wood bed advice needed Changing the wood bed in my 62 and I am making my own. My question is -how far deep should I cut for the metal strips. Are the metal strips supposed to be level with the wood planks or should they be a tad bit higher so that when you slide things in the truck it won't scratch the wood finish? My old wood is so deteriorated I can't tell. It may be just a matter of preference but my gut tells me to keep the strips a little higher than the wood surface.
The wood is normally routed or notched on each side for the metal strips to better hold the wood into place. We are only talking about an 1/8th of an inch down into the wood.
bed wood There are actually exact original measurements for the notches...but if you already started.....From the end of the board for the first half inch it is one eighth inch deep. The next one fourth inch of the board after that is one fourth of an inch deep. It is actually a two notch piece so that it lock in...remember this is so the rib is slightly above the wood, so that your shovel will not scrape the wood. There is really a whole science to it and some very logical thinking that goes into it, but most do not care about that. Most who do it now adays will make one cut and do it deeper than it was original, so that they can sit on it better(in other words...cut below the surface). Rod
Interesting. My old ratty planks did seem to have a deeper cut on the inside edge, I thought it was just from 50yrs of wear. Makes sense to have the sharp edge of the strip in a groove.
