chevy floor replacement... wood or metal.

daveyboy
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chevy floor replacement... wood or metal.

Post by daveyboy »

looking at the floor of my cargo bed, it really needs attention.

So, I can do one of two things:

I can cut out all the metal and replace, BUT.. Its a pretty large piece of steel.. Did anyone ever have to replace theirs? Did you have to seam a few peices to fit? I cant beleive anyone way able to get one peice made considering the size.

The other thought I had, as I really like the wooden floor beds, wa to cut out the old all metal floor, and replace with a wood version.

I cant think this should be all that hard. Has anyone attempted this conversion?

Lastly, is there a prefered supplier who can furnish me with the metal bed strips. Better yet, has any wood bed companies ever offered a complete bed kit complete with wood and strips for our chevies?

I know a few companies will build to suit specific applications, so if anyone has already requested a chevy 1.5 ton cargo bed kit from some manufacturer, they would already have the info on hand and can supply me the same kit.

thanks.
"there is no sense living like Barbarians just because there is a war going on"

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daveyboy
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Re: chevy floor replacement... wood or metal.

Post by daveyboy »

No one has ever bought a kit from any of the vendors producing them?

Has everyone who has ever replaced the wood on their trucks bed had it cut, planed and routed locally then?

What about the metal wood bed strips? Who did you get them from?
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Re: chevy floor replacement... wood or metal.

Post by retro-roco »

Daveyboy,

I guess once again you're a pioneer! :D I was actually considering doing this to my bed as well. my floor is badly rusted, and very wavy. I am torn between replacing with steel (heavier guage than it is now), or wood planks and bolt strips like you mention. You might contact Jim Carter truck parts and see if you can get in contact with his supplier directly. The standard strips for a pickup box are obviously not long enough, but perhaps they could make longer ones (if they are rolled).
Kirk Gustafson
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Re: chevy floor replacement... wood or metal.

Post by daveyboy »

Hi Kirk.

I actually DID call Mar-K in OK. They can sell the longer bed strips. They also can custom make any kit for any application.

I talked to a sales person, and they have NO record of any kit being ever made before for the Chevy, or even a CCKW.

So, I CAN have it made, but I gotta produce borad widths, number of boards ,etc and I guess I could do this any way I want seeing as I dont have any to measure currently.

The other problem is the lenght. Seeing as it exceeds UPS maximium sizes, it now has to go by truck!! Argghhhh. You know that wont be cheap.
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Re: chevy floor replacement... wood or metal.

Post by retro-roco »

Too bad this wasn't a few weeks earlier! There were a number of Nebraska fans who drove through OK City, OK on their way to watch the Big 12 championship game. They could have picked them up and delivered them for you :)

Not sure how soon they'll be headed back after the way they were treated while there though :(

Seriously though, you should look into FedEx ground, U-ship, etc. I had some fenders picked up in Texas, and hauled to South Dakota for $150 by a trucker who was hauling hay to Texas. Otherwise, maybe it's time for a road trip...

I'm a little surprised that none of the CCKW owners have chimed in with options...
Kirk Gustafson
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Re: chevy floor replacement... wood or metal.

Post by Dozerman51 »

Hello All,
Sounds like alot of work either way you go. You would have to weld 90 degree metal runners along the sides of the box and make a wood sub frame like I have on my WC-12 Dodge. You would want real tough wood better than Oak. I believe it's called Apatong or something like that. They say it is indestructable. You do it right and I'm sure it would look like a million. You would also need to bolt down the sub-frame and wood floor to the frame. Figure it all out before you decide to go the wood route. If you do, good luck with the project.
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Re: chevy floor replacement... wood or metal.

Post by darog »

Hey Guys,
I am in the same spot as you on the lack of composite bed info. ( Retro-Roco is familiar with my truck.) I need more info about the wood used and the critical measurements. I bought the following TM's from Potrayal Press hoping the obtain the necessay info.
TM9-1801
TM9-805
TM9-1765A
TM9-1765B
TM10-1126 Book G-16
TM10-1127
ORD 9 G506 Parts Book
and an original TM10-1501 that my Dad bought back from Hawaii in 1946.

I have found NO good description of the "boards" or "Skid Strips" anywhere. Boards and skid strips are indicated but, no further description is provided. The TM10-1501 is for the CCKW. The TM9-1801 is for the CCKW. It has pics but no details. I was referred to K-Mar too. If i can get the measurements then I might let K-mar custom fabricate the boards and metal for me. We/Us/me need a good composite bed that we can go look at and get the critical info.
Can anybody out there provide a sample and fairly original truck for us??????

Any ideas? Thanks, Roger in Indiana
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Re: chevy floor replacement... wood or metal.

