How hard is it to stud your bed to frame bolts?

[72step]

I'm working on a stepside bed and wondering if you all can give me any pointers on how to stud the bed bolts so you don't have them show on the wood side. I'm working on a 65 but these beds are all the same and I figure there's more hits on the 67-72 side. So I was looking at my cross brace supports and it looks pretty straight forward--just weld like a 1" or 1.25" bolt to the center of the hole on bottom of the cross brace right? What am I missing? I'm thinking then just tape the threads with electrical tape so they don't get damaged when you're lining it up. Any info you all can give me is much appreciated!

On a slightly separate note; I'm cutting my own trex composite board for the floor and I'll be using new stainless strips.