DIY spray in pick up bed liner -what I learned?

Dargo · Jul 18, 2005

Glad to hear that you had good results. I used a roll on liner in my RTV. Basically, you're right, it's no more than thick paint with small bits of rubber mixed in. After finding out that it would take about 60 coats of roll on liner to get the same 1/4" to 3/8" that Rhino Liner is, I quit after 1 coat and had Rhino Liner actually applied over my cheapy roll on. Roll on liners may be better than nothing, but they do not provide any protection at all from impacts or from heavy scratches.

I haven't tried all of the roll on brands, but I can tell you for sure that Herculiner (sp?) and the one they sell at Auto Zone isn't worth a plug nickel. They were a waste of time and money at best. No more roll on for me.

I do agree that Line-X and Rhino Liner is an extremely profitable venture for the application stores. I am planning on doing the bed of my Yamaha Rhino. I may try your brand on that rather than spend the big bucks for the Rhino Liner brand. All I knew before was that I sure wasn't going to waste anymore money on the roll on type. Thanks for the info.

Bob_Skurka · Jul 18, 2005

I am giving serious thought to using this liner product on several projects.

#1) The pool shed floor, it is wood and needs to be replaced. A water proof coating would be great. I checked to see if this stuff can be applied to wood and the answer is YES.

#2) The Snow Trac restoration is begging for the underside to be sprayed with this stuff. The floor of the snow trac's passenger compartment is wood. It is exposed to the elements from the underside as it is laid over an aluminum square tube frame. Undercoating with a waterproof coating would be a great solution to add protection to make the restoration last longer.

#3) I may also use this on the inside floor of the snow trac. Stock is just a rubber mat covering, the spray liner would look better.

This stuff would be great for floor boards of tractors, just about anywhere in a Jeep CJ or Wrangler, coating an ATV, etc.

Cliff_Johns · Jul 18, 2005

Bob,

As far as a coating like this on wood, I generally recommend against that. The problem is that if water does get in, it doesn't get out. A small tear or worn away spot will rot out the rest of the wood quickly. You see this alot on boats that are fiberglassed. While the finishes are different, of course, the problem is the same. Wood lasts a long time if it can dry between uses.

If the wood on your vehicle is floor boards and they are boards, not laminated or plywood, you might consider some of the new decking that lasts basically forever and can be wet for extended periods. If your going to epoxy over them anyway, I don't see the downside.

Anyway, just think about how the boards will dry out if water does penetrate the finish.

Cliff

Bob_Skurka · Jul 18, 2005

Cliff, I did wonder about that issue. The floor of the cabin is plywood. I figured I would probably end try to encase the plywood completely?

Bob_Skurka · Jul 21, 2005

Here is a photo of the bed completed after the masking was removed.

Bob_Skurka · Jul 21, 2005

This is a detail shot of corner and the tailgate. You will notice that the spray on liner does not fully cover the top rail of the truck. Most services that spray these on completely cover the top rail to protect the paint from scratches. This truck will be getting a full graphics decal wrap that will completely cover the paint job, the decals won't stick to the rough surface of the spray in bed liner material so the bedliner was just sprayed over the inside corner of the bed rail, this will allow the graphic wrap to be applied over the exterior corner of the bed rail, it will make the graphic look better than if we had to cut it short due to the bed liner.