flareside floor bed rails

[old yeller]

  Hello all
 I need some floor rails for my 80 f150 flareside. I have 6 but they are rusted.
I measured my good end and they are 1.650"/42mm wide and about 78.545/1995mm.
Does anybody remanufacture these besides Mar-k. I called them and they said theirs are 1.500 wide.
Also is the 80 and 81 rails different from the 82-87, not in quantity but in shape.
Mar-k may have to do.
 Does anyone know?
 Thanks for any info.

 

[ArdWrknTrk]

Perhaps the New Member Introduction section isn't the best place to find parts?

We could move this thread to the main forum or the marketplace -want to buy- section if you like.

Off the top of my head I know that Dave (FuzzFace2) started with a Flareside and instead welded in a steel floor from a styleside. Perhaps he still has that set?
Ron (Reamer) is a metalworker who was making bed rail caps and ,I believe, accurate reproduction license plate holders for Bullnose Flaresides.

I'm not sure who would have 42mm width bed strips.
The only place I know other than Mar-K is American Classic and they say theirs are 1 1/2" as well.
(eBay listing here)

[old yeller]

 Yes thanks, I'm not familiar with the site.
I'm curious about the documentation site, there is a diagram of the wood for after 7/82 is 1.625.
So did ford make 2 dif. widths of rails since mine are 1.650 wide?
 Thanks Clayton

[FuzzFace2]

Sorry late to the party

On the strips my truck did not have any. Heck the cross members and boards were no where near what the truck came with.
Because the cross members were $1000 plus wood, strips and hardware it was more than I wanted to spend on a truck I got for $800!
That 1 reason why I went with the style side ribber floor as I had it.

As for the metal strips there are 2 different sizes / types because of the 2 different types of wood used.
The 80 - 82 or 83 used boards and 1 type of metal strips.
The 83 or 84 to 86 used plywood and used a different strip.
I think what is sold is the later plywood strips.

Also the 87 / 88? flare side was a totally different bed made of fiberglass and did not use a wood floor.
Fender and side panels were all 1 part and I think was bonded to the floor.
It also used a normal type tail gate.
It will bolt on to any SWB frame but I dont think it looks right and real flare sides used chains for the tail gate
Dave ----

[old yeller]

  I knew 80/81 were diff. in Quantity of rails and they had a diff. type of wood.
I just didnt know they changed the width of the rail.
So are the after market rails 1.50 wide the correct size for the later years 83/86.
The hardwear in my bed is all metric.
When they changed the wood and rail Quantity I wonder if the hardwear changed to SAE??
 Thanks

[ArdWrknTrk]

Nothing ever changed TO SAE.

Metric was the standard for body and chassis (though some real oddball fasteners had imperial heads)
Engines and drivelines remained SAE at least up to the '90's

[old yeller]

 What about the wide of the rails.
I just didn't know if they changed the width of the rails to 1.500 wide on later years 83/86?
That is 5/32 diff. compared to mine.
Do you think there is a market for the older wider ones. I'm thinking probably not.
 Thanks for any input.

[ArdWrknTrk]

I don't know of anyone that makes anything other than the 1 1/2" width.

They're said to fit from '73- '87

I've already said I doubt anybody is going to see this thread way up here in the NMSH.

Did you make a WTB post in the marketplace?

Cory has had a bunch of these trucks.
Let me tag him to this thread.

[Rembrant]

old yeller wrote

Mar-k may have to do.

I think if you do dig into the topic a little deeper that you'll find that no matter which vendor you buy the bed strips from, they're all coming from Mar-K in Oklahoma anyway. One of the reasons there are variations out there is that the aftermarket companies, or Mar-K in particular, have been making these bed strips for decades, and even their bed strips have changed over the years. I was trying to match some up a few years ago, and Mar-K told me that their bed strips were different depending on when they were made. The machines changed and get replaced, they change the forming dies, and then there's material changes on top of that.

They're available in steel and stainless steel, and one Flareside bed I bought even had a set of aluminum bed strips. I ended up re-using those ones on my 1984 F150. No idea who made them...I searched but never did find out.

So, not much out there for options these days.

ArdWrknTrk wrote

Cory has had a bunch of these trucks.
Let me tag him to this thread.

Heya Jim,

I had the pleasure of spending this past week with a lovely gal from Connecticut! She works for one of the companies we rep, and they're in New Haven.

I kinda miss my Bullnose Flaresides these days. I like my 1994 Flareside OK, but it's not the same.

Ford did indeed use different bed strips, and I do believe the later 1983-1987 strips were wider, but nobody is reproducing those...they were kind of weird anyway. They sat flush on top of the wood, and not down into channels like the 1982-older bed strips. They were made to sit on top of the plywood, or MDO or whatever it was back then, and nobody ever refinishes the floors with that stuff...well, except Reamer and I lol. Even if you could get the later style/wider strips, they wouldn't work with the boards/plank style flooring anyway.

Wish I had better news, but I think the 1.5" wide strips are all that is available these days, and there's a good chance that many, if not all of them, are originating from Mar-K.

[Rembrant]

FuzzFace2 wrote

As for the metal strips there are 2 different sizes / types because of the 2 different types of wood used.
The 80 - 82 or 83 used boards and 1 type of metal strips.
The 83 or 84 to 86 used plywood and used a different strip.
I think what is sold is the later plywood strips.

