Hey Everyone,
After preforming a little search on the net and coming up with no results, I decided to post the question here. So, I bought this box truck for my business It's a 99 Chevy 2500HD diesel with a Mickey 12 foot box on the back. The truck is in overall okay condition except for the floor in the box which is completely rotted out in spots and has big gaping holes.

My idea is just to cut out the floor and replace with 12X2 pressure treated lumber. After cutting out the rot, I noticed this flooring is really tough stuff. Each of the eight 12" planks is comprised of 1"X1" pieces laminated together. I'm wondering if the pressure treated lumber will be a good replacement since the hardwood laminate they used looked so robust. Although, It did rot easily.

The next question is I was thinking of Thomson's Water Sealing the bottom of the planks since they are exposed to the elements to keep it from rotting as fast. Will that work?

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks!
Adam

__________________
Current Stable:
01 ML55 AMG
92 500E (a few mods)
87 300E (lots of mods)
00 Chevy 3500HD Diesel Box Truck
68 18' Donzi Marine
06 GT i-Drive7 1.0 Mountain Bike (with GPS!)

PREVIOUSLY OWNED:83 300SD, 87 420SEL, 88 420SEL, 90 420SEL, 86 560SEL, 86 190E 2.3-16V AMG, 94 E320

How about using composite (e.g.Trex) decking doubled up to give the thickness?

I built a fire escape/deck with 2x8 pressure treated lumber 17 years ago. I primed all four sides with an oil based primer and finished with a Sherwin Williams oil based industrial coating. It's still holding up fine. If I were in your situation and wanted years of use, I'd something similar.

__________________
1977 300d 70k--sold 08
1985 300TD 185k+
1984 307d 126k--sold 8/03
1985 409d 65k--sold 06
1984 300SD 315k--daughter's car
1979 300SD 122k--sold 2/11
1999 Fuso FG Expedition Camper
1993 GMC Sierra 6.5 TD 4x4
1982 Bluebird Wanderlodge CAT 3208--Sold 2/13

Truck flooring is nice stuff. It makes great counter tops.
I recommend you replace the floor with Ipe. It's cheaper and much stronger than Trex and costs not much more than pressure treated SYP.

You could look into getting laminated scaffold planking

__________________
95 E300D working out the kinks
77 300D, 227k, station car
83 300CD 370k, gone away
89 190E 2.6- 335k, no more
79 VW FI Bus- 145k miles, summer driver
59 VW Beetle ragtop- 175k miles
12 VW Jetta- 160k miles

Truck bed flooring is usually a hardwood such as oak or hickory. 99% of all wood or wood substitutes used for decking will be too soft for the abuse the bed gets. Pressure treated wood is way too soft.

Yeah, the pressure treated lumber would work for a fire escape but how often are you dragging, wheeling, sliding, etc., heavy objects (maybe, if you are involved in the "collection" business, the occasional carpet wrapped bundle ) out the fire escape?

The scaffold planking might be an alternative but it's probably a softwood also to allow for "flex" and "give".

If you are looking to use the truck for the purposes it is intended for go to the nearest Truck and Trailer place or check with a local mover to see where they get their flooring.

Get rid of that Chevy and replace it with a Mitsubishi FE of about the same vintage. You'll be way ahead of the game. You won't be buying any more Ford's or Chevy's after you have one of those.

Agreed, my fuso is the best! BTW, your floor is made of ash. If you are going to scab in some other wood, I would consider installing a sheet of metal over the whole thing.

__________________
Eugene

10 E63 AMG
93 300te 4matic
07 BMW X3
14 Ford F-150 Fx2

Hey Guys! Thanks for all the advice! Here are the pics of the project.

Here is some pics after beginning to cut out the rot...









Here is the fixed lift gate with some welding.



Here is the floor completely out, The biggest pain in the ass of a job. Took lots of precision work with a sledge and air hammer.



We took the time to rustproof the frame...



Here is my dad painting!







Here is the floor in, The bottoms of the 12X2 boards were covered in tar the day before.



The final results after the re-paneling and all the hardware installed...











I will bee sheeting the floor with steel but that will come later.

Don't ever ask me to do this again....
Enjoy!
Adam

__________________
Current Stable:
01 ML55 AMG
92 500E (a few mods)
87 300E (lots of mods)
00 Chevy 3500HD Diesel Box Truck
68 18' Donzi Marine
06 GT i-Drive7 1.0 Mountain Bike (with GPS!)

PREVIOUSLY OWNED:83 300SD, 87 420SEL, 88 420SEL, 90 420SEL, 86 560SEL, 86 190E 2.3-16V AMG, 94 E320

Impressive results!

__________________
1982 300GD Carmine Red (DB3535) Cabriolet Parting Out
1990 300SEL Smoke Silver (Parting out)
1991 350SDL Blackberry Metallic (481)

"The thing is Bob, its not that I'm lazy...its that I just don't care."

looks so much better

Nice job. Want to do it to mine??

__________________
On some nights I still believe that a car with the fuel gauge on empty can run about fifty more miles if you have the right music very loud on the radio. - HST

1983 300SD - 305000
1984 Toyota Landcruiser - 190000
1994 GMC Jimmy - 203000

https://media.giphy.com/media/X3nnss8PAj5aU/giphy.gif

That looks good! Hard woods are usually used on trailers and truck beds.

__________________
1999 SL500
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200

Very nice job.

__________________
1977 300d 70k--sold 08
1985 300TD 185k+
1984 307d 126k--sold 8/03
1985 409d 65k--sold 06
1984 300SD 315k--daughter's car
1979 300SD 122k--sold 2/11
1999 Fuso FG Expedition Camper
1993 GMC Sierra 6.5 TD 4x4
1982 Bluebird Wanderlodge CAT 3208--Sold 2/13

Adam,

I think you did goood for what you had to work with. The fact that it is diesel-powered redeems the whole job in my mind. That, and the liftgate apparatus.

The UHaul boxes are worth their weight in gold, but diesel versions of them are not. Personally, I like working on the wood-surface floor, rather than metal. Wet metal floors aren't very fun to work on when moving.