Post by daveyboy »

MAYBE jOHN AT Midwest Mil might, while he has a composite bed at his disposal, be able to measure and come up with a kit.

Heck, he currently has the best Dodge wood bed stuff out there.
"there is no sense living like Barbarians just because there is a war going on"

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Re: chevy floor replacement... wood or metal.

Post by darog »

Oops Sorry Guys! I got my wires crossed.
The website for the truck beds and skid strips is the following;

Mar-K at Oklahoma
www.mar-k.com
John Bizal refferred me to this site. Maybe John can do some detailed measuring of his composite bed for us so we can get the "board and skid strip" issues resolved.
Roger
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Re: chevy floor replacement... wood or metal.

Post by daveyboy »

gentlemen,

Got a quick qoute back from Mar-K on this.. Here is what I got back regarding my inquiry to a custom wood kit for my chevy G506 bed:

*******************************************************
David:

We received your custom form requesting an estimate for oak bed wood. Your cost would be as follow:

Custom oak bed wood (80” x 107”) $ 584.00
Custom pattern set up charge 75.00
Shipping and handling (truck freight)** $ 95.00
________

Order total $ 754.00

**Freight amount based on wood only—any parts added later would need to be recalculated.


Thank you,

MAR-K Quality Parts
6625 West Wilshire Blvd.
Oklahoma City, OK 73132
Phone 405-721-7945 (8-5 Mon-Fri. CST)
Fax 405-721-8906
http://www.mar-k.com
*****************************************************
as you can see, he didnt include the metal strips. I asked him to re-qoute with the amount of bed strips needed (I dont know what width of bed wood he calculated, so I dont know the # of strips I need either)

My guess is he used my online qoute sketch and planed for 9.5" wide boards ( the max they can do) x 8 boards = 80" wide. So I figure this application requires 7 straight flat strips plus two (2) side angled strips.

I asked for a qoute on plain steel, with the bolt hole cutouts.

Ill keep you all informed on this. Maybe having more than one kit purchase, they might keep the information in stock for future buyers.
"there is no sense living like Barbarians just because there is a war going on"

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Re: chevy floor replacement... wood or metal.

Post by darog »

Hey Guys,
I looked into the G506 Parts catalog again. I thumbed page by page. Sure enough on pages 319 and 330 is info on boards and skid strips for the NJ and NM "wood cargo" built by Budd. My NJ "composite bed" was built by JK in 5 -1945 per my bed dataplate. So I don't know if this info is correct or not for my JK bed.

This catalog is the G-85 Vol. IV and G-506 list of all service parts.

The number of boards and widths (no depth) are provided in the book. The number of skid strips ( no details) are provided too. However the numbers (boards to strips) do not match up in the book. So I don't know about that either.
I looked at the photo of John Bizal bed for sale and his strips and boards do not match the parts book either. I counted them using the pics he provided. I can only guess that different bed companys used different specs.
What do you think?
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Re: chevy floor replacement... wood or metal.

Post by andy »

Hi Daveyboy, by now I guess you know that the wood flooring(planks) for the bed were in two different width. I still had some of the wood intact and last summer I took my bed apart, which was wood/steel. Also I believe were 10 bed strips. I'm not at home rite now, so hard to count them. Data plate has Nov '44. Thks Andy
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Re: chevy floor replacement... wood or metal.

Post by daveyboy »

well, that was a pretty steep price. SO, I decided to pursue local sheet metal guys.. I work in the telecom industsry, and my sources for precision sheet metal are quite expensive. BUT, I dont need PRECISION sheet metal here.

I found a guy thru a friend where the prices arent all that bad. I can get a FULL one piece sheet of flooring, 0.125 " thk, made for under 100 dollars.

Its probably the best way to go. Of course, it will require cutting out all the old, grinding, etc. LOT of work unfortunatly..

Dave
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Re: chevy floor replacement... wood or metal.

Post by RANGER »

Remember, the year is 2010, material is expensive and labor to repair wood or steel MV sheet metal averages $55.00-$78.00/HR by the shops equipped to do quality work. $5000.00 will not go very far on a ratty G-506 or G-508 Cargo body.
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Re: chevy floor replacement... wood or metal.

Post by daveyboy »

I'll agree with you there.

It wouldnt be hard to spend thousands farming out the entire job.

Luckily, all the sides, floor ect. is pretty straight metal, and easily patched with flat stock cut to size.

Got my first qoute on ALL of the peices to buuld the bed. just under 1700 total. Unfortuantely, he qouted wit ha less than proper thickenss, so wating on an updated qoute using 11 ga. (0.119 thk) stock whick is what my bed sides measured.
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