sheet metal inner bed

Ive searched everywhere and really cant find any good tech info on doing this. i am going to be painting it so i know that i need to tack it up solid then grind it and fill it with body filler. I have 16 gauge sheet and am ready to start welding the pieces in. Is it better to plug weld the sheet metal to the existing factory floor or just lay it on the floor and weld along the sides and let them hold it in place? Also lets see some pics of your beds all the old posts dont work anymore.

You want to plug weld ti to the floor for sure. But you've got the general idea.
I cut my whole floor out and made it out of square tubing and then plug welded to that.
You might want to get some square tubing to bace the sides to keep them from warping as bad.

im going to do mine in a few weeks im going to get some winsheild glue and put it on the ridges and then just lay the sheetmetal over that then tack around the sides so that way i dont have to worry about the middle bowing up or anything like that

one other concern is on the tacos the last ridge in the factory bed floor is about 6 inches in from the bed sides. I am thinking i need to make something to lay under the metal in that area to keep the metal from saging or will the sides that i put in hold it up once welded together?

Edited: 2/12/2006 2:16:50 PM by draggin720

if u dont want to weld the sheetmetal in u cold use the 3M metal bonding adhesive. It will hold with no problem plus you wont have to worry about the metal wrapping. As for the sagging between the ribs that wasnt a problem for mine & i used my bed. OH & the back section of my bed was one piece bent to fit. sux this it the best pic i have lol



If u search SSM forums you'll prolly find 2 or 3 other threads about this

The 3m glue will expand if you get it too hot.

YEAH THE 3M 2PART GLUE WORKS GREAT(8115). ASLONG AS YOU PREP IT RIGHT YOU WON'T HAVVE ANYMORE PROBLEMS THANIF YOU WELD IT SOLID.

i have no problem welding it in. Do you think it would be better to use the 3m glue to glue it to the factory bed floor and then weld up the sides or plug weld it to the floor? I searched the forums for the last year on here and really didnt find what i was asking about. i appreciatte the replys.