pick up bed question

L

larry harding

Senior Member
30 pickup. I am trying to save the bed on my money pit project and have a question. there are a set of z shaped brackets riveted to the front of the sub rails that bolts go through to the frame, the front of the wood rails sit inside these. I have fabricated my own brackets from 1/8" flat metal. the original brackets were curved in the inner flange. this is visable in the catalogs and the rest. manual. what is the purpose of the curved flange? I made mine flat but can easily change that.
 
Larry,
I have wondered the same thing. My bed is missing one of the Z brackets. There are a pair of Z brackets currently listed on eBay. I have never seen them on eBay before. The price is reasonable and there is a "best offer" option, so they could be purchased a little cheaper; if you decide to go with exact duplicates of the originals. Unfortunately, I ordered the Z bracket at a higher price. The only thing I can think of about why the curved part of the brackets is on the brackets is maybe the ends of the curved part contacts the frame for more support. As you know there isn't much frame left after the cab is installed, so maybe the Z brackets add extra support. I don't think Ford would have made the brackets more complicated with the curved area unless there as a good reason.
Rusty Nelson
 
29closedcab is correct, the curve in the Z bracket makes room for the bolt to pass closely to the edge of the wood support rail under the bed and bolt to the frame. That bolt is the most forward bolt holding the bed to the frame. My bed is off of my truck but I believe that some of the curved part of the Z bracket rests on the frame, maybe just the rear portion (it seems like it was very little).

The other hole in the Z bracket is to hold the wood to the bracket. There is a countersunk hole for the washers and nut on the under side of the wood.
-DAN
 
thanks guys. I may modify the brackets I made or look at those on ebay. there were so many parts either missing or broken I am having a real challenge getting this project together.
 
I took a couple picture of my old bed showing the Z bracket. I also laid the wood that goes under the bed rails on the frame near the Z bracket. The problem I see is the bolt that fastens the wood to the frame (the hole on the end of the wood with the counterboring on it) is too far from the outer hole in the Z bracket to attach to the frame. The frame just isn't that wide. Maybe I will just have to wait until I set my better bed on the frame with the wood planks fastened to the frame to see how everything lines up. I am sure it must somehow fit together OK, but I am not quite seeing it now.

After thinking about this a little more after posting the response above. I now think the bolt that goes into the hole nearest the riveted end of the Z bracket is ONLY fastened to the wood plank (not the frame). The bolt that goes next to the curved part and goes next to the inner side of the wood plank then goes through the frame. I think the ends of the curved part MUST lay totally on top of the frame as the hole in the frame is in the center of the top frame rail.
Rusty Nelson
 

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  • Z bracket on old bed.jpg
    Z bracket on old bed.jpg
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    Z bracket w wood.jpg
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Rusty, you have the right idea now. Once you straighten your brackets a little and attach the wood to the bed the bolts that go through the curved part of the Z bracket will line up with the holes in the frame just fine. -DAN
 
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