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Troop seat matriel question

panzerjunky

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san diego ca
Hey hope your all doin fine
I need to replace a few slats on my troop seats and backrest just wondering if anyone might know what type of wood was used?

Right now the seats are fiberglass would like to change to wood as trying to restore to as issued 1971 cond.
Thanks Jerry:?:
 

Big CASE

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I just did mine ,, I used PT oak 1''x 4''x12' you'll need 12, and 1''x4''x 8' you'll need 6, and its nice . I have a little more to do to mine like sanding . the biggest thing to do is to look a the wood , check it for not-holds and bin's . 0 and it takes 87 or 90 5/16 by 1-1/2 'bolts and like 15 or 20 5/16 by 3"
 

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panzerjunky

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san diego ca
matiriel question

looks nice
I am still trying to decide how I am going to paint my Deuce if I go with the Nam era od green over the cammo I need to redo the fiberglass seats I have with wood. Hope mine turns out as nice as yours
thanks for the reply.
Jerry
 

dentman

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loosely related, Im looking for 2 replacement steel angle slats, my deuce arrived with missing/damages supports and collars. considered fab'ing it myself but decided I wasnt handy enough.
 

LanceRobson

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Hey hope your all doin fine
I need to replace a few slats on my troop seats and backrest just wondering if anyone might know what type of wood was used?

Right now the seats are fiberglass would like to change to wood as trying to restore to as issued 1971 cond.
Thanks Jerry:?:
For many, the fiberglass seats are more desirable. You can probably save a lot of work be offering to swap for some decent wood racks.

If you were closer, I'd swap.

Lance
 

GoHot229

Member
I see no point in wood instead of fiberglass, that is, unless the production dates were an issue, but then the military could have updated or replaced any number of parts throughout its service as a Military unit. The fiberglass seats I have seem nice enough and durrable too, without the re- painting issues that come up. Don't think the 'authenticity' will be an issue, they were war dogs, and as such, subject to harm. So with that in mind, anything the military could do to salvage, I'm sure was done as needed.
 

jimmcld

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Denton, Texas
Oak

I just did mine ,, I used PT oak 1''x 4''x12' you'll need 12, and 1''x4''x 8' you'll need 6, and its nice . I have a little more to do to mine like sanding . the biggest thing to do is to look a the wood , check it for not-holds and bin's . 0 and it takes 87 or 90 5/16 by 1-1/2 'bolts and like 15 or 20 5/16 by 3"

If they charged you for oak, you might want to go back and argue with them.
 

SCSG-G4

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jimmcld, I agree! That's pine not oak! None of the oak I've ever seen had anywhere near that much in knots, or was that light. I think the specs call for red oak, which is what I've used in the past, but to re-do and entire back is going to be some big bucks. I personally would prefer the fiberglass seats to the wooden ones, as there is a lot less maintenance, but southern California has a far different climate than South Carolina!
 

Jinx

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I would be more than happy to trade my wood seats for fiberglass. Just need to get to Washington state to make the trade. :-D
 

Big CASE

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NO, it is PT OAK I have work with it a lot doing semi trailers decks & my house floors.
if it was Pine it would have a lot of sap coming out of it and look very yellowed .
and here in FL they use a lot of live oak too , I thought of using teak wood but I did not have any.. any of you that want the fiberglass troop seats try calling John Winslow and asking him yet ?
 

mckeeranger

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Eastern Kentucky
Deck material?

Anyone ever consider using the composite deck material to replace the wood slats? It looks like it would look like wood but last longer.

I'm just wondering if anyone has tried it because I'm not sure if it would be strong enough when it's ripped down to only 3" wide. I hate to waste a bunch of money if someone else has tried it and it wouldn't work.

Thoughts?
 

steelandcanvas

Well-known member
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Southwestern Idaho
Anyone ever consider using the composite deck material to replace the wood slats? It looks like it would look like wood but last longer.

I'm just wondering if anyone has tried it because I'm not sure if it would be strong enough when it's ripped down to only 3" wide. I hate to waste a bunch of money if someone else has tried it and it wouldn't work.

Thoughts?
This has crossed my mind several times. The cost of the material makes experimentation undesireable. If I ever find some scrap, I'll rip it down and see how it holds up.
 

mckeeranger

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I decided to go with 5/4 decking. Ripped down the middle, it yields 2 2-3/4" boards. The original slats in our truck appear to be 3". I used a router with a 3/8" radius bit to match the edge I cut to the factory edge.

The 5/4 decking is a little thick, which is OK with me, but I had to narrow the ends to fit into the corner uprights on the headache rack.

When sitting in the driver's seat, looking over my shoulder, the top slat in the headache rack was right in my line of sight. I decided to cut it out of the way even though I think the top one looks better solid.

One down side to modern treated lumber, it takes a while to dry out enough to hold paint. I don't plan to paint the whole truck until spring anyway, so it should be dried out by then.
 

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stumps

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Maryland
NO, it is PT OAK I have work with it a lot doing semi trailers decks & my house floors.
I think someone is pulling your leg! To my eye, that looks just like southern yellow pine.

Got any close up pictures, say from 18 inches?

-Chuck (a tree farmer)
 

LanceRobson

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Pinnacle, Stokes County, NC
Leaving aside the "That Aint oak" and other posts for a moment, the original question was "What kind of wood..."

The seats I've seen and worked on are mostly hickory. We one time referred to the MILSPEC to have slats locally fabricated and it was mind numbing. It read something like "Material to be of 90 % clear hickory (grade as specified by the Forest Products Board and graded from the poor face) with essentially vertical grain orientation (no more than 30 degrees pitch from vertical) as referenced from the long face. Exhibited annular growth rings to be no more than 17 per lineal inch and no less than 10 per lineal inch as referenced perpendicular to the predominate grain orientation. Yadda, Yadda, Yadda......"

Holy smokes! All we wanted was a plank that wouldn't leave a splinter in Joe's butt!

Getting paint to adhere has always been a problem. Automotive paints have never had the elasticity to long survive the humidity driven dimensional movement of wood.

Fiberglass slats look good but won't tolerate shock loads like tossing firewood into the bed as well as wood. Also, if you get a wood splinter in your butt, you can rely on "buddy aid" to get it out. If you get a fiberglass splinter in your butt you are going to an emergency room or urgent care center.

Modern pressure treated woods (ACQ) are galvanicly corrosive with most metals. Keep an eye on them.

BTW as a cabinet maker and finish and trim carpenter, I'll say, "That aint oak" too. Looking at the growth rings, the spike knots coming from both edges etc. I'd also guess it is SYP (southern yellow pine) or SPF (spruce, pine, fir) of No. 2 common grade. In either case they came from trees about as big around as my thigh and the show none of the sap wood or wain that small diameter oak would exhibit.

Lance
 

hndrsonj

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I also agree with the "that isn't oak", but in addition I am pretty sure the slats aren't 3.5" wide. Since I don't have my deuce here I can't confirm that but it looks like they need to be ripped a bit.:wink:
 

Recovry4x4

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Well, after dealing with wood provided by Cranetruck, I'd be forced to send out for yellow locust for any of my projects. The stuff just about wears like iron. More than you need for troop seats but makes one heck of a truck bed floor.
 
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