OldIHC

Since this thread has evolved into alternative bed floor materials, may I also suggest something I did for a utility trailer that needed a new floor and I was researching how I was going to do the bed floor of my truck. The method I used is a hybrid of the wood floor technique except I didn’t use wood, I used the deck material that is recycled plastic. I was at that time looking to use a material that would last longer and not rot. The boards are not as wide as the boards you get in a bed floor kit and they needed to be “milled” some to work with the hold down strips. Also, they come in a limited number of colors. If you can work with wood and one of the available colors works for you, this material could be a long lasting bed floor for your truck. And last of all, if you don’t want to finish it, it’s fairly non-skid.

One old truck I did 25 years ago, a 50 Chevy I wasn't concerned with originality and wanted a durable low maintenance bed floor so instead of wood I did the "boards" out of 1/4 " steel the same size as the original wooden ones were and then used the same type of divider strips the wooden bed used to cover the joints. It actually came out pretty nice. I painted it the same color as the rest of the truck. It was a bed floor that you could have thrown boulders or engine blocks on and not hurt it. I just had to touch up the paint now and then. I will admit it added a bit of weight to the truck but 90% of the time the bed was empty.

So let's see, 327 lbs for 4' x 8' x 1/4" steel and around 100 lbs for the same amount of yellow pine, 1" thick. About 225 extra pounds. I think it would be worth the trade off for heavy use.

Dean