How to Build a Wooden Truck Bed at Your Garage?

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The Wooden Truck Bed is the most creative and cost friendly truck bed. Moreover, the wooden truck bed is a good option for truck owners who are searching for a replacement for their metal bed also. After taking suggestions from many of our friends we come to the conclusion of making our own truck bed. As a result, the outcome is really beautiful. Our truck bed was completely rusted, and after doing some research we found that a wooden truck bed is a good option. So to get it done we have followed some simple DIY method and ended up with a beautiful wooden truck bed trailer.

Process of DIY Wooden Truck Bed:

Here is the DIY process, as if you want a bed with simple DIY then continue reading this blog, as you will get all the detailed process below. However, tools and new gadgets like taillight, we purchased everything from Amazon at a cheaper price. rather, and you can also buy things that you will need for this DIY. Below is the complete process. Do complete the whole process it takes 8 hours in total.

Tips:

  • Before starting the DIY process clean your entire garage, comparatively, it is the most suitable place to do this process.
  • Check your garage rather it has an electricity connection or not, as you will need to use your electric operating gadgets.
  • Get all the safety precautions.
  • Do not allow anyone to enter the garage as it will waste your time as well as it can be a risk. Especially do not allow kids as there will be your tools and gadgets.

01. Removing the Old Truck Bed From the Cab:

First, you will need to prepare your truck for the DIY. If you have any existing truck bed, remove it first. To know how to remove follow up the below process.

Materials you will need :

  1. Impact wrench
  2. Screwdrivers
  3. Ratchet straps, ropes or chains
  4. Six to seven pieces of wood logs
  5. Long car jacks
  6. Jack stands
  7. Pneumatic hoists or crane
  8. Small hydraulic jacks
  9. Scaffolding pipes

Step 01. Remove the Bumper First

First of all, what I did was, and I simply slide down under the truck bed and unplugged the electricals attached to the bumper area; LED bulbs from both sides of the bumper.

Step 02. Do the Unbolt

Similarly, most pickup bumpers were generally hooked to the hitch from both sides. Similarly, each side is tightened to the hitch using four nuts and bolts along with a washer setup.

Step 03. Remove The Hitch

After removing the bolts from both sides of the hitch. And you can see another bolt hooked together with through hitch and the bed. You can find those or can see through the hole in the hitch.

Step 04. Remove the Number Plate

Next, remove the four bolts that are connected between the number plate and the hitch from the back of the truck bed, but before that, however, you should remove the license plate. By this, the bumper will easily slide out and you will see the hitch exposed and sticking out under the bed.

Step 05. Remove the taillights and trans cooler

Likewise moving forward, the next step is to remove the taillights which will come out and then drop the auxiliary trans cooler.

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Step 06. Undo the Bolts

Next, take down the tailgate and remove the taillights by undoing the bolts from the side of the walls.

Step 07.  Bed Frame Removal

Next, remove the bolts that go through the frame to the bed and then use a manual car jack or hydraulic car jack to lift and bed up a little bit, and then slide the hitch out of the frame. There are eight bolts that hold the bed down to the truck or to the frame. You can find two back and one of them goes through the frame to the bed. There are a couple of bolts, in addition, the front and couple in the back, to remove which you will have to slide down under the truck.

Step 08. Relocate the trans cooler

The auxiliary trans cooler that is still connected is right above the drive shaft. So, you can wait till you pull the bed off and to bolt that unbolts it. because it is right above the drive shaft. Then when you pull the bed up off the truck, you can put it on top of the gas tank

Step 09. Overlook the Whole Process

Whereas, make sure that you unclip and unplug all the wiring from under the truck bed.

Step 10. Replace the filler neck

The filler neck on the side kind of pops in through the hole; which you might have to undo as it from the neck if you can’t get it high enough. Then it’s time to remove the actual truck bed.

Step 11. Build a four-pillar scaffolding

After undoing all bolts, auxiliary trans cooler, gas tank, etc, the bed already ready to come out. But for that, in addition, you need to build a four-pillar scaffolding.

Step 12. Scaffolding on the ground outdoors

First, build scaffolding on the ground outdoors. The scaffolding will be 8×8 feet in dimension. Although, it will have one side open from where you will reverse drive in the truck bed under the scaffolding.

Step 13. Connecting the pillar

Then, place their steel pipes on the ground which will connect to the erect pipes that go on the four corners of the scaffolding. Moreover, the four corner pillar will have connectors to join the cross member pipes correspondingly. In the same fashion, the lower part will have three pipes with one side open through which you will reverse drive the truck bed under the scaffolding. Despite, the upper part will have four pipes connecting the pillar from all four sides. By the same token, We will also get the pellets underneath it after pulling the truck out.

