Pick-up Truck Bedliners

[pajoube]

Would you put the liner under the bedliner?
Paul

 

[Bayrat]

This may sound stupid /w3tcompact/icons/hmm.gif, but yes there is (or at least was two years ago) a pad to further protect the bed from a liner's movement as you drive the truck. I looked at one at the time, but did not buy it. It is a breathable material that isolated the liner from the bed. Will be calling the dealer tomorrow.

 

[bgott]

I bought a new 2500 diesel in '98. You'll love it! A good website for these trucks is www.turbodieselregistry.com

 

[RobertN]

The big problem with the liner was how slippery it was. The RV people I worked with said the camper itself could slip too easily on the bed liner. A pad would be needed between the camper and the liner.

I got a new Dodge last spring. I love the truck, but am bummed, since my slightly older Lance camper would not fit... Dog gone new aero-bed designs/w3tcompact/icons/frown.gif

 

[PaulT]

So let me get this straight -
First you buy a truck to carry things in the truck bed.

Then you buy a liner to protect the truck bed from damage due to carrying things in the truck bed.

Then you buy a liner to protect the truck bed from damage due to the liner you bought to protect the truck bed from damage due to carrying things in the truck bed.

Then you buy a liner to protect things from sliding out of the liner you bought to protect the truck bed from damage due to carrying things in the truck bed.

Did I get that right???/w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif/w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif (I hope you all see how funny it really sounds)

BTW, my truck bed has spray in liner that was there when I bought the truck, but it works great and doesn't flake off. I have cut it occasionally when shoveling out gravel/dirt/etc.

 

[Bird]

/w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gifI'm with you, Paul. I never put a liner in any of my pickups; did put a thin rubber pad in one pickup just to keep things from rattling back there. And now my old '81 Ford had a brand new slide in liner in it when I bought the truck. With a new liner in an old truck, I told my wife at the time I'd bet there was a hole in the bed, so I looked under the liner to see and was surprised to find no holes./w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif Since the liner was there already, I left it there, but I can't imagine myself ever buying a liner.

 

[RobertN]

I took the liner out of my old Ford when I got the camper. It was a mans truck and all, so I thought it would be ok/w3tcompact/icons/grin.gif Really though, my friend is an RV mechanic, and said the camper would slip too much on the liner. Also, the ribs on the liner don't always line up with the ribs on the bed-bottom. The ribs can crush, allowing the camper to loosen against it's tie downs. The liner is actually a nice container for potting soil now!

For the new Dodge, I want to Rhino or Line-X line it. It has no liner right now. It's not a priority right now though.

It is as funny idea though, to line a liner..

 

[Egon]

Paul:

I didn't have enough courage to say that. No liner in my truck. Some people like them though and maybe we are all a little different. Perhaps fortunetly so. The world would be a very dull place if everyone were like me.

Egon

 

[RobS]

Egon, I'm a member of the linerless club as well. Plenty of dings, scratches and all out dents in my bed to show it's usefulness. I do like the spray on liners, maybe next truck /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

 

[duanet]

I like your way of thinking, Paul. But by the time I got ready to sell my old Ranger, the liner was about all there was left to the box! The liner came with it when I bought it 11 years ago, and the '99 I recently bought came with a Duraliner.

There's one thing that hasn't been mentioned, or at least I didn't see it. I bought a Load Handler - one of those mats that lay on the bed of your liner and you crank it back over the tailgate to unload your gravel or firewood or whatever - and it <font color=red>requires</font color=red> a liner because it <font color=red>IS</font color=red> slippery. I have found it to be very handy, and I am also pleased with the liners I've had. Obviously, I can't comment on the sprayed in liners.

<font color=green>Duane</font color=green>

 

[Egon]

Rob:
My truck box also has many dings and dents. I may paint it this summer as last summer I painted the bottom of the truck and am real happy with the results.
Our camper has had a permanent home on the truck for several years now as it gets used in the winter. It sits on a sheet of plywood with some blocking on the sides so it can not move.

