Original wood beds

[DorianB]

Picked up a stepside bed off a 1968 orange donor truck at Pull a part and the wood that was left was painted to match the body color.


(PS, rails were orange also)

[David67]

My '67 had the very rare invisible wood option.

[special-K]

Originally Posted by David67

My '67 had the very rare invisible wood option.

Oh yeah,you just reminded me. Many trucks have air colored bed wood.

[50bomb]

Wow that is cool. I never knew that info about the wood being painted the same color as body.

[ls1nova71]

Original paint on my short bed. Never seen any difference in wheel tubs from wood bed to steel floor.

[CC69Rat]

Wow ! There's one with an invisible cab!

[Willys47]

Originally Posted by CC69Rat

Wow ! There's one with an invisible cab!

Oh I missed that

[ls1nova71]

Originally Posted by SS Tim

Like to hear someone else chime in on this. Close up pictures of known original wood bed tubs and steel floor tubs are requested. Something tight along the rear flanges should do it.

I pulled these out of pick a parts myself, so I know for a fact that one of these was from a wood bed and one was from a steel floor, but I can't remember which is which. The both look the same to me.

[ls1nova71]

Originally Posted by CC69Rat

Wow ! There's one with an invisible cab!

And the common invisible tailgate.....

[special-K]

Originally Posted by CC69Rat

Wow ! There's one with an invisible cab!

Originally Posted by ls1nova71

And the common invisible tailgate.....

You don't see them? They are air colored. There were many made that color,you just don't know when you're looking at one.

[kcfirstbuild]

Originally Posted by David67

My '67 had the very rare invisible wood option.

How was the bed mounted to the truck, I plan on running it like for a while till i save enough for wood?

[SS Tim]

Originally Posted by ls1nova71

I pulled these out of pick a parts myself, so I know for a fact that one of these was from a wood bed and one was from a steel floor, but I can't remember which is which. The both look the same to me.

Thanks for the pictures. They certainly do look alike. I'm going to have to dig deeper into this but it appears to be based on incorrect information given to me (see the picture) quite a while back. With GSPP ownership change and the time frame, I'm sure there isn't a way there to trace this out. If there was a difference in production tubs it likely wasn't present in service replacement parts. They were intended to cover as many applications as possible by function. So a parts catalog listing might, but isn't likely, show a difference either. Anyone care to look these up and see if there is a notation relevant to RPO "E81 FLOOR BOARD"?

[SS Tim]

Originally Posted by kcfirstbuild

How was the bed mounted to the truck, I plan on running it like for a while till i save enough for wood?

These through bolts and gravity. Might have to be a bit creative in the interim.

[ls1nova71]

Originally Posted by kcfirstbuild

How was the bed mounted to the truck, I plan on running it like for a while till i save enough for wood?

The cross sills that go under the wood bolt to the frame. When you bolt the bed sides to the cross sills you will have to shim the sides up the thickness of the missing wood or it will angle down in front since the rear of the bed sits on the frame. With out a floor the bed is very flimsy so care should be used to avoid damaging anything.
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[SS Tim]

Originally Posted by ls1nova71

The cross sills that go under the wood bolt to the frame. When you bolt the bed sides to the cross sills you will have to shim the sides up the thickness of the missing wood or it will angle down in front since the rear of the bed sits on the frame. With out a floor the bed is very flimsy so care should be used to avoid damaging anything.
Posted via Mobile Device

Very True! Seen more than one bed just flopping the free distance on the through bolts due to missing or pulled through planks. Here are a couple of shots to show how the through bolts go down through the planks and some of the cross sills at the frame brackets. Please note however the strip bolts and washers are missing in the pictures. Some sills/channels just bear on the frame assembly. But the wood planks and strips tie the whole bed together. Pre-shaped wood and new hardware (strips too) make it go pretty quick (don't forget the heat shield/s). Of course some people just wing it all together, like the last picture.

[elcaminodragster]

I have a 71 C20 and looking at puttin the bed on without he wood temporarily....

So as long as you put spacers where needed (in place of wood). You can run the truck safely without the wood and the bed fully assembled?
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[longbed67]

Or just get a couple of sheets of 4x8 3/4" ply and use a jig saw to cut the pattern bolt it up and that way you dont have to strategically place, and you have a surface that is actually useable.

[kcfirstbuild]

thanks everyone, I'm going to go with pine and paint it the color of my truck. Did they paint the underside of the wood floor or just black it out ?

[litew8]

I think they painted the underside black.

[SS Tim]

The bed boards were sealer dipped prior to assembly (the black color) then they were painted body color on the topside.

[SS Tim]

Meant to add this earlier, sorry.

[dads longhorn]

original wood bed, used to be painted dark olive, but the paint is long gone mostly. I think dad put used motor oil on it and that's preserved it very well. I like the dark wood color. 1971 custom camper 20 longhorn

[50bomb]

Originally Posted by dads longhorn

original wood bed, used to be painted dark olive, but the paint is long gone mostly. I think dad put used motor oil on it and that's preserved it very well. I like the dark wood color. 1971 custom camper 20 longhorn

I LOVE it!

[davischevy]

I had the bed cleaned out on my Longhorn today and took a pic of the original wood bed.