Step 14. If the truck bed doesn’t have any tie downs(optional)

Furthermore, For older pickup models the truck bed doesn’t have any tie downs like one they have in newer beds. For older models, likewise, you have to have six ratchet straps for each side of the bed except the cab that will pull the bed up using the top cross membrane of the scaffolding as the support to hang.

Step 15. Drive your pickup

Next, drive your pickup to the scaffolding area and reverse drive slowly such that the bed is right under the scaffolding.

Step 16. Hooked to the tie-downs

Next, bring six ratchet straps or any rope strong enough to lift up the bed. For older models, you will have to hook it up under the bed to the scaffolding and slowly pull up the bed. Besides, for the newer model with tie-downs, and you could use four ratchet straps each hooked to the tie-downs and you can just pull up the bed slowly from each end one by one all by yourself.

Step 17. Chains to pull off the bed

Next, you could also use some chains to pull off the bed and keep some rags in between the bed and cab so that it doesn’t scratch the cab. Next, after pulling the bed high enough using ratchet straps or chains, you should pretty much get a floating bed and you can just drive out the truck leaving the bed behind hanging from the scaffolding.

Step 18. Let it rest

Now that you have removed the truck bed, you can just let it rest on a few stacks of pallets.

02. Fixing the truck :

As the bed is detached from the truck its good time fix the truck. We have repainted get new wheels and tires. And also an Android head unit installed. To protect the truck from future rusting and to repair the existing rust we repainted the truck.

SEE ALSO:  24 Essential Truck Bed Accessories Every Truck Owner Should Have

Materials Needed:

To repair a rusted part of the truck bed you need to have few tools in your toolbox. You can buy them all from a local hardware store.

  1. Breathing mask or respirator
  2. Electric drill with sanding disc attachment
  3. Protective goggles
  4. Hammer (Ball-peen works best)
  5. Paint
  6. Paint primer
  7. Rust-resistant primer – I recommend
  8. Dual action sander (80-150 grit)
  9. Metal grinder (120 grit sandpaper)
  10. Rust removing acid – I recommend

Step 01. Remove dirt

Before start painting prepares your truck. There should not be any dirt or dust in it. Wash the truck with a pressure wash and let it dry.

Step 02. Sand off the Paint

Next, the job is not just to remove the paint but to get down to the rust. The best way is to use sandpaper of 80 to 150 grit to rub off the paint. Sand off both the front and back of the spot to make sure you have got it down to the bare metal.

Step 03. Apply Rust Primer

Now paint the surrounding of the rust hole with rust primer. It creates a protective coating that seals the metal from further moisture to prevent further damage. You can also use rust converter which will convert the rust into a coating that will protect the metal. It not only protects from rust but also it will give long life to your truck.

Step 04. Mix the Body Filler

Prepare the body filler paste as per the manufacturer’s instructions. If you add too much hardener the paste will harden too quickly. Place the zinc metal mesh or the fiberglass cloth which came with the kit on the rust hole and then apply the body filler to the hole.

Step 05. Paint the Truck

After cleaning and drying the surface, begin painting. You will have to do it in a few coatings. Each time you have to apply a thin coat and then dry it out to apply the second coat. After you are done with three coats of paint, the sand of the surface with finer sandpaper 400 grit, but this time with water.

03. Build the wooden bed:

As the complete bed is of wood. First, you have to make a frame of wood. Start from the four sides of the bed or can say the boundary of the truck bed.

Materials Needed-

  1. Circular saw
  2. 4-by-4 inch lumber
  3. 2-by-6 inch lumber
  4. Lag bolts and nuts
  5. Wrench set
  6. Pencil
  7. Small square
  8. Drill and drill bit
  9. Floorboards

Step 01. Make a rough plan

First of all measure the metal bed which you have taken out. The measurements of that bed will help you to make a wooden bed of the same size. Use those measurements and start cutting the wood.

Step 02.  Fix the frame

However, the frames is made of two parallel pressure treated which run long ways on top of the frame. Fix the frame with large bolts through the beams and into holes by drilling in the frame. The bolts, in addition, have washers on both ends and thread lockers. Furthermore, fix the bolts tightly, otherwise, it will vibrate a lot. Add the side walls of the truck bed.

Step 03. Side Walls Attachments

For the side walls, you will need, two same size wood. Take the previous measurements from the older truck bed. As you will get an idea of the height of the side wall boundaries. In that same measurement cut the wood, in two equal walls. To attach the side walls you have to make pocket holes. Four on each side. Plane the holes before you drill. Use a pencil to mark the places where you want to drill pocket holes.

