Does anyone know the thickness of the wooden blocks that go between the frame and the crossmembers that the bedwood bolts to? Also, do you know if there is a difference between the thickness of these blocks on a 1/2 ton and a 1 ton? I have sent a message to cchar cause he has a 1 ton pick up but I don't know if he will have time to look. It looks like CP has kits taht are 2 3/8 inch thck but with rubber pads that go under them. Do ya'lls trucks have rubbers? I don't thinnk mine did. Thanks, Bill
i know mine didnt, but whoever had the truck before me made their own bed out of 2x8 boards. I was wondering if the wooden crossmembers were there on purpose. Next question, what is the purpose of those? Do you actually need them? I plan on making a custom bed for my air ride suspension and will need to make psudo wheel wells in the bed. I'll get a pic of what i mean. ________ Honda RVF750 RC45 history
Kyle, Since I am going back semi orig I figure there are some clearance issues. Also, the curved piece that attaches to the running board but "floats" near the bed side needs to be within certain specs I would think. If you are customizing I guess all bets are off and you can adjust as necessary? Other than spacing for clearance I don't know. Maybe there are some flexibility issues as well. Bill
Block Size Tailgater, There are 4 wooden blocks. I am posting some pics but I will also give you the size. All 4 blocks are 2 1/8 high, 2 1/4 wide, 1 3/4 deep. 2 blocks have holes centered on the top side 2 blocks have holes 3/4 from top centered from side to side. There are 6 - 1/4 thick rubber pads 2 1/4 X 2 1/4 There are 2 metal pieces for the 2 blocks that have off centered holes. See pics below,, hope this helps.
Thanks, BD, My 1 ton has 8 blocks instead of 4. I gotta lot more drilling and offset washers to deal with. I reckon I will practice on some scrap wood before I perfect that so that I don't ruin my good wood. These are some really good pics. This helps a lot! Thanks again, Bill
Let me add a confusion factor. I've got reference material that says that the blocks are 2 1/4" high. On a 1/2 ton, you need a total of 4 because they compensate for the hump in the frame to accommodate the differential. Bill, IRRC your's is a 1 ton, which tells me that you have more cross sills than a 1/2 ton. Take a piece of wood and lay it on the frame from the back of the cab to the tail end of the truck and place the cross sills on the frame. If the wood is flush to the frame, no need for a block. If there is space, chances are good that you need a spacer, either 2 1/4" to 2 3/8". Check out the Mar-K website too. Lots of good info. www.mar-k.com hope this rambling helped.
Ken, Being a 1 ton the frame is humpless as I am sure you know from what you said in your post. The only thing that interferes are those rivet heads sticking up but that is less than a 1/2 inch. I could of sworn this old thing had wood blocks uder it when I took it apart 15 years ago. I am just going to take my time and see how it fits. I am a better carpenter than body man anyway so I can make it fit. Thanks, Bill
I too wonder what these blocks were for too. I have redone my bed recently and did not put these blocks in. Every time i hit a good bump going down the street, the bed shakes a little and a nice rattle sound comes from the back. Would these blocks help stabilize the bed and take away the "hump" you guys are talkin about on my 1/2 T? Also, where exactly do the mount on the crossmember...in the middle or where the 4 large carriage bolts that go through the frame?? Thanks guys, you've got me wonderin what else I can fix. Also, Also... does anyone know where i can get just one front top stock shock mount tower. My old one popped right in two pieces. Can't find a replacment. TIA!
You NEED Those Blocks ! The 1/2 Ton rigs need the blocks as they support the bed ~ mine were gone missing and so the bed crushed and broke one of the sills . If you look in my older posts , I covered all this when I discovered my bed was just sitting on the frame , no bolts holding it on , good thing I didn't hit any BIG bumps Some of the good guys here sent me thier hommeade wooden bed blocka and I fabbed uo some rubbers out of old mud flaps to use as shims . It is _critical_ to have the grain of the wood supporting the weight else the block will break ,. no doubt about it . Mar-K sells the blocks ready made if you (like me) lack carpentry skills and woodworking tools . I bet C-D has them in a nifty kit with all the hardware too, cheaply .
Design flaw? Nate, I had wondered about the grain supporting the weight issue. I have two original blocks where the grain does not support the bed and one has a crack. I suspect the designer did not think this through and, isnce it would be easier to prepare the blocks long ways instead of vertically they probably went the easy way. Thus all the broken down beds. I noticed on the above pictures that Boops Dad sent showing the kit from CP, the grain looks correct, it is veritcal and will support the bed without cracking. Bill
Well Bill , Then it appears you have a replacment block there as the OEM ones were all lengthwise grain to my knowledge (extremely limeted knowledge there) I'd just make up a coule blocks out of hardwood and there you go It's funny when you consider how roughly these truck were treated by thier originally designed for users but GM used wooden bed blocks that worked out just fine......
