FFR wood pickup bed.

[rponfick]

Anyone using wood bed from FFR. I can't seem to find it on their website or parts listing, but I think I had seen references to it early on, and in the $600 range.
I have been searching bed makers sites to see if there is something that would fit the 49x59" bed, with some modifications by me. But, most seem to be predrilled for a specific application. I would like to keep price reasonable, and possibly make myself, but not sure if that is feasible, time and cost wise.
Any suggestions?
Ralph

[Pat Landymore]

Hi Ralph:

I have the FFR wood and stainless rails. Really happy with them. Everything fits great with almost no modification. Only thing was needing to shorten the stainless rails.

I’m not a wood guy so had no idea how to go about sourcing something elsewhere that could turn out as nice.

My only caution...do NOT use water based varnish on the FFR wood. I did so on the underside and it all bubbled but oh well, it’s not visible. Used good ol solvent based for the topside and it turned out great. All my buddies when they drop by have been commenting on how great the wood looks.
My 2cents.

[Pat Landymore]

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[Furrman]

Hi Ralph:

I have the FFR wood and stainless rails. Really happy with them. Everything fits great with almost no modification. Only thing was needing to shorten the stainless rails.

I’m not a wood guy so had no idea how to go about sourcing something elsewhere that could turn out as nice.

My only caution...do NOT use water based varnish on the FFR wood. I did so on the underside and it all bubbled but oh well, it’s not visible. Used good ol solvent based for the topside and it turned out great. All my buddies when they drop by have been commenting on how great the wood looks.
My 2cents.

hey Pat, were the board's on your kit flat? mine are like ski's.I was wondering if the strip's held them down

[Pat Landymore]

Mine are really flat. That said our humidity is really low up here, especially in winter...I’m not sure whether that would affect things..?

The strips are too thin to pull a warped board down very much in my estimation.

[bnelson]

hey Pat, were the board's on your kit flat? mine are like ski's.I was wondering if the strip's held them down

I do quite a bit of woodwork. If you stack them with strips between the boards and put some weight on them it will straighten them out. I use 3/4" dowels cut to length. Any sticks of consistent thickness will work. The dowels let the air move around the whole board and lets them dry evenly. If they are real bad you can soak them in warm water for 5 or 10 minutes first. Be sure to put the dowels down first so the bottom board is raised up as well. May take a week or so. Hope that helps

[Furrman]

Thanks for the reply, I'm in AZ so humidity is no problem, the board's came this way. I tied the stacking thing dry with 150lbs on them for 90 days, it didn't work. I try it again wet.

[bnelson]

Thanks for the reply, I'm in AZ so humidity is no problem, the board's came this way. I tied the stacking thing dry with 150lbs on them for 90 days, it didn't work. I try it again wet.

What kind of wood and how thick? You may want to soak them longer and maybe keep them moist for a bit while they are stacked and weighted in a cool place and then move them into a dry warm area to dry.

[rponfick]

Pat, thanks for the beautiful pictures. The boards are wider than t thought. How do the metal strips attach underneath? Sliding moveable under bolts? With the tube frame underneath, spacing could be challenging. Do you mount strips straight to metal bed floor, or some type of spacers?
Thanks a Ralph.

[Pat Landymore]

Ralph:
The strips have these cool T bolts that slide in from the ends for mounting. Very easy to position anywhere along the rail.

Believe the manual suggests either bolting them to the stainless or a piece of plywood as an intermediary.
I made my wood so it will come out as one chunk so didn’t have to deal with those kind of alignment issues.
If you’d like some photos of what I did I’ll post them up.

[Furrman]

What kind of wood and how thick? You may want to soak them longer and maybe keep them moist for a bit while they are stacked and weighted in a cool place and then move them into a dry warm area to dry.

they are 3/4" red oak. I'll do like you said. if that fail's I can always get more boards at the home depot.

[rponfick]

Pat, good idea on making bed one piece. Since I cut a trapdoor in the steel floor for battery access, I need a way to access once wood is in. I had considered making the two center boards easily removable when access is needed. But, one piece would work also.
Ralph

[jceckard]

One thing to keep in mind... once you get the boards flat and dry, do NOT lean them against the wall vertically to "get them out of the way". This will only turn them into skis again. Store them flat until you are ready to use them. Make sure they are well supported wherever you store them. I keep my lumber on a shelf built like a subfloor - 2x on 16 inch centers with 3/4 plywood glued and screwed, "joists" running perpendicular to the boards. Overkill? maybe, but my lumber doesn't warp where it sits. I used to keep it stacked up against the wall until it finally dawned on me why all of my lumber had this strange flair at one end.

When you stack them to dry, arrange the boards so that the crown is up. That will allow the weight of the board to help flatten it out too.

[Furrman]

they are 3/4" red oak. I'll do like you said. if that fail's I can always get more boards at the home depot.

heres an update. soaked board for 3 days. then supported it on the ends and weighted the center, 150 lbs, for a week. it didn't work, I'm off to home depot.