How To Build Stake Bed Sides
In order to create the rails that I have pictured, I used pressure treated lumber 2x4s. It's important to use pressure treated wood since this will be exposed to the elements and you do not want the wood rotting in the weather. You can also paint the wood, or seal it with a water sealant, but it's not necessary with pressure treated wood.For the bolts that I used to connect the boards together, I used Zinc carriage bolts. Once again, I used Zinc so as to prevent rusting of the bolts, and I used carriage bolts because they are very durable. The particular bolts I used were 3/8' bolts that were 4' long (which is the perfect size for 2x4 construction). Also, I made sure to use a washer between the bolt and the nut so as to get the best tightness when secured and not allow the nut to bite into the wood.The bed of my truck is 6 1/2 feet long, so I bought 8 foot pieces of 2x4 because I also wanted a lip that stretched over the roof of the cab in order to help protect the roof and allow me to haul things up high like ladders and kayaks. Of course, the main purpose for my design is that I haul scrap metal, so I wanted the rails high, but open at the tailgate end in order to allow easy loading of things like refrigerators and other tall items.
Building Stake Bed Sides For Flatbed
If I were to haul ladders and other long items up high, then I would attach another board at the top of the rear rails so the weight would be above and level, not sagging into the bed. I will not show that step as I plan on making that a removable item later on when I need it.So my list of items were simple:.
Pressure Treated 2x4s, each 8 foot long (amount will vary based upon your truck. Zinc Carriage bolts 3/8' and 4' long. 3/8' washers. 3/8 nutsTo make the corner braces and shelf, I used a pocket hole jig, a Kreg Jig, but that step is not absolutely necessary. If you do decide to make it this way, be sure to get the proper screws that are coated for outdoor use so they will not rust.To determine the amount you need to cut from the ends of the boards that will go into the stake holes, you must determine your truck's stake hole size.
Each make of truck will be a little different, perhaps, so remember to measure! My truck happens to be a 1996 Dodge Dakota, and the stake holes in my particular truck are 6' deep, and 2 1/2' X 1 5/16'. In order to get the boards to fit into those holes, you must cut them to those exact measurements at the bottom.
How To Build Stake Bed Sides Ideas
That will be the next step. Using my example measurements, the easiest way to accomplish this cutting of 2x4s can either be using old fashion hand saws (laborious and time consuming) or using a circular saw (brace your wood!) or a chop saw/miter saw. I chose to use my miter saw.First, you have to mark the depth of the stake and adjust whatever saw you are using so as to cut to those depths.
That is beyond this tutorial, so consult your particular saw manual or ask someone who knows.As you can see from the photos, the measurement required me to cut the end of the board down in two different sections so that I could get the correct measurement. Remember, 2x4s are NOT actually 2' x 4', but are actually a little less, and they vary from board to board sometimes, as well, so MEASURE MEASURE MEASURE!The easiest way to accomplish these cuts is to actually make a series of cuts, as pictured, and then you have a lot of little 'slices' in the wood. Once you get those slices, you take a hammer and knock out the wood as chip.
I follow that by taking a wood rasp and leveling out the surface of the wood so it's a little smoother and uniform.You will repeat this for both measurements on the board so that you have the proper dimensions of length, width, and depth for your particular stakes. Once you have determined the height you want you uprights, insert them into the stake holes. They should fit snugly and require a little bit of pushing to get them in, but they should not be too tight nor wobbly. Just make sure they're secure.I have my uprights a little longer at the top instead of making traditional sides, that way I can have more area at the top to stow things such as ladders and such, and still have a little bit of board above the rails for securing it better.
If you only want traditional side rails, then only make these uprights the height of your cab's roof because you will not have the extra lip over your cab. I measured out the rails to the length I wanted, and then attached each of them via the carriage bolts as pictured. You'll notice the top rail reaches over my cab roof, as mentioned previously.I also added a horizontal board perpendicular to the side rails at both the top of the bed level as well as right above my back window in order for me to add a screen or more boards later as a 'headache rack' that will cover my back window and protect it from things breaking it when being hauled. In order to attach these boards is where I used my trusty Kreg Jig and made pocket holes for the boards (pocket holes are extremely durable and trustworthy for some of the best joints for corners).Also, Above the cab I added another board to the end with pocket holes so that I could have that aforementioned overhang to protect my roof.Of course you can customize this in so many different ways!
