Looking at bed wood and hardware. Any comments on our host's products here? they are substantially less pricey than other sources I have found. Do you have any recommendations?
The "Gold Standard" is Mar-K As far as bed wood material is concerned, IMO, Mar-K is un-surpassed. Check out their website and form our own opinion. My bedwood, strips and tailgate came from them, and I am more than 100% pleased! Looked at your pics and I'm very excited about your build. What color is the primary color going to be? Ken
Hey Fleet - make sure you read my post about my experience with the wood kit from Classic Parts - https://talk.classicparts.com/showthread.php?p=54833#post54833 In summary - i bought the pre-drilled, pre-grooved, oak. The quality of the wood was perfect, the cuts, however, were not and that affected my final fit (details and pics are in the link above). I bought the kit when there was a 10% off sale, so i was able to afford the upgraded oak and stainless steel versions. The strips and bolts seem to be good quality as well. Note: I have budget constraints, so i had to go this route and just have to live with my dissatisfaction with the cuts. - G
Bed wood from Classic Parts I ordered and installed their kits in 2006 (I think it was 2006). I ordered the pine (couldn't afford the oak). Here is a pic. I spend a week or so, staining and sealing the wood. Its holding up good, I think. I think the oak is probably better as its a harder wood....I have put a few things in the bed and the pine shows the marks and skuffs (leaves imprints in the wood but does not scratch the finish). I remember the boards were not all exact length...you need to work on this some (remember one board was just too short but I split the difference -front and back). I still notice it sometimes. Its an easy kit to install except for the many bed-bolts - I taped the bolt-heads so I could get the nuts on from underneath. R.Pennington Queen Creek, Arizona
Dimensions I have some friends who love wood working. They suggested that I buy wood and route and cut to fit. Does anybody have the length and width of beed wood for a 58 fleetside longbed?
I machined the wood myself . I changed the the dimensions of the planks to be equal widths using 7 planks instead of 8 .With a table saw and a good set of dado blades the wood work was easy.I checked the site i used and they only had the dimensions for the short bed .Good luck Bobby
Home Made Bed Wood DO THIS ! . you'll have so much pride in it . I'm note sure where but I do know the proper dimensions are out there on the Internet , maybe right here in older posts ? . Keep looking and some one will know . Hard pine , is a Southern product so take some time to figure out what you want , Oak & Ash or nice hardwoods but totally uneccesary . The wood is supposed to be painted black but do as you wish , just remember it's a Truck and in due time the bed will get damaged no matter how much care you take of it . be sure to cut , route & test fit then take it all apart again and paint , being 100 % certain to paint the ends of the planks as this is the only way to make it really last . Keep adding paint (or whatever you use) until it stops being absorbed ~ most folks like to thin it a bit so the wood really sucks in a lot of treatment / paint /urethane , whatever . FWIW , urethane always begins flaking in a few years , even the heavy duty , UV resistant , Bowling Alley kind .
Hey 58 Fleetside, FWIW,Make sure you seal all SIX Sides Of each Board if you are putting them in Yourself,if you dont the raw ends will Wik in Moisture and will not last Long,a good UV in the top coat will really help also. You Could us Boild Lindseal Oil also. Good Luck with your Truck! Allen
If you have the Time, Tools & Talent -go for DIY Like NATE said - do this! Like KEN said - check out Mar-K as they have ALL the details posted on their website. You can get your choice/species of wood at your local yard and your wood friends can help. I would have gone this route if I had wood friends. You should measure space between existing holes in your bed sills to determine the EXACT width of the boards (from what i understand, these could be slightly different from the factory "back in the day"). this order form may help guide you http://www.mar-k.com/CustomForms/BedWood.pdf This is a page of links with a lot of good info http://www.mar-k.com/installation_hints.html there is info in here too as to how to measure for length. There is also a link somewhere on Mar-K that shows the boards needed by year/style, but i cannot seem to locate it. I think it is in their printed catalog if i recall correctly. I posted dimensions/diagram for the 'groove' previously. I would review this with your wood friends and go for it! good luck -
