Im working on a 53' F100, my new driver/project, and wanting to build a new wood bed floor for it, Im kinda tore on what to use. What does everyone use for lumber, like tounge and groove, or is there like a 6x1 stock that lumber yards keep? thinking about building wooden runners for it as well instead of the steel, and varnishing it all the same color. opinions?
Theres not an off the shelf board that will work. Its not that hard to cut the boards to fit between the metal strips.
T-111 is an exterior-grade plywood that holds up...but it doesn't look that great? Go the extra mile with some nice seasoned boards,treated with spar varnish or exterior-grade,UV resistant finish. A cabinet-maker neighbor told me about spanish-cedar that's reasonably priced and easily found.It'll hold up well to the elements and is easy to work with. Good luck with your project!
Cool, good information guys! I know I will definitely be looking to cut the boards to fit between the strips, I am just tryin to figure out what thickness stock to use! Spanish Ceder would be awesome! Id assume something 2" would be wayyyyy too thick. Truck has a treated plywood floor in it right now, and there is just nohing cool or custom about it at all to match the Patina, subframe and other stuff I am working on for it!
just a suggestion how about the pre finished 3/4" oak flooring you can get a home depot? its tongue and groove..3/4" thick..20 SF cost about 70 bucks, and you could varnish the back side so no water gets to it they have a multitude of finishes for it, and its tuff stuff I plan on using it for the floor in my A
I've done two Chevys and what I used was 3/4 inch boards BUT the cut on the edges took it down to about 5/16's..that way the strip doesn't set up on top of the floor...does that make since?
Ahhh that makes since! I think im gonna go to the lumber store and look around some. I dont plan on throwing a block or slushbox in the bed, so I mayyyyy alos look at building my own wooden strips to finish it. Ill have to look at the different finishes! Atleast now i know around 3/4" is about the stock im looking for. Thanks fellas!
I used 5 year dried Poplar with multiple coats of color-toned spar varnish for one project.It held up very well.You have to glue/screw "stickers" on sawmill lumber to keep it from cupping or warping as it dries,but it's viable and inexpensive and easily worked.
All the new "Low VOC" spar varnish is CRAP. I've given up on it for my 18 yr old wood bed. Find something else....
If you have access to a plainer and a router its a piece of cake. Buy rough cut lumber called 5 quarters. its a little over an inch thick. Plain it to about 3/4s. That's what ford used. Now assumeing you chose a good width say 6 to 8 inches cut it to the proper width. There will be about a 3/4 to 1" gap between the boards where the bed strips go. Get your router out and route a channel along the ehdge of the board for the bed strip to set in. Cut them to length and you just created bed wood for your Effy. or call Sacremento Ford and buy a bed wood kit that have already done all that for you. Unless I was building a show truck I would just use marine grade plywood. You can still have bed strips if you want and it is real durable and holds uop well to stuff being thrown in there. If you varnish it only varnish the top side, if you seal it completely up it cannot breath and the wood will rot inside the varnish.
The first bed I did in my 1951 was oak. Used a router to grove it and did the varnish thing. It held up for a while then got black areas in it and eventually warped and cracked. My next bed and current one is the best to date and so far after a couple of years no problems and I went to a fence supply house and bought Cedar. Smooth on one side and rough on the other. I sanded by hand the smooth side then did several coats of Sickens Cetol Dek Finish and then installed. On the cedar I did not put the metal strips and to me it looks a lot better and definitely last longer in close to show condition.The total cost of the cedar bed and coating was less than half the oak board cost by it self.
My woody restorer/cabinet maker friend recommended that I paint the backside with a tough black paint like rustoleum to seal it. That's what I did for the road side of my '36 Stakebed.
I mixed toning color in the spar varnish I used (10-12 years ago) and brushed it on thoroughly.After I knew it was dry I used paste wax on it a few times and never had black spotting issues? No rot or warp either. The truck sat outside for extended periods of time. Might be different products and their quality or location coming into play?
The concept of the metal strips that hold the wood together is to allow for expansion and contraction of the wood as it gets wet and dries. As it will, even if you coat it with unobtanium. Somewhere, on the internet in a site for pickup trucks, there is a diagram of how the cuts are made and the dimensions. If I wanted something to last, and was less than anal, I'd use apaton. It's available in yards that special in big truck bedding, and will last like the metaphorical pair of Levis. Coat it with some water seal and go to work. Trucks were meant to be used, and when I see the deck of a boat in the back of one, I figure whoever did it was thinking of Gilligan's Island, or something.
