Are there bed differences between types and wheelbase?

[mjshealy]

I found a site that gives the lengths and widths of each board and where they go, so I hope it's accurate.

[dozerbill72]

I was just going to leave my floor metal. Planned on cutting a strip out of a junk bed " actually a Blazer tub" that I have and welding it in the gap. I know people convert metal floors to wood all the time but I think the cross sills and header panel are different. You might want to check into that before you trash your metal floor.

[AussieinNC]

Originally Posted by mjshealy

I haven't been able to. It looks like the rearmost bed support is an inch taller, but it's the only one that's that way. Puzzling. I will try to measure it tomorrow if my back doesn't kill me first... Lol. Oh, and WorkinLonghorn-on the bottom of my post with the picture, I wrote that the bed is still pushed back for working area purposes. After I weld the front extension on the passenger side, I need some clearance to try and pry that front bed panel in. Then I will slide it up another 4"and work on mounting it. After that, I'll be cutting out the metal floor and laying down wood, the factory bed was yellow pine, so I may just go back to that. Don't want it crazy nice or I'll never use it.

The front panel is different between steel bed and a wood bed....and the rear cross member is different between steel and wood.

The front panel flange height is 3/4" shorter on a wood bed to allow for the thickness of the wood...

The rear cross sill for the wood bed is a totally different profile to the steel bed...the wood cross sill has a 3/4" lower mounting flange, to allow the thickness of the wood.

Your rear is sitting higher because you have a steel rear cross sill instead of a wood sill...

Check out

http://www.lmctruck.com/icatalog/cb/full.aspx?Page=14

[mjshealy]

That brings me back to my original question... If the front and rear support is different,that only means one of two things:
1- the supports are the same height, but have lower bed surface height to allow for the taller wood floor, or
2- wood bed trucks have a different frame size and shape than metal bed trucks.
If it is just the top end that sits lower to accommodate the 1" wood instead of 1/16" metal, then they should mount the same. I have a hard time believing the frames were different depending on the bed they put on it. If the frames are the same between the two, I have no problem cutting out the steel and laying wood in its place if that sacrifices 3/4" of bed floor height. The steel bed lays straight, so I would imagine the wood will too, even if it's not meant to be there. Or am I wrong and the frames are different?

[AussieinNC]

The truck chassis is the same regardless of wood or steel bed...

The steel bed support channels are all different to the wood bed support channels.

The front panel is different
The rear cross sill is different

As this truck appears to be a Longhorn, the original bed should have been wood...Correct?

If this is a true Longhorn, what is the wheelbase?

Thanks

[randy500]

Originally Posted by mjshealy

That brings me back to my original question... If the front and rear support is different,that only means one of two things:
1- the supports are the same height, but have lower bed surface height to allow for the taller wood floor, or
2- wood bed trucks have a different frame size and shape than metal bed trucks.
If it is just the top end that sits lower to accommodate the 1" wood instead of 1/16" metal, then they should mount the same. I have a hard time believing the frames were different depending on the bed they put on it. If the frames are the same between the two, I have no problem cutting out the steel and laying wood in its place if that sacrifices 3/4" of bed floor height. The steel bed lays straight, so I would imagine the wood will too, even if it's not meant to be there. Or am I wrong and the frames are different?

The frame is not different based on wood or steel floor.
The wood floor crossmembes are shorter than the steel ones due to thickness of the wood.
Complete beds are interchangeable, wood or steel floor.
There was a recent post in the parts forum about a longhorn bed frame bracket being different, it was the one that hangs outside the frame, the longhorn one hung a little further out, ignorin that bed mount the remainder should be the same.

[mjshealy]

The longhorn bed that was on it when I got it was 8'8", wood floor. The new bed I bought is a regular longbed, with a steel floor. About 10 posts back I posted that info, I took a measurement and got 133" wheelbase, which is also on the SPID, along with ce31034.im at work now, but when I get home I'm hoping to weld the other extension on, get the front panel on, and push the bed forward to where it needs to be, then I'll be able to tell for sure what exactly is the issue.

[AussieinNC]

Longhorn beds were all wood, there were no steel bed longhorns from the factory...

I assume you are adding new metal to the front edge of each 8 foot bed side then intend to run a metal floor?

To do that, you will need a metal floor front panel and you will need a metal floor rear cross sill.

Your simplest route is to go back to a wood floor...you have the wood floor front panel and the wood floor rear cross sill...so your costs would be reduced, especially if you use SYP (Southern Yellow Pine).

The wood floor sits on top of the front panel lip, but fits under the bedside panel lip. The wood then sits inside the rear cross sill channel...

I hope you kept the steel runners that cover the gaps between the floor planks...longhorn runners are 8'8" long...standard wood longbed runners are 8'.

Watch that back...

[mjshealy]

No Aussie, my plan is to take this non-longhorn metal-floor long bed bed, weld the Longhorn extensions on the front, put the metal-floor front panel on it, and figure out what I will do about a floor.
I have the longhorn bed extensions mounted to the front panel, I have welded the drivers side to the new bed, but ran out of light to do the passenger side.
I know you think I'm crazy, but this is really my only option. This metal-floor non-longhorn bed was the only bed I've been able to find. The longhorn bed that was on it is completely toast, a tree fell across the middle of the drivers side bed, and landed on the center rear of the bed. All of the bed supports, front and rear cross sills and front panel are unusable. Rear is bent and twisted, and they're all rusted through beyond repair. I didn't even have to unbolt the bed to take it off.
I will either assemble and mount this bed and cut out the metal floor and make a custom metal floor, or I will cut out the metal floor and customize it to make a wood floor work with what is there.

[mjshealy]

What I may also do is take measurements of the wood bed supports that actually have enough metal left to take a measurement from, and source some box beam and make the correct sized supports for the wood floor, and then at least they would be new and much stronger.

[AussieinNC]

LMC Truck, and others , have new cross sills and rear supports for the wood beds...

I suspect it would be easier to replace the cross sills and put a wood bed back in it...

Just my 2 cents worth...

http://www.lmctruck.com/icatalog/cb/full.aspx?Page=14

and LMC have the strips for the longhorn...

http://www.lmctruck.com/icatalog/cb/full.aspx?Page=27

[dozerbill72]

How's the progress coming?