Wood bed thickness question
 

My 67 fleetside truck I recently bought came with the bedsides but no wood was left in the bed. I've never dealt with replacing a wood bed before. I don't plan on going with oak wood at the moment and have been looking at other wood options but my question is, is 3/4 inch a required thickness for the wood to fit the bed correctly, or is that just the original wood thickness but not required? Thanks.

Re: Wood bed thickness question
 

I think it would be to keep the body lines correct.

Re: Wood bed thickness question
 

Whatever that lip at the back sill allows, is what you need to aim for if you are cutting it yourself. The bedsides will set on top of the wood and too shyly cut wood as well as too thickly cut wood will show up as you get further along. I would lean on the thinner side for an alternate source as you can shim your bed to frame. The closer you cut to factory, the better off you are.

Re: Wood bed thickness question
 

GMC Paul's has your back. You can get a lot of wood bed info here...

https://gmcpauls.com/47-72_BedWood_Info.htm

Your answer is 3/4"...more than half way down the page. That's a true 3/4", not 3/4" finished lumber spec, although rare, it is only 9/16".

You should be able to see where the bedsides sit on top of the wood and forward panel lips underneath it (something like that). This is what tutone is referring to, I think. If your bed is still assembled, you can measure it and double check. I think the last cross member may also have allowances for the wood thickness.

Re: Wood bed thickness question
 

3/4" is what you need and that is the true dimension for finished 1x board stock. Anything less is Home Depot crap. They have the power to do what they see fit. I have also made the mistake of needing 1 x6 at Home Depot and coming home with some kind of 5" wide bull crap. What a joke!!? Who told them they could invent their own board dimension. No worries with bed floor in that regard. Home Depot has nothing of use for this application

Re: Wood bed thickness question
 

What color is your truck? I have seen beautiful looking trucks with a standard light colored oak bed floor and it just doesn't "flow". Glad you are open to change the type of wood. Personally I like the look of maple in the lighter tones. If you are looking at exotic, cant go wrong with Ipe or Sapele if it matches your truck.
https://www.woodworkerssource.com/sa...44-lumber.html