Posted by Matt Wilson [162.158.69.150] on Tuesday, August 15, 2017 at 00:22:13 :
In Reply to: bed wood install after bed is together posted by junkyardog [162.158.62.48] on Sunday, August 13, 2017 at 06:10:50 :
One thing I will say is be careful about driving around with no wood in the bed. The wood provides lateral stiffness to the bed sides, and without it, the sides can flex left and right more easily. If you have the angle iron welded to the sides, then that will help, but I would still be careful. If you don't have the angle iron in place, then definitely don't do any driving like that.
I drove around with no wood in the bed for a while on my '49, right after I had the truck painted, and I didn't have the angle iron attached either, and the bed sides flexed and ended up cracking the filler and paint. Good thing the body shop man was a Power Wagon guy, and he fixed the damage at no charge, but told me not to drive it any more without the wood. This was back in the early 90's, and I learned my lesson.