Is there anyway to keep a wood bed looking good?

[oem4me]

Once finished, covering the floor with a mat can save it from abuse and prolong durability, as long as you are willing to remove the mat if the bed gets soaked from heavy washing or rainfall. It should do ok with getting wet, but really needs to dry out afterwards. I know because I once blew a nice original bed by leaving my mat in place after a heavy rainstorm. I lifted the mat several days after the storm had passed to find mold had gone wild under there. From that point, the nice bed turned to junk within a few months. Duh, lesson learned.

[jtrichard]

one thing i did not see (maybe i missed it) is you need to seal/paint both sides especially you guys in wet country the cupping you get is water soaking in the under side most likely

[FetchMeAPepsi]

For stuff that is exposed to the elements I've been using Rustoleum Spray on bed liner. it's easy to touch up so scratches when they do happen are just a matter of another spritz of paint.

I havent tried it yet (not to bed wood yet) but my thoughts are to get some good oak, coat it with preservative, and spray it down with rustoleum bedliner. itll be black like original but stand up to the weather like paint. And it'll be tough enough to use as a truck too. Just give it another little spray when things gouge it too deep.