You can add more vertical supports (as I did in the middle), you can add wider boards such as 1x8s for better closure of the sides, you can make signs to go on the sides of the rails (a future plan of mine for my scrap metal salvage business advertising). Some people I have seen also add diagonal supports in the corners, but they are not necessary unless you are just extra cautious about it, or are transported very heavy items above the rails.
You can also add eyelets to the boards so that you have attachment points for rope and strap hooks. You could cover the whole thing in chicken wire and live out your favorite movie scenes where chicken trucks turn over! You could also do the same with fruit baskets and pretend that you are the truck in the infamous car chase scenes.This method of constructing truck side rails is a tried and true method of expanding your hauling space in the bed of your truck, and it doesn't require you to spend hundreds of dollars buying steel rails like contractors have on their trucks.
Also, using this method of framing out the rails, you can further customize it to make one awesome camping unit with a simply addition of a tarp or further construction of sides, a door, windows, etc. The sky's the limit, so use your imagination!Total cost for me was $49 and that is also with a few extra items purchased, so you can do it for under $50 regardless using this method.
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I bought all of my items from Home Depot, and I already had the pocket hole screws (which run about $5-$10). Of course, the pocket hole jig is NOT cheap, but it is also not necessary to make it with pocket holes like I did.I hope this gives you some ideas for making your truck a little more useful in hauling things, as well as give you an excuse to make something cool and useful.
There were not very many 'structables about this topic, so I thought I'd add my own version.Have fun and be sure to post pics of your completed build of this idea! I wanna see some more photos and customizations of the age old truck side rails!
Imo and experience using plywood in a situation like that is a waste of time and money except for very short term throw away setups. Buy some rough cut oak and be done with it.any solid board stock is better than plywood, treated or not.
If you have a local sawmill or lumberyard that's the place to go for a cheap effective solution.And the garbage chinese and imported plywoods that are the typical stock these days are extraordinarily bad. I've never, ever, seen plywood move and deteriorate the way some of the stuff does that I've been buying the last couple years fwiw.Quality control on exterior grade plywoods is very difficult to determine anymore. I have to agree with John. Exterior plywood is going to be a poor choice to use for the purpose. The lamination is going to come apart very soon after it gets wet.Take a piece of plywood and cut it into a strip the size you want to use. Now look carefully along the length of the strip and count the number of voids (open spaces between the lamination strips) that there are. These spaces are the result of the way the plywood is built.
The laminations are laid in there and no attempt is made to butt them tightly together, much less apply any of the Resorcinol glue used in exterior plywood.When moisture gets in here, the stuff will come apart quickly. Cut your stakes from solid hardwood or cypress. They will be trouble free and look good too. Using plywood, you are simply wasting your money.pg. I used some of the earliest waferboard to cover the underside of a house I built in SC. I threw the scraps into a hole on the property, and covered them with dirt.
Six years later, a tree fell and the roots lifted the scraps out of the ground. They were still usable after drying for a few days.But alas, the last waferboard I bought started coming apart after a couple weeks in the weather.I'd be worried about the PT plywood causing the bed to corrode, especially since you're going to penetrate the factory coatings with the fasteners.Unless you really need the deep troughs between the rails, I'd suggest going with a non-skid coating you can apply with a brush or a bedmat.For looks, nothing beats oak rails, though.Roger.
I see some landscapers' trucks here with plywood boxes mounted during fall cleanup season. The boxes have a leaf vacuum mounted and hold a lot of leaves.
They all look pretty crappy up close by the end of the season, as they tend to delaminate fastest near the fasteners and at the edges.Marine-grade plywood, which has no voids and a more moisture-resistant adhesive, may end up costing as much as decent hardwood if you have to buy an entire sheet. And it's not really made to have the edges, or unprotected fasteners, exposed to the elements.
You'd still have to paint it and bed the fasteners in some type of adhesive or caulk, and put some type of edging material on the exposed edges.I agree with the previous posters' suggestions to use solid boards. 2 X 6 planking would work fine. I've also seen firewood delivery guys use chain-link fencing.
Perforated metal could also work if galvanized and painted. I'm not sure where you guys are buying your plywood but I ran a pickup as an appliance repair truck for nearly 20 years. I built the side boxes, to carry spare parts and tools, side boards and back board from exterior grade A-B 3/4' plywood. My appliance trucks sat out in the weathere year round. I never had a problem with delamination during those years.
