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Has anyone here replaced the floor panel of the bed?

Joe West

Arizona Virtual Jeep Club
Lifetime Member
City
Laurinburg
State
NC
Hi All,

I'm considering purchasing a replacement bed panel from classic to replace the seriously banged up floor of the scrambler pickup bed. I'm wondering if anyone has actually done this and if so, how difficult it is. It doesn't look terribly difficult, but I'm sure there are some hidden "gotchas" just waiting for me. I've attached a picture of the replacement sheet metal that I might be purchasing.

Thanks,

Joe

Here's the picture:

attachment.php
 

jeffs396

mini Scrambler
City
NE
State
OH
Should be pretty easy on your nice rust-free example Joe!

An air drill, spotweld cutter, clamps, and a mig welder should be all you need!

I would tack weld some square tube reinforcements onto the top of the tub rails before taking out the original floor though, maybe a tube across each of the door openings also for good measure :thumbsup: Just to assure no movement...
 

spankrjs

Scrambler Junkie
Lifetime Member
SOA Member
City
Biloxi
State
MS
Hello Joe:wave:

I used this exact floor piece in my current Scrambler rebuild. It fits great and looks just like the original:thumbsup:

As far as installing it, I have no first hand info to tell you since I let the body shop that did all my floorboard replacing and painting install it:shrug: It does look much better then my old one that was full of pinholes and was "wavy" :cheers:

HOWEVER, there was one problem with the piece I received. Underneath the floor piece, the end that sits closest to the tailgate, there are 3 reinforcement channels that are welded in place. One of these channels exact placement is critical because a body mount bolt threads into it. On my unit, these channels were not in the exact location that they should have been, all 3 channels are off by about 3/4" to 1". As a result, the body mount does not sit exactly in the center of the reinforcement channel as it should. I would definitely take measurements off your original piece to compare to the replacement panel to make sure these channels are in the correct location.:thumbsup: It will be easier to fix this issue before you install and paint the bed floor.

I did not check the reinforcement channels placements on my rear floor piece. Now it is too late to re-weld these pieces in the correct position on my Scrambler, seeing how the entire jeep is painted:banghead: I blame myself, though, I guess i should have checked this out before installing the piece, live and learn:shrug:

On mine, what i plan on doing to rectify the problem is the following:

All 3 channels have threaded inserts. The center channel is where the body mount is supposed to mount to. I plan on connecting all 3 channels with a piece of 1/4" plate steel, app. 6" wide and 1' long. I will bolt the plate to the two outermost channels. I will then drill a hole in the plate for the body mount bolt to thread into. I will have to cut 1/4" of height off of the body mounts to make up for the 1/4" thick plate. In a way, it will be stronger then stock, seeing as how the body mount will be bearing on all 3 channels via the plate steel "bridge", vs the stock setup with the body mount just bearing on one channel. My modification might help keep the bed floor from becoming "wavy", due to the weight placed in the bed being spread to all 3 channels:thumbsup: Sorry for the explanation, but I thought it might help others out:cheers:
 

spankrjs

Scrambler Junkie
Lifetime Member
SOA Member
City
Biloxi
State
MS
Curtis(ONE TON) had the same problem!!!


Did he reweld the reinforcement channels in the correct place before installing and painting the floor piece or did he not realize the problem until after it was too late:shrug:

Just curious how he solved this "problem":thumbsup:
 

croutman

Basic User
City
Gaithersburg
State
MD
Did anyone call Classic Ent to see what they said about this. Just curious I am going to order one of those also and wanted to see if they might fix it before it ships.
 

Joe West

Arizona Virtual Jeep Club
Lifetime Member
City
Laurinburg
State
NC
I'm going to call them before I order the part and ask them to send me the measurements or the drawing they used to create the panel. If these parts are not to factory spec, I may actually consider not purchasing them. After I contact them, I'll post a response here.
 

Joe West

Arizona Virtual Jeep Club
Lifetime Member
City
Laurinburg
State
NC
Hi Gang,

I sent the following email to this address: lamonte@classicent.com


/Begin Email/

Hi,

I'm interested in purchasing one of the parts you make for a Jeep Scrambler; The rear floor panel (bed area). I've attached the picture of the part from your web page to this email.

Unfortunately, multiple members of the Jeep Scrambler forum are reporting that your part has a manufacturing defect... the rear crossmember that contains the two rear body mounts is offset by .75" to 1" causing the body mounts not to line up with your sheet metal part.

