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stepside bed floor

tomford

tomford

1/2 ton status
Joined
Jan 19, 2006
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Location
New Hampshire
hey guys

i was wondering if anyone has put a metal bed in there stepside and if it's as solid as a fleetside bed


thanks
tom ford
 
My cousing put steel diamond plate in his. It looked really nice, but probably weighed a ton. I don't know exactly how he put it in either, so I guess I'm not much help.
 
I did. I pulled out the old rotted wood (what was left of it) and the subframe. I built a new frame out of some 2"x2" tubing, 1.5"x1.5" tubing, and some 1"x2" tubing. I also put on a 1" body lift at the time, so by using these sizes of tube, I was able to rest the bed frame on the frame rails better for more support. I then put on a bed of 1/8" diamond tread steel, and re-attached the bedsides. I'm sure it added some weight (hell, most of the old bed was gone), but I'm really happy with it. I can try to find some pics if you'd like.
 
I thought I had some other pics, but I guess not. Here's the two I have. In the first one, you can see the 2x2 tubing on top of the body mount. I welded a 1/8" plate to it to get the proper height. This put the top of the tube exactly 1" above the hump in the frame rails, so I welded in some 1x2" box tubing to sit on top of the hump to give more support. The interior parts of the frame were 1.5"x1.5" to save weight. The second pic shows the diamond tread sitting on top of the frame that you can't see.
Probably not a whole lot of help, but feel free to ask any questions.
DSC01838.jpg


DSC02177.jpg
 
ditto...

I put an aluminum diamond tread sheet right over the wood planks in my 82's stepside bed,but the planks were in good shape--I just covered them to preserve them some..I only had about a 5' peice,it covers almost up to the toolbox in the front of the bed..I did notice the bed doesn't flex as much as it used to without it..

I have owned a stepside with a metal floor factory,but not much was left of it thanks to our salty roads here..I put 3/16" diamond plate steel in it instead--It was very sturdy,I mounted a pickup truck crane with a winch on it and hoisted tons of junk motors and other scrap in it..the only thing I dislike about a stepside is the dinky bed,but they are better looking than fleetside beds IMO...probably stronger than a fleetside too,due it it being narrower..

Looks like your bed has dual tanks like mine does!--one guy told me GM never made a stepside with dual tanks on a diesel pickup from 73-87--I made ten bucks on that bet!..both of my fenders are rotted and bondo'd right around the filler doors..someday I'll fix it,but probably not till spring now..:doah:
 
I took the wood out and made a frame out of 1 1/2" angle iron and put 3/4" expanded steel in place of it . Lighter than a full floor and the mud and dirt falls right though it.I'll take some picts if you want.
 
My '74 Stepside wood is almost all gone...........any good links to restoring it back with wood? :p:
 
FOR MUD said:
I took the wood out and made a frame out of 1 1/2" angle iron and put 3/4" expanded steel in place of it . Lighter than a full floor and the mud and dirt falls right though it.I'll take some picts if you want.
Click to expand...

That's what I was gonna say to do. :thumb:
 
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