Installing a new wood bed on a 65 c10
 

Have a question. Just purchased new red oak planks (not a kit that would be a much easier job) to replace my old bed wood. My question is, is it OK to remove the old wood and drive the truck while I am working on it? How much stability does the bed provide? Or does it need to be a one day job? Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Thanks

Re: Installing a new wood bed on a 65 c10
 

Go to The Mar-K web site and look at the tech section. very good info on doing the wood. The wood is what ties it all together with out it there is not much holding the bed on the truck. There are all the sizes and details for cutting the boards out there so you can prep them all ahead of time. You can split it up over a couple of days you will have a better time with it.
Jimmy

Re: Installing a new wood bed on a 65 c10
 

I drive mine every day.Attachment 1634645

Re: Installing a new wood bed on a 65 c10
 

Jimmy
Thanks for info. Found website quite informative. Will probably take out just one board to double check measurements before taking them all out.

Re: Installing a new wood bed on a 65 c10
 

rvrfoot

Thanks to you too

Re: Installing a new wood bed on a 65 c10
 

I used The info from GMC Pauls to make mine and they fit perfect. Here is the link. http://www.gmcpauls.com/47-72_BedWood_Info.htm Make them based on these measurements and you will be good to go. I would order all new bolts to back with. Makes it a lot easier and a good bit of mine broke. A cordless impact will be your new best friend doing this. There are a lot of bolts to pull.
Jimmy

Re: Installing a new wood bed on a 65 c10
 

100% agree with Jimmy above, used the GMC Paul's info and also the Mar-k information for painting black as well.

Re: Installing a new wood bed on a 65 c10
 

just a note top all, once all boards are removed, there is nothing left to hold the bed to the frame. You must either strap the bed to the frame using a few bed boards to strap to or use some of the long bolts that go through two of the boards and leave two boards. Which if i looked carefully at RVRFOOT's pic, I would have noticed.

Re: Installing a new wood bed on a 65 c10
 

I thought I did mine according to those dimensions but they are too narrow. If I were to do them again I think I'd do them a few at a time and get them tighter. But that is after they have been done once and I wouldn't have to prep all the stuff underneath or the strips again.

Re: Installing a new wood bed on a 65 c10
 

I am not a fan of GMC Pauls info page. I took down all the measurements they suggest for board widths and lengths. That part works great. The problem is if you follow the shoulder cut they recommend for the strips to recess into you will find yourself cutting too much wood out. They recommend a total of 3/4" on each plank edge. That adds up to a total of 1 1/2" plus you have to add in the width of your anchor bolt and you end up with close to 2 inches. The stainless strips are about 1 1/4" wide. This leaves you with more gap on each side than was original from the factory. Instead of my strips riding up against the recesses, there is an additional 1/4"-3/8" gap on each side. If I had to do it over again I would only route out 1/2" or maybe 3/8" to keep the strips tighter in the recesses. It doesn't look too bad, but a tighter fit would be closer to what came from the factory. Now it may also depend on who you get your stainless strips from. I got mine from NSane Hot Rodz during their special promotion. I;m not sure if any other companies make different widths of strips or not, but I now have a larger gap on each plank than I'd like to have. Just an FYI before you start cutting your planks and routing out the grooves.

Re: Installing a new wood bed on a 65 c10
 

Wow good info.

Re: Installing a new wood bed on a 65 c10
 

Reed62 you put it much better words than I could.

Bottom line, the template needs modification.

Re: Installing a new wood bed on a 65 c10
 

Their dimensions worked fine for me...

Re: Installing a new wood bed on a 65 c10
 

Dimension c is 1/4 inch that you router out . The only 3/4 inch mentioned is the board thickness.You come in a 1/2 inch from edge then router the 1/4 inch from there for the depth.