Need help with truck body your opinions??

JOCCO

Well-known Member
I am dealing with a one ton stake body. Not sure of make but like Hews or Omaha. The wood floor is going bad I need to replace it this winter but was wondering how to do it as it needs to be bolted down to the frame work? Seems like special screws?? What wood would you use? I was leaning to pressure treated, no real need for fancy oak #2 I thought about using flat metal plate and no wood Should hold up might be a little slippery, Doubt it would change the weight much The stake sides are all metal Give me your thoughts and thanks to all.
 
You can buy the same self tapping screws they used when the bed was new for wood replacement.

I would strongly consider steel diamond plate if it was mine.

I have it on my homemade pickup flatbed and I like it. Nothing seems to slide any worse than a new slick wood floor will.

I built it 24 years ago and it still looks like it did 20 years ago.

Gary
 


Lots of stake bed trucks around here use ship lap boards to prevent curling. As for lagging the boards down, the ones I have replaced, I used a drill to pilot the holes an then used carriage bolts to make it easier for the next time. The last board is tricky, but usually works good.

Otherwise, there are special wood to metal screws available most everywhere that have flutes to make the hole in the wood bigger than what the steel hole will be so that the screw doesn't grab the wood while it is tapping the metal. Home depot has them around here.

home depot screws
 
Here are the screws that were likely used in your floor. Switching from wood to steel floor will take some doing since you will have to raise the floor 1 1/2" to make up for the wood thickness. if I was replacing the floor I would just use regular un treated wood because thats what I've had the best luck with. In my experience treated wood does not last longer, many times less than untreated for trailers and truck beds, also treated shrinks a lot and sometimes will shrink enough to pull the bolts or screws out at the ends.
screws
 
jocco, A neighbor and I both have 20 ft Gooseneck Flat beds that we are putting new Floors in. The choice of wood is your biz. But think pressure treated will work fine. The cross-members are already recessed to accept a 1.5 in board thickness. The problem is all the Screws the Bed Company (OM) used to fasten the wood to the bed!
Like on my Trailer they are a V-head and counter sunk into the wood. the real problem is that the treads will be rusted to the cross-members little to no chance to get them out cleanly!
Get the wood out as best as possible, Grind off the screws. Cut the new wood and fit it as tight as possible. Here is where I would differ from the O.M. Put new wood in place, get 2 or 3, Of 2 or 3 in wide strap metal and tack in one at the front and rear of bed to hold the wood in place and one a t the 1/2 way point to prevent bounce! If wood ever needs to be replaced, a clean cut of the welds with a 4 in cut-off wheel and you are good to go, replace all wood put the strap back in place and reweld ! Done
This is how My Neighbor and I will refasten the new wood to our trailers!
To do metal you will need to cut and fit new Cross-members to support the steel deck and you may need to add additional cross-members in the splits to stiffen the floor up depending on the width of the original splits! then weld in permanent!
Hope this helps
Later,
John A.
 
Well I would only go with metal if you like it being slick. I have a tool bed with a checker plate floor. With any moisture you can not stand up on it. Whether it is rain or frost that floor is slick. If your hauling grain then steel is fine. If your hauling equipment than that steel floor is pain.

Good yellow pine boards are just about as strong as oak. Look it up in a strength of materials book. Just make sure you get YELLOW pine not white pine or fur.

Removing the old floor is not hard. Just cut the floor cross ways an inch or so away from the row of screws. Then just break the wood out from around the screws. Then cut them off with a cut off wheel on a grinder. The old floor is junk anyway so why worry about "saving it.

When going back in you can weld a strap on each end to hold the floor at each end. Then just run a row of screws on a few cross members in the middle. Not ever cross member needs to be screwed down.
 
I'm sure metal is slippery but I about broke my butt hopping up on a wood floor trailer to help load equipment. It was only damp and I could hardly stand on it.
 


I know your truck won't haul livestock, but back in my livestock days a stock trailer with a wood floor wasn't as slippery as a steel floor. Wood lasted longer against the corrosive affects of manure.
 
You might want to stay away from the pressure treated stuff. It's way too corrosive.

I would go with steel boiler plate like they use for steel steps or sawmill hardwood. JMO
 
Might want to consider some of the composite boards that they use for decking. Won't rot and requires no finish.

Check it out.
 
I have not tried it yet but always thought I'd like to build a truck deck floor out of expanded metal. Very strong as long as it has sufficient support under it , good traction and any dirt falls right through. Not so heavy either.
 
I did that when I had my '59 one ton stake bed. I used MARINE GRADE 3/4 inch plywood (like they use in building boats). They use waterproof glue between the laminations, and denser lamination layers than ordinary plywood. I bolted hardwood mounting strips into the depressions of the cross-members and then used BRASS countersunk wood screws to fasten the plywood down to the mounting strips.

Doc :>)
 
" always thought I'd like to build a truck deck floor out of expanded metal . . . and any dirt falls right through."

Along with any nuts, bolts, small tools & parts, etc. . Bet you don't have it a year before you're ripping it out to put in a solid deck. LOL !

:>)
 
The guys at the office used pressure treated wood and bolted it down to the metal with self-tapping bolts. I always wondered how hemlock would work for a bed. It's lightweight, resists rot, and stays straight. The only problem that I can think of with hemlock is that it shrinks bad as it dries out.
 

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