Here is a link to the thread in the Jeep Scrambler forum:

https://www.cj-8.com/forum/showthread.php?p=208503&posted=1#post208503

I'm hoping you can address this issue by sending me the manufacturing drawing that shows all of the dimensions for the bed and support cross-members. I'll measure my actual Scrambler bed sheet metal and send you the measurements which should help you confirm whether or not you have a production issue. I'm happy to help out since it will benefit all of us who are trying to restore our Jeep Scrambler (CJ-8).

I suspect you are extremely busy, but I'd really appreciate it if you could get back to me as soon as possible. I'm posting this email in the online thread and with your permission, I'll post your response.

Kind Regards,

Joe West


________________________________
Joe West, MBA
Arizona State University Doctoral Student
Graduate Research Assistant
jfw@asu.edu

/End Email/
 

spankrjs

Scrambler Junkie
Lifetime Member
SOA Member
City
Biloxi
State
MS
Did anyone call Classic Ent to see what they said about this. Just curious I am going to order one of those also and wanted to see if they might fix it before it ships.

I meant to call them and tell them about this issue, but I got busy and kind of forgot about it:banghead:



Here is a pic describing what I am talking about.



The jig they use for these rear bed floor pans must be off, or maybe just the one I got is defective. I checked my other two Scramblers, which both have their original bed floors, and this re-pro piece is off by about 2". The problem has to do with the 3 reinforcement channels that are spot welded to the bottom of the floor. One of these channels should line up directly above the body mounts (the mounts that are inboard of the frame by the gas tank). As you can see, this channel is about 2" from being over the center of the body mount.

100_5217-1.jpg



All of my other body mounts lined up perfectly, and since I made no changes to the frame in regards to these two body mounts (one on each side), I think it is safe to say this piece was made wrong. It is a little too late now to burn off the spot welds and re-weld it, and I guess ultimately I blame myself, I guess I should have verified this piece before installing it, but I assumed (notice the first 3 letters of "assume" LOL) that it would fit since it was described as being a direct replacement. Live and learn. I already figured out a way to rectify this problem that doesn't deal with torches, welders, and ruined paint jobs, so I am not too upset anymore.

Pic of the other body mounts lining up.

100_5218-1.jpg
 
Last edited:

Joe West

Arizona Virtual Jeep Club
Lifetime Member
City
Laurinburg
State
NC
Hi Gang,

Below is the response I received. For those of you who didn't report this problem, I'd contact Lamonte and let him know... I suspect there might be a refund in it for you... who knows... it never hurts to raise the issue. Anyway... here is Lamont's reply to me (sorry for the all-caps but that is the way the email came to me and I don't have the time to retype it):

JOE THE SCRAMBLER GUY----------GREETINGS-----------UNFORTUNATELY WE HAD A
FEW REAR FLOORS THAT WERE NOT JIGGED UP PROPERLY----SUCH ERRORS ARE NOT GOOD
FOR OUR BUSINESS REPUTATION WHICH I STRIVE TO KEEP AS SPOTLESS AS
POSSIBLE---SUCH ERRORS HAVE ALSO INCONVENIENCED A FEW OF OUR CUSTOMERS WHICH
IS TOTALLY UNACCEPTATLE--WE HAVE SINCE MADE THINGS AS RIGHT WITH OUR
CUSTOMERS AS BEST WE COULD-------WE HAVE LIKEWISE MADE THE PROPER
CORRECTIONS-------BE SURE TO FURNISH US WITH MEASUREMENTS OF YOUR FLOOR AND
WE WILL CONFIRM BEFORE ANY SALE OCCURES-----------HAVE A GOOD
WEEK---------LAMONTE-
 

finorman

CJ-8 Member
Gold Member
Silver Member
City
ORLANDO
State
FL
I know this is a little dated, but how did it go? did it fit up?
 

CCFather

Member
City
Westminster
State
Md
I have just a small piece in the middle that needs replacing. I don’t need the whole bed floor replaced. Anybody know where to get a piece that fits between the wheel wells.
 

CHIEFWAHO

SOA VP
Lifetime Member
SOA Member
SOA Board Member
City
Thayer
State
KS
Pics of area you need? We did our own awhile back. Had a local machine shop make a die for our bead roller.
 

jatepper

Basic User
Lifetime Member
City
Vail
State
AZ
I am replacing a bed in one of my CJ8s right now with a Classic Enterprises bed. The quality looks remarkable and I think the fitment is spot on. Only down side to their beds is they do not have the drain plugs pre-drilled. Easy work with a hole saw, but you'd think they would just be there when purchasing.

My bed was not rusty at all, rather it had the waves some of them just get. Should be ready next week.
 

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