My dad (PO) tells me that when the wood bed rotted away, he made a bed out of 1/8 inch steel and "plug welded it." That's right: he bolted the custom-made bed down to the frame, cut off the bolt heads, then filled the holes up with weld, grinded smooth.
Anyone ever hear of such a thing being done to replace a truck bed?
*If I ever need to remove the bed....oh my!