Bedliner question

[supton]

Contemplating a truck (been for a long, long time). I figure I have a couple of options for protecting the bed: do nothing and hope for the best, have a liner sprayed in, or find a rubber mat. Not interested in plastic liners, at least I don't think I am (or am I?).

Truck won't be used day, day out, moving say construction stuff. Worst loads I could see is if I loaned it out to friends and they moved firewood. Me, I want it for towing and the occasional moving of things; I'm sure when camping I'll have stuff in there. I'm torn about getting a cap or not for this, I'd say 50/50 for that. It would live in salty NH, see winter driving, and obviously I want reasonable lifespan out of the truck.

Hoping for the best seems foolish, although if it was always covered with a cap it might not be that bad, actually. A rubber mat would help, and should be less expensive than spray in liner. But what are the drawbacks to the spray in liner? I was reading lots of reviews, then came across some where people complained about it rusting anyhow, others complained about color fading--I'm guessing I wouldn't care about color fade, and as long as it lasts longer than untreated, it should be all the better, right?

If I have a liner sprayed in, that can be applied at any time, right? The shop would do all the proper prep work required for whatever it is, right?

 

[Stewart Fan]

I've had Rhino and Line-X. This truck I'm using a rubber mat. The mat was about $75,a sprayed in liner is over $500.

Both the Rhino and Line-X I had were black. They both faded to a charcoal gray over time. Both companies sold a product to keep the liner looking new,but I never used them.

The current spray in liners are available in colors and a UV resitant material thats not supposed to fade.

 

[meep]

a cap plus scrap carpet works nicely, especially if you crawl in there to grab stuff.

spray-in liner materials can be DIY, in either spray or roller form.

professional spray-in tends to be much thicker from what i've seen.

no need for an expensive liner if you have a cap.

New caps COST but look very nice. they will not necessarily help mpg.

 

[Doog]

My friend did the DIY roll on liner. Worked very well. Easy to apply as well.

 

[jhMalibu]

I have a Bedrug and a tonneau cover (velcro, not the snaps). The rug is nice when you have to get in the bed and don't want to mash your kneecaps. Stuff slides around less too.

Rubber mat + carpet scraps would do the same and cost a lot less.

You can hunt on CL for caps. Let someone else pay the new cost. Caps are good for keeping good people honest.

For roll and spray bedliners, the paint has to be compromised for proper adhesion. Better to leave your bed alone and let it get some character and then get it relined. Be more worried about rust on frame nooks, rockers etc.

 

[Coprolite]

I took the plunge on a Line-X Premium that isn't supposed to fade.

I think it makes the truck look a lot better and will keep it looking new. Of course, I will also be getting a tonneau cover sooner or later but keeping the possibility of rust to a minimum and providing a nonslip surface makes it worth it for me.

I am hoping that I kicked the rust issue by choosing to live in Texas. I didn't bank on staying here forever, so I bought a 4WD. I might end up being just another guy who never leaves the pavement or drives in the snow, but I won't lose one wink of sleep if I am asked by my company to move to snowy climes tomorrow.

 

[supton]

Oh, I was planning on immediately hitting it with some rust prevention, well, as soon as possible anyway.

On the DIY bedliners, I read good and bad for it. I don't plan to get rid of the truck for a while, but I hate doing things that remove resale, and, over the long run, does it cost that much to have it done right? Just the issues of paint prep worry me. I don't like doing things improperly, and then having someone else fix it for me ($$$) or annoying the next guy down the road.

Some good thoughts. I might skip the spray in, I could always add later by the sounds of it, with very little loss. I just didn't want to compromise adhesion, but, if they have to scuff the surface, it sounds like scratches won't matter. I can always try a mat out for a while.

 

[Donald]

Why not the plastic liners? My Dodge Ram has a plastic liner and cap when I bought it and both seem fine.

 

[rjundi]

Do nothing......

My father in law drives a 2000 Ford F150 that has a simple mat with 295,000 miles. It first 150k were use as Construction site truck. There is barely any rust back there even on scratches all over and portion of paint gone.

This truck has been living for 4 years now 500' from the Atlantic ocean so its exposed to salt.

I think personally its more cosmetic than for longevity.

His previous F150 had 525,000 miles and no paint left in bed. It was structurally fine on the inside.

