The metal strips on that flat bed I have from the 53 GMC aren't the same idea as the pickup bed metal strips.
These on the flat bed are a "Z" profile and slip under one board and over the next. They were also welded to the cross members, not bolted.
I'll look in my pictures, I think I have some good ones of the exact style/make of the bed you're rebuilding, and I think they are similar to pickup truck bed strips.
Grigg
