[sick472]

Perp, I converted my metal fleetside to wood. It's a lot of work and has a few caveats. I started this bed conversion years ago when I was on a strict budget, but would now buy the conversion kits that are now available.

The biggest trade-off is that the metal is thin and by just replacing the metal with wood (say 3/4" thick) the bed sides get raised the thickness of the wood which meant my cab and front clip had to have a body lift as well. My body lift came for free as my cab substructure had to be refabricated because of rust so I just made pieces 3/4" taller and added that same amount to the core support bushing rubbers. You could put the wood on top of the lips of the bedsides and inner fenders to avoid the lift, but then the wood bed does not match the same elevation of the tailgate when it's down and you have this gap all the way around the insides of the bed.

You will have to bust all the spot welds on the cross members so that they can be reused or make new ones. I notched and welded washers to my cross members so that the wood could be fastened to it and used the "T" bolts and skid strips for a hardware-free inner bed.

There's ALOT of pre-fitting, drilling, notching, preassembly, disassembly, cussing and patience involved getting approximately 150 fasteners to all line up and go together. I am sure that the wood went on the bed and off the bed during the fitment process 10 times. each time getting closer to the final product. It's a lot of fun if your into it. I am sure that there are a few different techniques to "get it done". Here are some pics of my job that should help you think it out.

I can get you more details and pics if you decide to run with the idea. With that said, I suggest that you look into using a kit for this purpose unless the budget does not allow. It should save you time. There is no kits involved with my bed, its all custom cut to fit. The only thing I didn't do myself is have the wood planed to thickness and width.