1935 Truck bed

Auto Focus Canada

Auto Focus Canada

Junior Member
Hello everyone !!!

I have a 1935 Ford truck with a wood bed over the steel box. the steel floor is severely rusted and needs replacement.

Where can I get just a floor or is it easier to replace the whole box with a new one. I'm in London, Ontario about 2 hours from up state NY or 2 hours from DEtroit. If you know where I can get a new one close by would be great! Not afraid of a road trip, just need new steel, tired of dealing with rust. Thanks
 
I assume you mean you have the wood exposed and someone put a wood floor over the original bed?

The reproduction floors are pretty expensive, like 350 + 250 freight shipped in the US...figure much higher to Canada.-this was priced out on '42-52? beds I looked at a few weeks ago...didn't specifically look at 35/36 bed floors.

Thing is, if it's just going to lay under the wood, just get a piece of sheet metal cut and broke and lay it down...no used paying all the extra $$ for a few pre-drilled holes and a few ribs in steel just to have it covered up.
 
Yes, someone "idiot" (previous owner), did a nasty short cut and put a wood floor over the steel original bed to hide all the rust. I could not see it when I bought it even though I inspected it on a hoist. From the bottom it looked fine and was covered up with some messy undercoating. When I bought the truck a few months ago, the wood bed covered it completely from the top and you could not see the rust issues until you start peeling back the layers. Water has sat up against the cab and has weathered the wood as there is no where for the water to drain. The previous owner did not have any way for the water to run out. So can anyone answer me this question. With only a wood floor does the water lay in the bed? Is the wood water tight or does the water drain out ok in the gaps in the boards. Can someone who has a wood bed floor answer this question? Do I need to have holes in the corners of the box to work as drain holes if I have just a wood floor (without steel below it). To dress it up, I considered inserting a nice stainless grommet in the holes to match the bed if I need to get the water out. I have refinished the wood with a thick marine varnish on all sides of the wood to prevent the grey weathering of the wood in future.

Thanks for the tips everyone.

BTW, has anyone used or see the quality of the Pro's Pick beds. I'm thinking of looking at one for my truck. They are a canadian builder less than 2 hours from my home which cuts the shipping cost to zero... https://www.pros-pick.com/
 
Your bed was originally a steel rib piece of metal that was riveted to the sides. Under that was an oak (or other hardwood) set of boards that were approximately 3/4 of an inch apart. If you look at the Mack Hils catalog, that I mentioned previously, you will get a good idea of how the bed was made from their reproduction parts pictures. Most pickup beds had drain holes (look at any modern pickup), so like you said the previous owner created a bed for only sunny day driving.
 
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