Although I changed pickups a couple times I just moved the boxes etc. After repainting them, to the new pickup. If you take the time to prep the plywood and paint it it will last for ever.
I cut holes in the backboard for the rear window and also for tie downs. All edges were rounded off with a router. I used a good grade paintable caulk to fill the voids then premiered the wood. Once the primer dried I painted the whole thing white.I would not use any thing thinner than 3/4' thick.Bill. If you are talking about building some sidewalls for a stake bed truck in order to build a solid walled box then some sort of presure treated ply wood would work but it will need some perimeter and center framing to keep it from twisting.If you are talking about a set of rail sides then I can't understnad why you would want to use plywood. Just use some 1x6 pressure treated decking. I built stake body sides for my utility trailer out of 1x6 PT sides and 2x4 PT stakes years ago, stained it gray and have been using it ever since with no problems.
I think that the green treated plywood might be my best bet,but I will do some looking and pricing before I make a final decision.3/4' may be ok if it isn't too heavy.The chain link would be fine if I wasn't concerned with the weather and small parts bouncing out of the bed.I might want to remove the plywood to haul some items.I would like to be able to put a tarp over the top to keep the rain out and I might want to sleep on the flatbed too. I will make it a point to fill the edges of the plywood before painting it.My rail frame is being made of 3' channel 4' high to fit in the bed holes and three 11'2' horizontal flats 3'x1/4' welded to the channel.Square tubing braces from one rail to the other on top at the rear and at the headache rack of the side rails.I will have to check my clearances for using my gooseneck trailer before I build the tailgate which needs to be strong enough to serve as a bridge for a pallet jack when picking up stuff at loading docks.Thanks for the suggestions! I think from what you are wanting but not actually saying you are needing is a boxtruck. Right now you can buy a nice box truck super cheap, and if you are lucky it will have a lift gate on it. Several years ago I bought a 1991 GMC Topkick with a 16ft box on it and a 3000lb Waltco liftgate. It needed some clutch work but otherwise I paid less for it than some people on ebay were wanting for a liftgate alone.
Actually my original intention was to just buy the truck and fix the clutch and afew other minor issues and resell it but it has been such a handy thing to have around that I just can't seem to part with it. Now with the resale of anything like a boxtruck being very hard to get good money out of in all likelihood I will find a nice used dump truck bed and put on it. Of course it also makes a nice mobile shed the way it is.There is a guy fairly close to me that has had one of these little Fuso or whatever trucks for sale for along time. He has been asking 1500.00 for it and it has about a 14ft body on it.
I have thought about buying it just to take the diesel engine out of it though.tim. I have a set of 5/8 plywood box sideboards for my 72 Chevy 3/4 ton flatbed. These sides were made by the previous owner several years ago and are still in great shape. These are pressure treat and painted for additional waterproofing. They are lightly framed and latch together with hook and ring hardware.
I certainly wouldn't try to haul five yards of gravel in it, but it's fantastic for hauling furniture, hay, insulation, or anything light you just need to contain and protect.A flat bed with a selection of low rails, full rails and a box is about as useful a vehicle as you will ever find. Throw the sideboards off and haul machinery with forklift access all around and good tiedown points. Put on the low rails and haul a stack of plywood or lumber. Ply sideboards as mentioned above. I have threatened to make a knock down box for it, as well. The best feature of the flatbed over a box truck is the ability to remove any board or rail and access your load from any of three sides.I also have a small Step Van, but I have not driven it since I got the flatbed.
It's nice to have an enclosed truck, but the limitations on loading and unloading make it less useful than the flatbed. Synthetic 'wood' decking, SS button head screws into SS T-nuts, embeded on the inside of the decking?Solid for 12' then spaced going up? The stuff is so stable that 'pinning', (spline and groove, biscuit, dowel etc.), would not be necessary. Never seen it in T & G, decking is spaced.Looks great and puts up with heavy weather and traffic.Not real cheap but probably less than Marine grade fancy sheet goods with additional edge and surface treatments and re-treatments.Years ago, I came across a guy with a large stack of retrieved Asian crating boards, maybe 1' by 8' or so and 12' long. It looked, smelled and acted like teak, (tough on pre-TC tipped saw blades). Small, nearly invisable nail holes and the clincher for me, cheap. Still got a few boards.I used it for flat bed side boards.
It looked so good that I wished I'd had it surfaced before building the side boards, lasted forever.Bob.