How about canvas? That wouldn't trap moisture like hose or tubing would, but would provide some paint protection. I think I could stitch up a couple sleeves using the wife's sewing machine pretty easily. I seem to recall that my dad's '51 GMC shop truck had something like that. Although he really didn't care about paint damage. The tailgate was used as a work platform a number of times, so chains were definitely used.
I like Jon's heat shrink trick for the hooks. I'll definitely do that.
