55 willys truck bed floor - using wood

[dnpayne]

I have a new (old) bed that I will be putting onto my 55 willys truck. The floor of the bed is pretty rough and thin from rust. I plan on having wood planks installed in the finished product. Not the original wood slats, but a full wood bottom similar to most other antique trucks.

I plan on cutting away the bottom of the bed I have and leaving a little around the edge for overlap. I thought about finding some sheet metal or something to weld back in. since I will be covering it up completely anyway, can I just have the floor be the wood planks? I've seen some projects online where they did this. The wood set right on top of the cross members of the frame. Is this the best approach? I guess I was assuming I should at least put some metal back in there for the wood to rest on. Maybe I don't have to do this? As long as I treat the wood correctly for weather, I'm assuming it will not weather away many years from now.

So, the question is... put metal down, then wood. OR just go with the wood.

Do any of you have a willys truck where you put a new wood floor down in the bed?

[1948 Cal Willys Pickup]

Thats a good question as I am contemplating doing the same thing. My plan was for a fully wooden stake bed but I figured I would need to add some metal cross members but I haven't gotten to that point in my rebuild. Ultimately though I want something I can take off rather simply in the future. For you I would consider the use of your bed. If you don't plan on using it to haul anything heavy you probably wont need too much additional support. I would definitely consider some kind of support to keep your bed square at a minimum. I don't think just leaving a small flange on the sides for mounting your floorboards will be enough. Consider welding in support triangles in all four corners in addition to what ever you leave in the bed. I would also consider a brace across the center as this will be where all your stress moves to if you reinforce the corners. Good luck and let me know what you come up with. Would love to see some pics of your project.

[dnpayne]

Thats a good question as I am contemplating doing the same thing. My plan was for a fully wooden stake bed but I figured I would need to add some metal cross members but I haven't gotten to that point in my rebuild. Ultimately though I want something I can take off rather simply in the future. For you I would consider the use of your bed. If you don't plan on using it to haul anything heavy you probably wont need too much additional support. I would definitely consider some kind of support to keep your bed square at a minimum. I don't think just leaving a small flange on the sides for mounting your floorboards will be enough. Consider welding in support triangles in all four corners in addition to what ever you leave in the bed. I would also consider a brace across the center as this will be where all your stress moves to if you reinforce the corners. Good luck and let me know what you come up with. Would love to see some pics of your project.

Thanks for the reply. I'm a ways out on getting to the bed, but I need to narrow down what I want to do now. The triangle braces are a good idea. In the end, I will not be hauling anything substantial in this bed. Mostly just recreation stuff like coolers or camping supplies. I've only just begun on this project, so I hope to start a photo progress somewhere. I saw a restore project blog on a Willys that did essentially what I am thinking about. You can view it here. The bed stuff is around page. 33 - 39 or so.

http://www.cardomain.com/ride/3805815/1957-willys-pickup/

[1948 Cal Willys Pickup]

Thanks for posting that site. They made an awesome diary. I don't think I've seen one quite that extensive. I have to take some time and go through the whole thing. If you are not planning on hauling anything too substantial you should have any problems making the bed you want. I plan on using metal cross members to add support and rigidity. Another thing to consider which I just though about myself is your suspension. If you have a stiff suspension your bed is going to bounce pretty hard and may require additional support. If you have a soft suspension of course you would need less reinforcement. Yet another thing to consider.

[Ashley]

That was a fantastic read, well done.