Wood chassis/frame shims

[TechnoWeenie]

OK, so, not sure if you noticed, but on quite a bit of equipment, including the deuces and 5 tons with beds and comm/electrical boxes, there's a strip of wood, usually ~1/2-3/4" thick, that is put between the frame rail, and the frame of the box/bed.

I've been told a couple things, maybe some or all of it is true?

The wood acts as a slide to reduce friction when getting the box/bed on/off.
The wood acts as a shock absorber.
The wood acts as a flexible shim that, because it flexes, prevents damage to the frame/rails if it gets overextended, eg wood breaks instead of twisting metal.

Is any of that true?

What's the true purpose?


The reason I ask, is, I'm gonna be mounting another box to a deuce frame, and I'm debating on metal <-> metal, or metal <->wood <-> metal, and how thick the wood can be, eg can you use a 4x4 instead of a 1x4 to add a couple inches in height/flex or should you use a metal spacer if you want to add a couple inches in frame height...?

 

[doghead]

Purpose of wood bed spacer

Just curious - what is the purpose of the wood spacer that goes between the frame rails and the bed on the deuce? For the life of me, I don't see a purpose in it being there, it looks like it's presence would soak up moisture and lead to rust in that area (or at least wood rot), more so than...

www.steelsoldiers.com

 

[ramdough]

OK, so, not sure if you noticed, but on quite a bit of equipment, including the deuces and 5 tons with beds and comm/electrical boxes, there's a strip of wood, usually ~1/2-3/4" thick, that is put between the frame rail, and the frame of the box/bed.

I've been told a couple things, maybe some or all of it is true?

The wood acts as a slide to reduce friction when getting the box/bed on/off.
The wood acts as a shock absorber.
The wood acts as a flexible shim that, because it flexes, prevents damage to the frame/rails if it gets overextended, eg wood breaks instead of twisting metal.

Is any of that true?

What's the true purpose?


The reason I ask, is, I'm gonna be mounting another box to a deuce frame, and I'm debating on metal metal, or metal wood metal, and how thick the wood can be, eg can you use a 4x4 instead of a 1x4 to add a couple inches in height/flex or should you use a metal spacer if you want to add a couple inches in frame height...?

Make sure you use a hard wood. The thread above is a good explanation.

I have also heard that the wood is a sacrificial material and is replaced as needed….. but I think oak lasts a good long while. It also quiets things down.

Not going to repeat what the other thread says.

Good luck.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[G744]

Trucks have used that wooden spacer for 100 years, more-or-less.

Anything with that track record is beyond question.

So there!

DG

 

[Mullaney]

Trucks have used that wooden spacer for 100 years, more-or-less.

Anything with that track record is beyond question.

So there!

DG

.
Agreed!

Long years ago, I remember having a place "in the neighborhood" that had a monster planer shed owned by a company named Abernethy Lumber. They cut the 2x10 oak planks for us to use on lowboy trailers. They also cut the wooden spacers for the frame rails when we mounted tool bodies on bucket trucks.

I remember specifically learning grounding with those wooden strips in place. Marker and Tail lights did nothing until we added a ground strap to hop from the "body" to the "frame".

 

[G744]

Wood is an insulator...

DG

 

[topo]

Some pictures of a Timpte bed mounted on a 52 chevy

 

[TechnoWeenie]

Some pictures of a Timpte bed mounted on a 52 chevy View attachment 855739View attachment 855740

I guess that answers that question.

It'd probably be about 3k lbs total, when finished.. maybe 4 tops... so should be just fine then. I might have some stops welded front/rear to stop any potential movement going uphill or emergency braking.

 

[VPed]

One of the purposes of the shims is to space the bed up away from the rivets that hold the crossmembers to the frame rails. That helps to lock the shim in place as well.

 

[patracy]

Sort of related, but not exactly. I've used oak to shim/level the lathes and mills in my shop. (The concrete is a slope and no way smooth) While they're not subjected to the same amount of abuse, they certainly have thousands of pounds on them. And honestly they're subjected to water and oil constantly. No issues in like 5+ years now. The key is using a hardwood.

 

[Mullaney]

Sort of related, but not exactly. I've used oak to shim/level the lathes and mills in my shop. (The concrete is a slope and no way smooth) While they're not subjected to the same amount of abuse, they certainly have thousands of pounds on them. And honestly they're subjected to water and oil constantly. No issues in like 5+ years now. The key is using a hardwood.

.
Agreed. Here in the print shop, we have paper knives that are sitting on four inch oak blocks. The guys who install those machines bring blocks and a small portable planer. The blocks are smaller pieces of oak that are bonded together and the "floor side" has what I call air gaps on the bottom.

Oldest knife here is a German manufactured Polar Mohr, 1973 model and it still runs like the day it was new. Always wonder how much American truck and tank scrap steel went into building those machines...

 

[CMPPhil]

Hi

When changing truck beds it is often necessary to replace the wood spacer. Problem I've run into is the holes don't line up and you can only drill just so many new holes. All the holes are for frame bolt heads. Finding oak spacers 3/4 inch thick and 2 1/2 wide is not a problem finding them 12 feet long is the problem. I have used synthetic decking and it works great the picture shows new bed going on to truck in 2007 no problems.

Cheers Phil