I use un-finished oak that I get at a store that sells exotic woods. I plane it using a Craftsman planer, and rout the edges to accept the strips. I use the stainless strips from Pro's Pick that have the hidden bolts. I stain with whatever color stain the customer wants, and seal it with two coats of sanding sealer. For the finish I use 3 coats of automotive clear on top of the sanding sealer. The automotive clear seems to hold up the best to the elements and weather. Here are a few I have done, the first few pictures of the black truck is Bolivian Wormwood:
google wood truck beds.I m doing mine on my 66 chevy back to factory specs,3/4x8 hard yellow pine chevy painted the bottoms anr ends black,left the top raw,think about using boiled linseed oil it is easy to use and maintain.(carpenter trying to become a car guy).you can also get wax @ the lumber yards,or floor supply store.
Finally! a subject I know something about and can offer advise on. I am a carpenter and a cabinet maker,& do a lot of restorations on old homes. if you are building a show piece (not a daily) You can use any of the above mentioned woods without problems. If you want to use the truck and need it to be tough and last, I would do the following. for the material I would use White Oak. It has superb decay resistance and is very tough, and will stand up to the every day abuse of a normal work truck. a nominal dimension of 1"x6" should be readily available from a real lumber yard or a local cabinet shop. after you cut and fit your pieces sand them to a finish you are happy with 120 grit should suffice. for finishing in a "natural" (no stain) I use a mix of equal parts Turpentine, boiled linseed oil, and a solvent based preservative. soak the boards very well, submerge them overnight if you can, let them dry, wipe em down, and your good to go. be careful which preservative you use, some, like the JASCO brand, are colored Green or Red, no problem if you are painting but that will nix a natural finish. Good Luck Jim
I used oak when I built my bed floor. plained it to 3/4" and just tounge and grooved it. It hasn't seen any weather or use yet so I don't know how it's gonna hold up. looks pretty nice though. Good luck with yours!
Jim White oak was what ford used from the factory. Go figure. I don't see any reason it can't be a show truck bed, granted its pretty straight grained but someone has got to appreciate a show truck that looks like it is aprt to haul something, right?
Porknbeaner.... what I meant about being a show truck is that most of or all of the suggested woods mentioned either are to soft for any durability, or they lacked decay resistance. being on a show truck it would'nt matter because of how little it would get used. using Oak would definatly be cool in a work truck or a show truck Jim
myself i used like JWW,said white oak 5 quarter,I did not router the edges,just left them square. I used the stainles strips with bolts,i used large fender washers where there was no frame to bolt to that helps to keep them flush.I used sealer and varnish if i was doing it again i would use toung or linseed oil. I found the best place to buy the strips is, TRUCKS USA.COM,a real good guy,he supplys most of the other places..JOBOB
What ever you use for a finish, be sure to apply it equally on both sides of the boards to help prevent warping.
For a bed floor for a driver/hauler has anyone experimented with the artificial deck lumber (Trex or similar)? It seems to have more flex than wood, but for those who don't already have the underfloor supports I wonder if a frame made from welded square tube would work? It wouldn't look original but it should last a long time.
I'm building a bed for my chevy, I used 1" par (planed all round) yellow pine cut to the appropriate width and grooves routed for the bed strips, my finish will be Danish oil, possibly tinted to age it, i'm toying with the idea of scorching the wood first with a blow torch, running a wire brush with the grain prior to finishing, I think I'll do a test piece first, or I'll simply let nature take it's toll. It should look better than the decomposing Sterling Board (OSB) i had been using. Incidentally this was the cheapest timber I could find.
this threads awesome, i have a 64 gmc long stepside and the farmer who originally owned it put sheetmetal in the bed over the wood, all the wood and runners are still there, but the woods obviously seen better days. i cant wait to get the metal out and see if the hardware is still usable.
Or look in the adds in almost any issue of Classic Truck magazine or Custom and Classic truck magaizine as there several suppliers of pre cut wood for F100 trucks. White oak seems to be the wood of choice for most of the pre cut beds too. If you have some real wood working skills then head on on doing one like you are talking about. A regular sheet of plywood is too narrow to fit the truck right but I wouldn't use plywood unless it was marine grade if you intend to drive the truck a lot. sooner or later most all of them get wet or rained on.
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