 

[SteveSRT8]

We own Silverados both with and without sprayed in bedliners and the beds simply do not rust anymore.

The only body panel on a GM truck that is not galvanized is the roof. I'm sure most competitors are similar.

 

[supton]

Do they do a good job on the rails? I mean, if I put a cap on, and off, and on, and off, and ... I'm sure it'll take a bit of a beating. The bed rails that is.

Good that they are galvanizing. Did they not galvanize the rockers a few years ago? I was always amazed at my parents Astro, that was an 87, and it spent 1990-2000 on the Maine coast. The front bumper go sandblasted, but just surface rust. No rust through in the 250kmiles we put onto it. Yet I can find lots of 5-10 year old NH trucks with serious rocker issues, and sagging cabs, etc.

Great, I'm derailing my own thread...

 

[SteveSRT8]

Originally Posted By: supton
Do they do a good job on the rails? I mean, if I put a cap on, and off, and on, and off, and ... I'm sure it'll take a bit of a beating. The bed rails that is.

Good that they are galvanizing. Did they not galvanize the rockers a few years ago? I was always amazed at my parents Astro, that was an 87, and it spent 1990-2000 on the Maine coast. The front bumper go sandblasted, but just surface rust. No rust through in the 250kmiles we put onto it. Yet I can find lots of 5-10 year old NH trucks with serious rocker issues, and sagging cabs, etc.

Great, I'm derailing my own thread...


My personal truck is an 05 that has a fantastic spray on bedliner by Line-x. It wraps up and over the rails and looks really nice. Never an issue.

Note that my new van will be Rhino lined from the seats back EVERYWHERE. It adds 100 pounds but is incredibly effective at stopping rust, in our biz that kills your truck.

 

[JHZR2]

I have a rubber mat and a tonneau. Problem with the bed mat is that the wheelwells can get scuffed bad.

My concern with spray bed liner is if any pockets or delaminating occurs, and then you have an enclosed, wet environment for rust to form.

 

[Silverado12]

I had a bed mat in my last truck and it worked well. My Silverado came with a drop in liner and plastic bed rail covers. Agri-Supply has bed mats cheaper than anyone, if you have one near you.

 

[jhMalibu]

Originally Posted By: supton
Do they do a good job on the rails? I mean, if I put a cap on, and off, and on, and off, and ... I'm sure it'll take a bit of a beating. The bed rails that is.



Caps are heavy enough, in my opinion, that you won't be throwing it on and off at a moment's notice. That routine gets really old quick.

 

[hattaresguy]

I never understood the bedliner thing. Why keep the bed perfect with a plastic cover or paint? So when you scrap the truck you can take it out and say WOW its like new, OK crush it!

Just buy the rubber mat to keep stuff from sliding around and call it good. Who cares if it gets chipped up its a truck!

I have a roll up bed cover on my truck because I carry big things all the time and need the full 8ft which a hard one won't give you. The roll up one keeps the bed dry, snow out, and hides tools in parking lots.

 

[DBMaster]

^Agreed. But, I am willing to bet that the majority of truck buyers are not buying the vehicles for their utility. And, besides, this is BITOG, kingdom of the OCD people.

 

[supton]

You could ask, why bother putting that plastic on leading edges of the hood--rest of the car will rust, so why bother protecting that?

I figured, it's protecting the paint, just like undercoating/etc. Not sure why it's not standard equipment these days. I know I've seen a number of older trucks with big gaping holes in the bed (granted, the rest of the truck wasn't much farther behind).

 

[cchase]

The trouble is, with no protection the beds will rot out far before the truck has otherwise lost its usefulness.

Originally Posted By: hattaresguy
I never understood the bedliner thing. Why keep the bed perfect with a plastic cover or paint? So when you scrap the truck you can take it out and say WOW its like new, OK crush it!

 

[exranger06]

If you decide on a spray-in liner, go with Line-X or Rhino Liner. Don't go to some independent shop. You want a national chain company that won't go completely out of business any time soon, and has a lifetime warranty. I had my bed sprayed at an independent shop about 5 or 6 years ago. They were apparently very lazy and didn't do a good job prepping/sanding the bed. Now it's bubbling up and peeling away in places. It came with a lifetime warranty, although that now doesn't mean squat since the shop went out of business 4 years ago...