Old school wooden bed rails

[AverageOverlander]

Those look awesome, you can see the pride in your work.
How sturdy are those rails? I was thinking of mounting my recovery boards with the same idea, only instead of vertical boards it would be vertical strut, and the recovery boards would rest flush on the bed ledge to take some of the load. Do you think that style would be strong enough or would it be too much whipping back and forth on the trails for that?

edit: I tried it and it’s way too flimsy

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[Tornado_6]

Those look awesome, you can see the pride in your work.
How sturdy are those rails? I was thinking of mounting my recovery boards with the same idea, only instead of vertical boards it would be vertical strut, and the recovery boards would rest flush on the bed ledge to take some of the load. Do you think that style would be strong enough or would it be too much whipping back and forth on the trails for that?

edit: I tried it and it’s way too flimsy

I didn't get a chance to reply before you tried it, but thanks for letting me know it doesn't work for mounting of recovery boards. Not surprised. The blocking I added to the bottom helps prevent any inward flex (i.e., inboard bowing of the rail tops), but I haven't figured out how to keep them from flexing outwards. Probably would need to add a couple of rivnuts at the bottoms to lock them to the bed.

 

[Kevin_D]

Those look awesome, you can see the pride in your work.
How sturdy are those rails? I was thinking of mounting my recovery boards with the same idea, only instead of vertical boards it would be vertical strut, and the recovery boards would rest flush on the bed ledge to take some of the load. Do you think that style would be strong enough or would it be too much whipping back and forth on the trails for that?

edit: I tried it and it’s way too flimsy

Really?
I build up Unistrut frames all the time, and a full-height strut cross is pretty stout.
Are you sure it wasn’t flexing against the side of the box?

Kevin

 

[SpeedNeed]

I love the look of those rails. Slightly off topic, but I also like the looks of the MekMagnet “Woody” removable trail armor.

 

[AverageOverlander]

Really?
I build up Unistrut frames all the time, and a full-height strut cross is pretty stout.
Are you sure it wasn’t flexing against the side of the box?

Kevin

Yeah strut is plenty strong, issue is the rail strut mounted to the bed with the single horizontal bolts holding it in. Once you get the leverage and height up above the bed, just using your hand you can rock the bed rail back and forth.

Like Kevin mentions, If you riveted or welded to the bed or tapped and fastened with more bolts, it will probably start securing things in hurry.

If you ever do try some reinforcing Kevin I’d be curious to know what you did/how it works… I’m scared to drill into my bed haha

 

[Tornado_6]

Yeah strut is plenty strong, issue is the rail strut mounted to the bed with the single horizontal bolts holding it in. Once you get the leverage and height up above the bed, just using your hand you can rock the bed rail back and forth.

Like Kevin mentions, If you riveted or welded to the bed or tapped and fastened with more bolts, it will probably start securing things in hurry.

If you ever do try some reinforcing Kevin I’d be curious to know what you did/how it works… I’m scared to drill into my bed haha

I didn't want to drill into my bed either. And since the unistrut sits a little proud of the bed top rail, if you just attach vertical struts without support, you just basically have a teeter totter. For the wood rails, I cut some dado grooves so the outboard part of the vertical rail fits flush with the bed rail. Though it is only an inch or two above the unistrut, the bed rail does provide enough support that keeps the wooden side rails from wobbling. Of course, this setup does not really give what I would consider to be "structural" support that would allow attaching things like recovery boards or other gear.

 

[JmattNYC]

I felt the same about it looking like a 1950's truck, and was inspired by the photos on this thread. Here's a photo of my recently completed walnut bed rails attached to unistrut trail rails. I used a CNC machine to carve the Gladiator logo into the side.

Beautifull

 

[Moabite]

Just thought I'd toss these in...my ol' Scrambler and my neighhbor's Model A. I must not have seen this thread when it was originally posted. Wooden bedrails go back a ways. The photos were taken almost 10 years ago.

 

[NC_Overland]

That’s a 28-29 Model A. I have a 1930 sedan delivery.

Back on topic, this isn’t my Jeep, it was taken at a local car show. Looks amazing.

 

[JmattNYC]

Just thought I'd toss these in...my ol' Scrambler and my neighhbor's Model A. I must not have seen this thread when it was originally posted. Wooden bedrails go back a ways. The photos were taken almost 10 years ago.

Awesome!!

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