Also the 87 / 88? flare side was a totally different bed made of fiberglass and did not use a wood floor.
Fender and side panels were all 1 part and I think was bonded to the floor.
It also used a normal type tail gate.
It will bolt on to any SWB frame but I dont think it looks right and real flare sides used chains for the tail gate
Dave ----

I'd have to go look it up, but I believe the bed floor change was late in the 1982 model year, like July 1982.

The 1987 Flareside bed was identical to the 1980-1986 bed. It was a one year only offering, and the only thing that was different was the fiberglass fenders had a slightly different wheel opening to match the Bricknose front fenders. Otherwise, the beds were 100% the same.

No Flaresides from 1988-1991. The Flareside came back out in 1992, and it does have a steel bed, but has fiberglass bed sides that bolt on to the steel sides. I have a 1994 Flareside now, and while I do like the truck, they don't have the same curb appeal as the Bullnose trucks in my option.

I have always wanted the one year wonder 1987 Flareside. A 4x4 with a 300 and stick would be really nice. If I ever come across a nice one I'll have to think hard on it;).

[Gary Lewis]

The change was in July of '82, as shown on the snippet from the MPC below.  But note that the replacement strip couldn't have been E7TZ 8312605-A, which came out in '87.  It probably was E2TZ 8312605-A, so there was a change there as well although I have no idea what it was.

And there's information on this topic on our page at Documentation/Exterior/Beds, Tailgates, & Components and then the Flareside Bed Floors tab.  And that's where this snippet came from.

[Rembrant]

Great stuff Gary, in your documentation you like the thread below, and it shows some great pics comparing the bed strips:

https://www.garysgaragemahal.com/#nabble-td17364|a17444

I did have a couple good samples around here of each style, but I don't know where they are now...possibly gone;(

Hope all is well Gary! I haven't been around much lately. Things are pretty quiet in my garage these days.

[Gary Lewis]

All is well, Cory.  But I can't say things are quiet in my shop at the moment as I'm doing a serious cleaning ahead of company coming in over Thanksgiving.  And while I'm cleaning I'm rocking to 60's music via satellite radio.  The shop inherited the amp, speakers, and sub-woofer from our surround sound system some time ago, and I crank it up a bit while out there.  

And yes, I like that thread about the Flareside beds.  But if you find more pics or information I'd love to update the page.  

[ArdWrknTrk]

Thank you for the insight Cory!  
I knew you were the right man to answer these questions.  

I've seen a set of bed strips on eBay pretty inexpensive when I tried to answer when the change happened
(I think they were unpolished stainless)

I'm in East Haven right now.  
Just drove up to my brothers house to get a few things tightened up before winter comes.  

[Rembrant]

60's tunes on a sound system in the garage sounds great! The first 60's tune that popped in my head was this one Love the guitar.



When it comes to garage music, I'm hopelessly stuck in the 80's and 90's, or as the young kids are calling it these days..."back in the late 1900's" haha.

Enjoy your upcoming Thanksgiving Holiday folks!

[BigBrother-84]

Gary Lewis wrote

The shop inherited the amp, speakers, and sub-woofer from our surround sound system some time ago, and I crank it up a bit while out there.  

My wife isn’t happy that I crank the volume, she says that while aging I tend to crank it more and more.

I don’t understand what she’s talking about, I don’t hear it louder.

Is it your case too, Gary?

[Gary Lewis]

Jeff - Jein.  (You know French and English, so maybe German?)  Janey can't hear it if I crank the music in the shop.  And we tend to like the volume set about the same level for the TV.  But in the car she doesn't like it as high as I do.  So I don't crank it until something special comes on, like American Pie.

Cory - I love that song, and played it via that Youtube since I'd never seen the video itself.  As for 80's and later "music", is there really any such thing?  

I'm of the opinion that Don McLean was off by about 10 years.  American Pie was about February 3, 1959 - The Day The Music Died:

[Rembrant]

Gary Lewis wrote

Cory - I love that song, and played it via that Youtube since I'd never seen the video itself.  As for 80's and later "music", is there really any such thing?  

Haha, well, I guess that depends on which angle you're listening from;). One of the comedians said years ago that music went downhill when musicians started to become famous for being good looking! In a proper old school rock n roll band, they were all ugly haha.

Speaking of 60's music, do you ever play this one when the wife is around? Haha. It's in our playlist, and it always makes us laugh when it comes on. You have to listen to the lyrics though!



PS: Current Flareside situation at my place. It's a sad state of affairs, I tell ya.

[Gary Lewis]

I KNEW what song you'd included as soon as I read "do you ever play this one when the wife is around?"

Yes, I turn it up when it comes on, even when Janey is around.  That's because she would never be considered "an ugly girl".

On 60's on SiriusXM recently a guy called in and said he was driving with his granddaughter in the car.  That song came on and he turned it up and sang along.  But when they got home the granddaughter went running into the house yelling "Grandma, can you believe what Grandpa was just singing!?!?!?"  

We had some interesting songs.  Like Mr. Custer.  Or Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini.  Then there's Leader Of The Laundromat.  And I could go on and on.

[FuzzFace2]

Man I miss loud music in my garage when working

I use to play it off my phone and it was plugged in to computer speakers with a mini jack.
Had to get a new phone and it dose not have a mini jack on it

My old phone will pick up wifi in the house but the garage is to far so cant use it.
One day I will look into it there is a mini jack / BT adapter so I can use my new phone in the garage.
Dave ----