tongue and grove for truck bed floor?

[slepysal]

The time has come to replace my old ply wood floor
I have a chance to get some 12 inch wide tongue and grove off of a tractor trailer floor.

Has any one used tongue and grove for truck bed floor on their daily driver?
Can I use it as is? or do I have to worry about expansion. I do not have any bed strips.
Any tips would be great.

[jayoldschool]

The thickness is important, the bed sits on the wood. If the wood is good, and free, I would:
- plane to thickness
- rip to factory widths
- add factory edge details
- add bed strips

[jocko]

While I can't say one way or the other whether it will work, my gut feeling is not very well (without bed strips, and relying on the t&g for longitudinal clamping) - unless you have some other means of holding the floor level/preventing buckling. The bed strips serve the purpose of locking it all in. That would be my only concern, buckling, warping with no longitudinal hold-down mechanism. Possible to get bed strips of someone parting a truck and then rip the 9" planks to size with the appropriate rabbets to make the stock strips work? (EDIT: and jay makes a great point I didn't think about, thickness needs to be correct -I thought semi trailer floors were quite a bit thicker than bed wood, dunno tho)

[shp4man]

I was going to go with exterior plywood but am now thinking about 3/4 x 8in x 8 ft pine siding. About $50 for the lumber.

[nsb29]

Originally it was yellow pine don’t think white pine will last long

[jayoldschool]

shp4man: 8' lengths aren't long enough for a long bed. In case you have LWB.

[cj847]

Wood expands and contracts across the grain. Using tongue and groove essentially produces a piece of wood 5' wide, which will expand and contract substantially. You can use it but:

-If you put it in during the humid summer months it might be OK.
-If you put it in during winter, leave about a 1/8 - 1/4" gap between boards.

Even at that I think that the gaps are going to fill with dirt, etc during the year and the next time it expands it will likely break the groove.

Not a problem for a garage kept show truck.

What might be cool and within your budget is to use 2 - 3 bed strips with the rest T&G. Will give a custom look.

[mongocanfly]

''Using tongue and groove essentially produces a piece of wood 5' wide, "
thats some wide wood ya got there cj...!!!!!..haha

[slepysal]

Thanks for all the input . This is what I wound up getting

They are 1" thick so I will plane them down cut the tongue off seal them with some Thompson seal round up some strips and call it done.

[shp4man]

slepysal, that stuff looks really durable.

[oem4me]

Originally Posted by slepysal

Thanks for all the input . This is what I wound up getting

They are 1" thick so I will plane them down cut the tongue off seal them with some Thompson seal round up some strips and call it done.

Of all the attempts I've seen at re-doing a bed with something other than stock, this is by far my favorite. I think it's going to look quite good!

[slepysal]

Rough cut the planks and laid them out over the old plywood floor. I also got a line on some used bed strips ( or I might try to fab some up, looks like I will need 5 plus the 4 short wheel well ones . Thanks to all of you you for the tips
OEM4ME, hope it turns out ........ stay tuned

[slepysal]

Sorry forgot to add the pics
for some reason they came out side ways :waa

[slepysal]

So I am not finding anyone who is willing to plane the boards down to 3/4". I was wondering if the following ideas would work. 1st. I could leave the new boards on top of my old plywood and secure them with strips an lag bolts through the plywood floor. Or 2nd. Cut a 1/4 " deep by 1" wide rabbet that would allow the wood to go under the bed frame bevel the edge and secure the boards with strips and blots. Again I appreciate any feedback positive or negative

[oem4me]

Originally Posted by slepysal

So I am not finding anyone who is willing to plane the boards down to 3/4".

Why? Understandable if there are random bits of nails or broken screws embedded. It's a hell of a lot of work, but you can do it yourself with a router and homemade surfacing jig.

[slepysal]

Originally Posted by oem4me

Why? Understandable if there are random bits of nails or broken screws embedded. It's a hell of a lot of work, but you can do it yourself with a router and homemade surfacing jig.

Good idea! Now I have an excuse to get a router👍

[LostMy65]

Originally Posted by slepysal

So I am not finding anyone who is willing to plane the boards down to 3/4". I was wondering if the following ideas would work. 1st. I could leave the new boards on top of my old plywood and secure them with strips an lag bolts through the plywood floor. Or 2nd. Cut a 1/4 " deep by 1" wide rabbet that would allow the wood to go under the bed frame bevel the edge and secure the boards with strips and blots. Again I appreciate any feedback positive or negative

I wouldn't think you'd have to plane the whole board down to 3/4", but just a grove at the bottom of the boards where the cross supports are.

[slepysal]

Originally Posted by LostMy65

I wouldn't think you'd have to plane the whole board down to 3/4", but just a grove at the bottom of the boards where the cross supports are.

My idea was to trim the boards to allow them to slide under all the bed sides.

[slepysal]

I started the tear down today but was only able to get 1/2 off,will post pics tomorrow

[slepysal]

I am doing 1/2 at a time.You can see one board in the rear corner.
The boards are acutely 1 1/8" thick so I used my table saw to make a 3/4 inch cut and one inch rabbet in an extra board and will use it as a guide to set the saw height and with. I am only going to cut down the boards that go under the bed frame and wheel wells the other boards will be left as they are.
I will knock off the edge (round the boards ) and use some diamond plate that I have to protect the board ends at the back of the bed. Still debating on the finish.

[jayoldschool]

Do yourself a huge favour and take the bed off. Much easier that way.

[slepysal]

Originally Posted by jayoldschool

Do yourself a huge favour and take the bed off. Much easier that way.

So far I haven't run into any issues working with the bed on (probably just jinxed myself)

[jayoldschool]

Oh, you can do it with the bed on. It's just easier with it off. First one, I did flat, on stands. Sliding underneath about a hundred time for nuts. On the second one, I stood the bed upright. It is MUCH easier to do it that way.

First one:



Second one:

[slepysal]

Great tip!

[slepysal]

Slow progress .... Made a template to trim the board that goes around the wheel well,and routed it out . Too bad the holes didn't line up on the boards and cross sills. I will make some plugs and fill them.