Anybody use plywood for their bed floor?

[dieselarmy13]

Well, I finally got my new bed back from the bodyshop, and I don't feel like spending the $$$$ for a true wood floor just yet. Just wondering if anybody has used plywood and how you went about doing it. This will be a temporary, yet somewhat permanent solution, so I don't want it to look bad, if you know what I mean. I was even thinking about getting some oak laminate and staining it. Let me know your thoughts.

BTW- this bed was designed for a wood floor

[vectorit]

Burbs use plywood, and that's what I have in mine.

If the plywood idea is to be something that has to look good, and you want it to last for a while. Then buy the best you can afford, and marine grade is the best that I know. It's getting harder to find though, since I have been reading from other posters that they have had to special order it from their lumber yards. Though the high grade standard plywood looks good and has a nice surface, and probably costs half as much as the marine grade wood.

Once you get it, you should treat the wood with a good protectant before installing it. That way you can seal the cut edges as best as you can.
I sprayed automotive undercoating to the botton, and on the top I just primed and painted the wood surface. I didn't care to make it pretty, since from the factory on the burbs the wood was just painted. Being that your rig is a PU, and the wood will be visable, you may want to do something different than painting the visable side.

[big_al_71]

Just a thought why not just buy 1x6 wood strips and lined them up side by side...once it is done varnish the hell out of them and bolt them down. Maybe even put a stainles 1/2 strip in between each of the seams. I have thought about doing this to the bed in my truck just to say I did it my self instead of buying the kit directly. I know I can do it and just lay it on top of my steel floor. I know this could be done for under 100.00 vs 1,000 for the kit...

[lax54650]

i think i saw an article in here somewhere where someone used plywoon and routed groves for the bed strips it looked awesome.

[BossHogg69]

Originally Posted by lax54650

i think i saw an article in here somewhere where someone used plywoon and routed groves for the bed strips it looked awesome.

this one?

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=331632

[big_al_71]

Man that wood kit in that red 72 looks out of control awesome!!!!!

[69lemans]

Originally Posted by big_al_71

Just a thought why not just buy 1x6 wood strips and lined them up side by side...once it is done varnish the hell out of them and bolt them down. Maybe even put a stainles 1/2 strip in between each of the seams. I have thought about doing this to the bed in my truck just to say I did it my self instead of buying the kit directly. I know I can do it and just lay it on top of my steel floor. I know this could be done for under 100.00 vs 1,000 for the kit...

Previous owner of my truck used treated 1X6 boards twenty plus years ago,it's held up well but he had a camper top on the truck as long as he owned it. Some of the boards warped and were pretty crooked,so I took an old bedliner and cut the bottom out of it and covered the boards with it.

[mclairmo]

I bought a defective wood bed kit from The Paddock on Ebay for $100. Cost $90 to ship but still cheap. I will fix the damaged wood and just paint it body color or maybe just varnish it. The bed will be used to haul so it does NOT need to be super nice.

[BossHogg69]

Originally Posted by big_al_71

Man that wood kit in that red 72 looks out of control awesome!!!!!

haha, how's this for outta control?! this is what the back of my POS looked like before I tore it all out - mother nature helped me out quite a bit. Surprisingly, the stainless strips looked really good after sitting outside for 6 years. She's about to come apart for a 'restification'.

[Longhorn Man]

how mine started...


I used some pretty nice plywood that was given to me, and painted it, top and bottom. 3 years later, it is holding up pretty decent.
I put the seam in the center becouse I am anal about that kinda stuff.... but it looks a whole lot better IMO like that.
Link;
http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=192886

[mbgmike]

The later model ford stepsides used plywood from the factory.

[71 super]

There was a member on here at one time that as making these kits and selling pretty cheap he was located in Kingsport Tenn. You could also go to GMC Pauls web site I think he has measurements posted there, and also Mar-k may have them posted as well. If you had a friend with a planer and more time than money you could make your own and only do the job once verses the out lay of cash for plywood and materials only to redo when you get more money especially since you said it just got out of the shop, whats another couple of weeks? JMO

[dieselarmy13]

I'm not sure how this wasn't showing up in my user cp, but thanks for the replies, guy's. Andy, that's what I was thinking, but couldn't decide on going the long way or the short way. Since I didn't come long from the factory (he, he) no pun intended but fully true, it was hard to decide, but now I think that's the way to go.

