bed welded to frame

[rigrunner]

i left my tuck with a guy to put my bed back together. he welded the bed to the frame instead of putting it on blocks and bolting it down. the wood floor is not in yet. can it be used like that or is it a bad idea? it looks great and is very square and level. the truck will never see any heavy hauling. its a 70 ute short bed. wondering if the frame will flex enough to cause any issues. he said hes done this before and gives no prob with the short bed cause the frames dont twist as much as a longer wheel base.

[PwrWgnDrvr]

Seems like a really stupid idea to me!!!!
Will be absolute HELL to ever get it off, for any reason!
If u didn't authorize that when u dropped it off, he has no right to do it on his own.
Did u hear any banjo music, or anything about a new dam?

[wally426ci]

Kind of like the time the exhaust shop welded my NOS exhaust tips on my 71 Challenger. I left them alone.....

Bed welded to frame sounds strange and i would not be happy.

[rigrunner]

well its just tacked on so it wont be a big deal to remove. my question is can it be used like this?

[PwrWgnDrvr]

.....its just tacked on....can it be used like this?

HELL NO!!!!

[CSS-Registry]

You're gonna probably have problems with the bed floor once the wood goes in. The frame is designed to flex. I'd be willing to bet the wood floor would get ruined because of this.

The wood blocks are the best solution for a reason - they act as insulators, noise and vibration dampeners.

Ben

[rigrunner]

done lots of reading on this and i see some say yes and some say no. my biggest concern would be the flexing breaking the welds. gonna get with the guy that welded it this week and get him to cut the welds and make some blocks to bolt it down thanks.

[Petroguyak]

A previous owner of my truck thought he was a welder and has welded all kinds of silly areas on the truck including the bed. If I knew who the guy was that did it, I would put my steel toe boots on and kick him with as much force as possible right in the chogies. I have over 6 hours in grinding done so far on my truck just so I can adjust stuff thats supposed to be adjustable. Trust me, bolt the stuff thats supposed to be bolted and save the welding for only the areas that are cracked or torn.

[Dood]

I like the blocks. I bet, if you drove over a few speed bumps with just tacks, that bed would pop off.

[rigrunner]

thanks all, going to get bolts and bolt down the welded areas i dont think the welds will hold. then getting the wood for blocks and going to bolt it down.

[rigrunner]

got all the bolts and some c channell to replace what was rusted. going to cut the welds and bolt it all on with blocks. anyone got a pic of their wood floor from the rear with the tail gate down? never seen one before as mine had an old steel plate in it and need something to go by. thanks

[rigrunner]

cut all the welds and set the bed on blocks and bolted to frame. got 2 boards left to go. thanks for the replies

[PwrWgnDrvr]

[mopardwh]

I bet, if you drove over a few speed bumps with just tacks, that bed would pop off.

That's what I would be worried about!!

[F6866]

When assembled the bed cross members are either bolted down via wood blocks and through the wood flooring, or free floating on the frame cross member via rubber donut support the wood flooring. Then the wood flooring supports the bed sides via the side angles. So if the bed cross members are installed via the normal method (bolt w/wood block or rubber donut) and the bed sides are then welded to the bed cross members although not correct it is probably workable if well done. On the other hand if the bed cross members are welded to the frame and to the bedsides you may have a problem.

[paffuffnic]

If the factory had thought it should be welded, they would have used robots and saved lots of money on each truck..........but.................the bed needs to be separate from the frame for many reasons, as already mentioned.

[Oldguy]

Does any one remember the mid 60's Ford pickups that were one piece cab and beds? It didn't work because the sides would crack due to flexing. The beds need to be able to move independently of the cab. Mike