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Gutting The Inside
The first part of any project in the truck seems to be stripping out the interior so that it can be rebuilt.
The bed needed to be stripped down to the naked steel support frame.
The upper bunk consists of a fabric overlay on top and a padded cardboard panel on the bottom side. The upper needs to
be replaced with a solid surface. The underside was in bad shape after 618,000 miles of smoke abuse.
| Front of Bunk Support |
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The front of the bunk support has a cable actuated mechanism to release it from the upper hold downs. Once the fabric
has all been removed, be careful, the tension on the upper fabric is used a spring the slow the descent of the upper bunk
once the latch is released.
| Rear Corner Bunk Support |
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The rear corner has a hinge mechanism about 6" away from the wall. The platform had to be designed to fold into the existing
cavities.
Building The Bed Out
Now that the gutting is complete, rebuilding begins. The bed was one of the few projects that required all new materials.
As much as I wanted to use shop scraps for this one, it just wasn't possible.
| Bed Support Frame |
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The bed is made out of 3/4" Birch 7-Layer plywood covered in a grey outdoor carpet. The support frame for the bed will
serve two purposes, provide support and an attachment point. The center beam is a lamination made from two pieces of maple
1x3. It is notched to fit in each end frame and held in place with a mastic. The back rail is 1x3 poplar that is screwed to
the back metal frame rail. The metal rail is about 1/2" below the level of the bed panel, so the wood portion stands
proud of the metal to make a flat mount surface.
| Support Frame Stowed |
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At each step along the way, I made sure that the latch mechanism would work for the bed. The tolerances are pretty tight
on the metal, make sure your frame rails clear the hinge mechanism and the the bed panel doesn't overhang the metal.
The bed panels had to be made in two pieces. It was just not possible to maneuver a single panel into place. The panels
were cut so that the seam was as close to the foot side of the bed as reasonable.
| Raw Bed Panels |
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| Edge By Ladder |
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The bed panels are covered with outdoor carpet. I glued the carpet in place and wrapped the edges. The edges will stop
any squeaks between the wood and the metal. There are three different fasteners holding the bed in place. Where it rests on
the outer rails, I used #8 bolts with lock washers. Where it connectes to wood, I used #10 screws, and the front edge is connected
to the rail using #10 self tapping machine screws. All of the heads sit in finish washers so that there are no heads to catch
on the underside of the mattress.
| Bed Panel In Place |
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