Egon

 

[RobS]

<font color=blue>last summer I painted the bottom of the truck and am real happy with the results.</font color=blue>

Egon, that sounds like a very messy job! Is that considered routine maintenance up there /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

 

[Egon]

Rob:

It was not messy at all. The camper tie down bars and trailer hitch were very rusty. I also wanted to check the hitch as it had been seriously overloaded. What I did was sandblast the bars, hitch and other rusty areas but did not touch the frame or any of the factory rust coated body panels. Washed it off real well and then spray painted everthing. The hitch and tie down bars have held up well. The truck is high enough and I'm small enough I was able to crawl around underneath with no problem. Got real wet when washing it down but at 30 C that was no problem. This summer I have intentions of treating our other two vehicles the same way.

Now if Bill gets that spray paint bay set up it would really be a big help!

Egon

 

[PaulT]

I have one of those load handlers, and it DOES NOT work with the spray in liner I have. OK it works with a very small load, but put any amount of soil/gravel (when you really want the help), and the friction is too great for the load handler to overcome. The first time I learned this, I had quite a bit of shoveling to do (all while being careful not to cut the load handler sheet). I solved the problem by getting a 4x8 sheet of fiberglass paneling like you see in 7-11 bathrooms from Lowes. Whenever I go for a load, I put that sheet down first. It is much slipperier (is that a word) than even a plain truck bed, so the load handler works great, and can handle loads heavier than it was originally designed for. I have a shortbed, but its flexible enough to flex down in the bed with the tailgate up. When I open the tailgate, the sheet flattens out almost to the end of the tailgate, effectively covering the gap between the bed and the tailigate, so it really helps out. The only problems are that it cost almost $20, it has begun to crack, and its akward to store.

 

[looch]

<font color=blue>Plenty of dings, scratches and all out dents...</font color=blue>

Am I missing something here? Are you bragging about your truck bed being messed up? I don't understand. I spent a total of 200 Canadian dollars protecting my truck bed. Now I can actually bounce logs out of the bed without damaging it.
Here are few more really bizarre things that I do:

I use floor mats in my truck,
my wife puts a table cloth on the dining room table,
I use a coaster under my beer on the coffee table,
And, get ready, I actually wash and wax all of my vehicles.

Why I should avert my eyes from a truck bed because it's a truck bed is beyond my comprehension. I do what I can to keep my things in the best possible condition.

 

[RobS]

Paul, I too try to keep things in the best possible condition. At the same time though, I use all my tools (including truck and tractor) to their fullest capabilities. That use generally results in “normal wear and tear” and I would never hesitate to use a tool for fear of “normal wear and tear”. I consider truck beds to be a wear and tear item. I’ve had trucks all my life and there is something psychological about that first bed scratch. Once it’s in there, I’m all set to use the truck for it’s intended purpose. I do like the spray on bedliners though, and my next truck will likely have one.

I keep the exterior in decent shape (other than the major bed dent from a tipping Bobcat… can’t justify the $$$ to fix that right now) and the interior is clean, complete with floor mats. Spotless, no. Clean enough to spot problems, definitely. Wash and wax a couple of times a year, no time for more than that /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

 

[Lane]

Wow... hot topic! From what I'm reading sounds like the ultimate would be to use the metal bed just like it came from the factory not to worry about dings and scratches and then have a spray in liner installed just prior to selling or trading the truck as they are so popular you'll probably get your cost of the liner back and sell it faster to boot! /w3tcompact/icons/clever.gif

 

[PaulT]

Now THATS a liner strategy that makes sense to me. Its probably what the guy who owned my truck did just before he traded it in!

 

[cowboydoc]

In all truth that's about right! When they spray that liner in they rough all the paint up anyway down to metal or a dull look to get the liner to stick to it.