[R.L.]

I had a 56 Chevy with treated plywood in a step side. The bed strips were bolted on and held the wood down. It looked Okay and was painted black. I had the truck 6 years in the deep south and I used it to haul a motorcycle and anything else I needed to. The truck lived outdoors most of the time. It didn't look show quality at all but it did the job with no complaints and IMO it'll get by till you can do better.
I did see here in a thread last year where a fella took some 1x6 decking lumber and used that in a step side, scored it with a power saw so the bed strips would fit in the wood and that looked great to me for a temporary fix that you could use for hauling cargo with. I think if I have it to do over again thats what I'll do.
If you go with plywood don't score the wood for the metal strips, I would think it would be a place for the wood to come apart.

[unclewatts]

When I first got my truck the bed wood wasn't too bad. Later I threw a 4X8 sheet of plywood over it to reduce wear on the original bed. I had that there for about 6-7 years and when I removed the plywood the bed wood was all rotted out. Seems water got between the Ply and the bed and ruined it. A few years ago I sprung for all new Oak and stainless strips and hardware. Cost me a bunch and I'll never cover my bed with plywood (or anything else) again. Now I use a tonneau cover. BTW, Bosshog69. That's an Oogly lookin' bed you got there!

[Boog]

I bought some oak lumber from a local saw mill and cut mine to fit for one truck and bought some yellow pine boards and cut to fit for another one. I painted the boards real good with black paint before assembly and it held up much better than I hoped for. I gave plywood some consideration but thought it might not last so well with any serious hauling duties where the wood might get gouged or scraped down through the painted surface. Too much moisture getting into the sheet can start delamination.
However there are some sheetgoods out there that hold up very well to moisture and would be there for a long, long time. Huber flooring products, and some others, sell a tongue and groove chip and wafer board with a 50 yr warranty that is used in home construction in our area. Much like Oriented Strand board or blandex if you are familiar with that product. One of our customers put down the 3/4" flooring then the outer walls on top of that when it started to rain. No roof yet. Since the bottom plate wasn't yet cut open for the doors it created a box so to speak where it held the water several inches thick. It rained and rained and rained for a couple of weeks. That flooring stayed covered in water the whole time. When they did get back to work and drained it he could not find any swelling of the sheets any where. Our store manager took some pics of it for real world testimonial. The point of this is it might be just the thing for those not needing or wanting the high $ oak floor kits. With some paint or bed liner top coating and the strips on it it should be there for a long time. Just the thing for guys who use their trucks as trucks.
I don't work for that company and I'm not certain on the cost. I believe it is in the $30 per sheet range.

[R.L.]

I think the plywood would work quite well but here are some pics on the treated lumber.



I have plywood in my truck now but I do like this idea. I got it from a members post about a year ago. It's a little more work than the plywood but it'll last as long as a deck would.

[prostreetC-10]

Heck......I used plywood to make my last set of teef !!!

[R.L.]

It is a mirical product!

[BossHogg69]

[QUOTE=R.L.;3467463]

QUOTE]

No, THAT'S the miracle product!!!

[63 & 64 Bowties]

I used T1-11 in mine coated with Marine Spar Varnish

[srsummers]

Hey there 63&64bowties. What kind of black paint is that?

Thank you for your servce to our country.

[kyull67]

$75 at Lowes, Birch Plywood

[Hot Roderick]

you have a lwb or swb? I have a brand new oak kit from mar-k for a lwb I'm not going to use. I've decided to go with black walnut.

[MiraclePieCo]

Originally Posted by 63 & 64 Bowties

I used T1-11 in mine coated with Marine Spar Varnish

Good idea Bill. I'm resurrecting this old thread to learn how yours held up. If not, at least it's cheap ($30 as of this writing) and easily replaceable - although nowadays it's impossible to find siding without at least a dozen of the football-shaped patches in it.