86 Stake Side?

[Blazota]

I acquired an 86 4×4 pickup from a buddy several years ago. The rust on the bed was bad then and now it looks like it is being eaten at a little more everyday. Too much body putty work for me. Laying in bed one night I got the idea on how to deal with it another way. I was thinking of removing the bed (and cap) altogether and building in place a flat bed with small headache rack and low stake sides on both sides and rear. Is this stupid? Has anyne seen something like that before? Any photos on-line? This would be of wood with steel angle outer perimeter. Steel side pockets for the stake side to be placed in and removed when needed. Possibly stained and or varnished when finished. It looks very do-able. I just don't want to end up with something totally stupid looking. Thanks for any leads....Gary

[smasheromalley]

I dunno if this will help since mine is a cab and chassis dually but here is my flat bed progress so far...








Im planning on 2x4 angle perimiter, integrated stake pockets, lots of anchor points, and a rack built around some sort of tool box.

[Blazota]

Smasher,

Not quite the comparison I was looking for. Your truck is a much longer wheel base and bed and it is hard to imagine your bed on my truck.

I did do some google search and found some turcks that had flat beds instaled. They were all metal but the look is what I was after. I can weld a bit but feel more comfortable with working with a wood deck.

I was figuring once the bed was off I would need to get the lengthwise frame members even from front to back. This would require wood blocks of different heights bolted to the frame. Once level platforms were achieved I would then install 4×4 wood runners on top of the blocks. On this I would carriage bolt cross members to the top. That would give me a firm base to mount the wood deck. Once the wood deck was on I would anchor either angle or channel around the perimeter. Stake pockets would them be welded to those. A headache rack of either steel plate (diamond Plate possibly) or wood planks can be installed on the deck with strap angles holding it in place. The stake sides would be quite low, possibly using 2 2×6's high mounted on stakes and placed in the pockets.

Just have to think this through a little more and gather up the guts to do it. .......Gary