wood kits are too much $$$$

[joehalford01]

anyone here have any experience with replacing the bed wood in their truck with wood from lowes/home depot/osh? I can't stomach $400 for a bed kit if all i want to do is throw stuff back there. I'll probably paint the wood black as that's how they came from the factory, so once again, no need for shiny pretty expensive bed wood. So, is it hard to cut and fit the wood yourself? they make it sound hard when your looking at the kits, but then again, they are trying to sell $400 wood kits. thanks guys.

 

[chop509]

I did a ’67 Chevy SWB stepside I owned years ago with stained marine grade plywood.
Routed grooves in it and reinstalled the original metal bed strips (repainted with new bolts).
Actually turned out looking nice, but didn’t own the truck long enough to know how long it lasted

Jeff

 

[FlatBroke]

Joe,
After Reason4 went through the bathroom a while back and ripped out the cabinet, I'm just gonna use it for my floor. Strip it, sand it, gloss it and be done with it. Of course I'm going to do everything the hard way.

 

[RUSTY50F1]

When I get ready to put the bed in my 50f1 I'm going to home depot and get 1x4 hard wood. Route the edges and put the strips in. Not hard to do and a lot cheaper. ........RUSTY

 

[joehalford01]

darnit, now i have to buy a router...........

 

[tiny1]

Joe you might get a cabinet shop to do the router work for you.

 

[satanherself]

What a jointer,planner whats the big deal?? wood beds are childs play

 

[LordMaximo]

Help a friend do a wood bed on his S-10 a few years back.
It was 2x12 treated fir and we had to weld in a couple extra cross members for tieing it down. He had a wood shop run the stuff through a plainer. We varnished it all up after the holes had been drilled. Got some stainless and made our own strips. It took two days to prep everything and two hours after the varnish was dried to install the mess. Total cost, less then $150.

Maximo

 

[Lakota]

Like chop says, 3/4" marine plywood. Bolt it down, drill a hole in each corner up at the cab for water drainage. Then start saving your pennies nickles and dimes for a chromed diamond plate.