I have a '49 3100 with stock suspension and I made the bed wood out of a skeleton of 1/2 inch square tubing (looks like the side of a shark cage) sandwiched between two 3/32" thick aluminum sheets covered with carbon fiber, with stainless steel bed strips. It is much lighter than bed wood, and I can feel it in the seat of my pants going down the road.
I am contemplating adding some steel bars to the inside of the frame rails at the rear to improve my ride without having something sliding around in the bed.