It is advisable to mark four places at equal distances.  Drill pilot holes into the baseboard, align it with another wooden board. After that insert the bit into the jig’s guide hole likewise to adjust the bit collar. Take an Allen wrench to loosen the collar from the bit. Insert the bit into one of the jig’s guide holes until the tip and place the collar over the top end of the bit so it sits flush on the jig, then tighten the collar.

Step 04. Clamp the sides into the jig

Take the side wallboard into the jig so the marks you made are aligned with the jig’s guide holes. And tighten the clamp to lock it into place. Take the drilling machine and Lock the bit into your power drill and set the drill to its highest speed setting to create cleaner holes. Place the screw in your drill and carefully drive it through the pilot hole until its tight. Likewise, fix all the screws.

Step 05. Fix The Tailgate

At last fix, the tailgate, equally cut in the same manner and attach the tailgate to the bed with hinges. Install the hinges and attach the tailgate to it.

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Step 06. Glue the Cross Beams

Once the main side beams are attached, the hardest work of carpentry is done. The two long beams we have taken are the 4*6s measurement, and these are crossed by 6 4*4s. To get stronger joints, you may need to apply some pressure. Glue the cross beams and lag screwed together.

Step 07. Fixing Bumper

If you are following our measurements then comparatively the new bed will be longer than the old metal bed. So the old bumper came off. Despite this, we replaced it with a pressure treated of 6*6 then we attached under the last 4*4 with lag screws and glue. This step can be more hectic than others.

While we are fixing this we did a lot of trial and error. Because it gives an error to get third-party universal tail lights to fix with the wire harness.

Step 08. New things installation

We got two new tail lights and a new license plate light. All the things we buy from Amazon. While wiring the circuit goes through the instructions carefully. What I did was, I used wire nuts to hook everything up and test real quick. After it worked, I went back and hooked everything up with butt connectors and heat shrink tubing and wrapped it all with electrical tape to get it waterproof.

Step 09. Place Polyurethane Decking

All the main works finish here, now place the decking of your choice on top. We used regular board decking. Those regular deckings were just sealed with polyurethane. Those we just laid and screwed down, after that, we give some nice edge trim . after this the DIY project of the wooden trailer is complete.

Painting the wooden truck bed (optional):

This is completely upon you if you want to paint it or not.

Material Needed:

  1. Primer
  2. Paint Brush
  3. Color paint
  4. Sealer paint

Step 01. Prime the wooden Truck Bed

Before painting prime the wooden bed: it helps paint achieve a uniform and good look. Apply the first coat of primer on the wood.  Let it dry completely before applying the next coat. We suggest to use an oil-based primer is it will last long.

Step 02. Painting the bed

After that, to paint you need good quality paint color and brush. Likewise, load the paintbrush with paint color and start painting in a manner. In a good interval of time apply three to four coats of the color. The color choice is up to you. Additionally, it is suggestable to use wood paint only.

Step 03. Sealer Coat

At last, apply up to three coats of sealer or topcoat of polyurethane. It may take some time to dry completely. likewise, repeat the steps until the desired consistency is achieved.

Installation of Liner:

Additionally, rubber liners are the best in this case, we have installed rubber liners in top of our wooden bed. To keep your truck bed free from scrapes, scuffs, and roughness. correspondingly, you can install rubber flooring on your wooden truck bed. Rubber liner available in markets is thick, contoured rubber mats. Choose a high-quality rubber compound that won’t crack in extreme temperatures or fade when exposed to the sun. The installation of the rubber liner is very simple. Whereas additionally, a rubber truck bed mat made from a reliable manufacturer and will last from 5-10 years, however, whereas the cut-out rubber mat will normally last for 3 – 4 years. Additionally, the weights, type, and frequency of hauling cargo on the truck bed will affect the longevity of the mat.

Conclusion:

All trucks metal bed, someday have to be replaced. Moreover, using for many years the bed of the truck also gets old. with the damaged truck bed, the truck owner looks for some better replacements. In our suggestion, a wooden truck bed is the most durable and cheapest comparatively. And to get it simply done, you can follow our simple DIY process.  

Related Question:

How many days it will take for the complete process?

It totally depends upon you. How much time you can work continuously. Despite, it took eight hours in our case. We have taken plenty of rest and complete the whole DIY process.

Does the wooden bed is weatherproof?

No bed is weatherproof, whether it is made of up metal or wood. You have to do some extra DIY to weatherproof it. And to know the process of weatherproofing you can follow this blog. Despite using a weather coat will help you to protect the wooden bed from the insects who eat wood to survive. 

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