Bedliners: drop-in or spray-in???

Boondox · Sep 14, 2003

I need to put something in the bed of this new Dodge, but am getting conflicting advice. The drop-in type is cheaper and provides plenty of protection from dents, but folks complain that it abrades the paint, is slick, and water/rust collect underneath it. The spray-in type doubles the cost, but is apparently bomb-proof and provides good traction. But with heavy loads what's there to prevent dents in the bed?

Help! /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif

Pete

hazmat · Sep 14, 2003

You are right on with your first comments

<font color="blue"> But with heavy loads what's there to prevent dents in the bed? </font>

I guess you need to think about how much protection from dents the plastic liner is going to offer.

Food for thought - A dented bed will last a long time, a rusted one won't. /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif Also, the bed is double walled so you won't see any dents from the outside.

My truck came with a plastic liner, If I was starting new, I'd have gone with the spray. I've also done the no-liner approach - that truck was really hurting /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif

yonahforge · Sep 14, 2003

I personally haven't had the spray in liner, but work with some folks that do nothing but rave about it. My current truck (98 Dodge 3/4 ton 4X4) has nothing but the scrapes, dents & dings on the factory bed paint.

I had a bad experience with a drop in liner. I had a 94 Mazda pickup (Ford Ranger rebadged) and had hauled some muddy junk in the back while we were building our house. It rained, and the stuff rode around in the truck for a while till I could get to the dump. A couple of weeks later, I was standing in the bed and realized that the floor was squishy. Pulled the bedliner out and had two inches of mud under the liner. /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif Noticed later that water would puddle in the back, and when you took off, it would hit the tailgate and go under the bedliner.

If I had the $$ I'd do the spray in liner.

Bird · Sep 14, 2003

The old '81 F250 I had until about a year and a half ago had a new drop in liner when I bought it (I looked under it to see what it was hiding before buying the old truck). Like you said, it was slick; an advantage when you wanted to slide something in or out, a disadvantage when you wanted something to stay put. It had screws around the top edge to hold it in and they constantly worked loose. The top "lip" covered the stack pockets, resulting in a problem with tying loads in. I won't ever have another one.

The '99 F150 I currently have had the sprayed in liner when I bought it. It's not slick, so it can be a little hard to slide stuff in and out, but otherwise, I think it's great. Definitely the way I'd go in the future.

Docsknotinn · Sep 14, 2003

I have had several drop in liners. I had one less expensive one that was a pain. All the others have worked out great. A few were in leased trucks and at the end I pulled the liner out. No Rust or dirt underneath but certainly small paint mars. I have one in my current truck and have had over 2,500 # of 23a Road material in the bed. I'm not sure I'd want to do that with the spray on kind. Mostly because I figure if rock gets dumpted on it or I hit it with a shovel that stuff will come off. I have never had a problem with the bed being slippery. Most of my stuff doesn't move at all and I spend many hous each month haulin down the highway with a load. I know a lot of people really like the spray on but doesn't it cost more ? /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif Dave

cowboydoc · Sep 14, 2003

I'm a drop-in man myself Pete and for all the reasons you listed. The spray-in doesn't provide much protection for dents. I throw alot of stuff around in the bed of my pickups. I've never had so much as a wrinkle in the bed. I know quite a few people with the spray-in and it dents just as easily with the spray-in as without it. Also I have not seen one yet that has been used that hasn't developed a tear in it somewhere.

As far as the paint rubbing off there is a little scuffing but never to the point where anything rusted or got to sheet metal. When they put the spray in liner in they take most all the paint off to get the spray in to stick. The bedliner does far less damage than this so I never understood that argument.

As far as sliding they make them now that are slide proof. Not the slick ones like they used to be. The best thing I like about the bedliners is that you can lock loads in alot of different ways with all the 2x4 slots they put in.

Personally I just don't see the advantage to spray in plus the best part is that I've found I can get a top of the line pendaliner no slip bedliner for $125 and the cheapest I have found the good spray-ins like Rhino is around $400. The cheap ones and stuff you use yourself is a joke don't do that at all.

cowboydoc · Sep 14, 2003

It is good to take the liner out once a month or so and clean underneath them. With the drop in liners it takes about 5 minutes.

JDGREEN4ME · Sep 14, 2003

This is kind of like asking hydro or gear? Based on usage there are good points on either side. I have used "drop ins" over the years and have never had the rust problems, etc. mentioned as problems. The surface of the drop in liner I have in my '02 Ranger isn't slick and holds items from sliding.

chim · Sep 14, 2003

I've had a couple drop-ins, and they are really slick with rain or snow. Loads don't want to stay where they are put, and I did have some problem with static electricity.

My current truck has a rubber liner that is made to fit the floor. There's nothing covering the sides, so depends on what you haul, this could be a drawback. Loads don't shift when driving. Just yesterday, I put a car battery in the back and travelled about 40 miles of a combo of backroads and city in the rain. It was sitting in the same spot when I got to my destination. If I haul something like sand or dirt that can get under the mat, I usually pull the mat and rinse out the bed.......................chim