PW Wooden bed caution

[Kaiser2boy]

Thinking of instaling a wood plank bed in your PW?
Be careful. It sounds like a good idea to use pressure treated wood but boy it can come back to bite you.
If the wood is ACQ treated it will quckly rot out the bolts and any steel supports.
It seems one of the chemicals is a form of copper and it sets up a galvantic reaction with steel and will eat it away.
This problem has been the cause of a few big decks to fall because the bolts rotted away.

[abe73]

same problem

i got my 73 form my grandpa. it had a wood bed and wood racks. we used it to haul fire wood. anyway, the wood was old and rotten, and when i took it out to play one day, i look back and its in pieces! still thinking about redoing it with wood, just doing it better.

[Kaiser2boy]

I have been doing some research into the problem.
From what I see you "CAN" use pressure treated wood but you really need to do some ground work first.
It looks like you can use stainless bolts , ouch, and place tar paper or some barrier that wont break down between the planks and the steel parts. And coating the steel near and under the planks with a lot of paint. it "should" be OK.
Who would have thunk that wood will cause steel to rot away?
I looked at a few sites about the problem and could not find one that gives an idea of how long it takes to rot out the bolts.
The thing that ticks me off is I found out about this AFTER buying and cutting the wood and 100 elevator bolts.
On the copy of the bill there is a tiny foot note about ACQ treated wood causeing failure of steel bolts.

[Bruce in BC]

Do not burn the wood !

It has been known to kill people . This is a big issue with motor home fires or deck fires on houses .
as an aside I am not sure this is the best location for this thread .

bruce

[Kaiser2boy]

It has been known to kill people . This is a big issue with motor home fires or deck fires on houses .
as an aside I am not sure this is the best location for this thread .

bruce

It is if you are thinking of using pressure treated wood to rebuild the bed of your PW like the OP stated.
The post was not posted to discuss the merits of pressure treated wood . It was posted to save some one a lot of grief if they dont know that it can rot out your frame.

[Bruce in BC]

Pressure treated wood is kinda ugly too .

No problem , the thread say's "Military & Civilian Dodge Truck Images" there is not much in the way of images with your topic . My comment regarding the fire issue is similar to your rational of bringing up pressure treated wood problems . The issue with things rusting or galvanic action and the issue of safety are both worth noting when it comes to using pressure treated wood .
So there are 3 reasons not to use the stuff .
Ugly
promotes rust
dangerous in a fire situation
and
it is ugly

[Kaiser2boy]

No problem , the thread say's "Military & Civilian Dodge Truck Images" there is not much in the way of images with your topic . My comment regarding the fire issue is similar to your rational of bringing up pressure treated wood problems . The issue with things rusting or galvanic action and the issue of safety are both worth noting when it comes to using pressure treated wood .
So there are 3 reasons not to use the stuff .
Ugly
promotes rust
dangerous in a fire situation
and
it is ugly

Right, right, right. But it seems like a good idea until you look close.