uncommon.

are there any pics of this?

 

[bucket]

are there any pics of this?

I'll see if I have any saved. A member here had one recently and I know a fella on another forum that had one and restored it.

 

[bucket]

https://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/showthread.php?t=376467

I didn't look through that thread to see if Ray's pictures are all still up. I know I saved a bunch of them that he showed me several years ago, but I think they are still stored on an old laptop that died.

 

[Powerhouse Ranch]

https://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/showthread.php?t=376467

I didn't look through that thread to see if Ray's pictures are all still up. I know I saved a bunch of them that he showed me several years ago, but I think they are still stored on an old laptop that died.

wow that looks nice but does indeed sound rare as hell

 

[shiftpro]

The wooden bed deck will not be as loud as metal, ..... when you get a load of gravel dumped in.
You also have the advantage of screwing in hooks or eyes for securing loads.

 

[Termite_Delight]

This pic was from a 1975 dually Camper Special I missed out on buying a few yrs back.

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I believe Yellow Pine was used for the deck & not Oak...

 

[bucket]

This pic was from a 1975 dually Camper Special I missed out on buying a few yrs back.

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I believe Yellow Pine was used for the deck & not Oak...

That was in real nice shape for being original. Too bad you missed out on it.

 

[Craig 85]

Here's one of our threads discussing it.

https://www.gmsquarebody.com/threads/longbed-with-wood-flooring.19258/

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