Wood bed replacement

[Justin Smith]

So my truck seems to be a bit of a unicorn. Its an '86 GMC stepside with a v6 engine and a wood bed. I recently decided to undertake the (much larger than anticipated) task of getting rid if the rotting sheet of plywood as well as the rotting original bed wood and replacing it with something sturdier and nicer to look at. I use my truck for truck things. Its main purpose is to drive me to our family land and traverse the pasture. My thoughts were to get replacement wood slats, and coat the wood and the bed strips in bed liner, all the way around before putting it all back in. I got all the way to the last bed strip and the last carriage bolt is directly above the gas tank. Do I really have to drop the tank for a single carriage bolt?!?!? I'm unable to find any info at all on my particular truck on YouTube or forums or anywhere. I'll post some pics to help me illustrate my issue. I may end up just cutting the bolt at this point but I wanted to see if anyone had an easy solution. Thanks for your help in advance.

 

[Bennyt]

While I've never done a stepside, the bed mounting should be the same as fleetsides which I've done plenty of. I've never had to drop a tank before to get to the bed as the tank bolts on the side of frame and bed comes from top of frame. You may just need to reach further inside. But if you have to drop the tank, its pretty easy and quick if tank is empty. I think 2 brackets with 4 3/8 nuts. You can leave most of the lines attached if you are just trying to move it a bit for access.

 

[Raider L]

@Justin Smith,

And why don't I see any pictures for all this work? Somebody may have wanted to see how you did it. LIKE ME!! I know it sounds weird but I have thought about replacing my metal bed with a wood floor. I never saw a wood floor in a long bed fleetside. It would probably be more trouble than it's worth. I contacted a place that specializes in wood floors and he sent me a price sheet and I wouldn't ever be able to come up with that much money. So I guess I get to fantasize about it.