DIY Truck bedliner? - CEG Archives

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I apologize for the non-Contour-ness of this post but thought someone might have some ideas.

Since my 'Tour died, I have inherited an older truck. It's in pretty good shape, but needs a bedliner.

Since I dumped so much $$ into trying to fix the 'Tour, I'm broke for a while. So, I thought that I would try to put a liner in myself.

All the kits I've run across are over $100. Anyone know of a product that is similar and might work? I'm looking for some sort of rubberized material that you can build up through layering... Maybe a rubberized garage floor coating or something?

Any ideas?

EDIT: I just found this Duplicolor kit on ebay. Anyone know anything about it? ebay listing

Originally posted by Former Contour Owner:
I apologize for the non-Contour-ness of this post but thought someone might have some ideas.

Since my 'Tour died, I have inherited an older truck. It's in pretty good shape, but needs a bedliner.

Since I dumped so much $$ into trying to fix the 'Tour, I'm broke for a while. So, I thought that I would try to put a liner in myself.

All the kits I've run across are over $100. Anyone know of a product that is similar and might work? I'm looking for some sort of rubberized material that you can build up through layering... Maybe a rubberized garage floor coating or something?

Any ideas?

EDIT: I just found this Duplicolor kit on ebay. Anyone know anything about it? ebay listing

Anyone?

have you researched herculiner? well known DIY bed coating.

Brother-in-law used it on his F-150 (dupli-color). Has had it for about 3 months or so with normal abuse (ladders, yard bricks, etc). It's held up alright. Does tend to "dent" a little and has somewhat wore off on the top part of the tailga te. I would most deffinetly recomend spraying it on if you do go with duplicolor. When we originally started putting it on, we rolled it and it wasn't sticking very well (it would not stick to the side of the bed, and was VERY runny). We eventualy picked up a sprayer and re-did it all. Came out great. Took about 3 hours to complete including masking, not bad at all. If it was my truck though, I'd be using Line-X's product or Herculiner. You'll pay 100-150 for Herculiner, but from my impression/ readings it's worth the money.

I have heard the DIY liners dont hold up nearly as well as the spray in (professional) ones. This is sourced from a chevy truck forum.

THe DIY jobs/projects can turn out just like a proffesional job. You still have to do all the prep by sanding and working imperfections to get a nice respectible and long lasting end results. some people just go out and buy it, slop it on and expect it to be a pro quality job, and i feel sorry for people with that impression.

What's wrong with a drop-in bedliner? I put a Dura-Liner in my '06 F-150 for about $165. My old '92 F-150 had a Dura-Liner from day 1 and I had no regrets. It gave me 14 years of protection from all sorts of hauling. It went with the truck to the new owner, my boss. Easy to install (less than 15 minutes with no prep work) or move to a different truck or to sell. Don't limit your options.

Scratches the [censored] out of the bed if you ever choose to remove it.. they scrape (the plastic) pretty bad, too. They are Flimsy, they rattle, and never stay 100% secure, either.

My dad has had bedliners in both his '92 and '02 F-150s since he's owned them. We took it out once on his 92 and it definitely didn't scratch much at all. I would just say make the extra 50-75 dollar investment and save the aches and pains of doing it yourself. Most of the time, you aren't ever going to want to take it out anyways.

Originally posted by Former Contour Owner:
Since my 'Tour died, I have inherited an older truck. It's in pretty good shape, but needs a bedliner.

Originally posted by CoupeofG6:
Scratches the [censored] out of the bed if you ever choose to remove it.. they scrape (the plastic) pretty bad, too. They are Flimsy, they rattle, and never stay 100% secure, either.

If it's an older truck, it no doubt has scatches in the bed already. If that's the case, how many more scatches can a drop-in bedliner cause? I don't know what kind of bedliner CoupeofG6 is talking about, but I never lost one out the back because it wasn't secure. And rattle.......it's a truck, not a BMW.

Originally posted by CoupeofG6:
Scratches the [censored] out of the bed if you ever choose to remove it.. they scrape (the plastic) pretty bad, too. They are Flimsy, they rattle, and never stay 100% secure, either.

I've also read that they can help rust along. Water can get in between the liner and bed?

Yes water can get between the liner and the bed, but if the gap at bed bottom and the header is clear, it lets the water drain out. Noticed that happening just the other day on my '06 F-150. Also, if water does get in there, it should flow out the back by the tailgate whenever you drive away. With the shape of the fluted ribs on the flooring, they not only add stregth but allow water to escape. As a matter of fact, I cannot drive away slow enough and not have the water exit out the back. I've been driving pickups for over 25 years and have seen everything that can happen in the bed of a truck.

Originally posted by Coolkuehl3:

Originally posted by Former Contour Owner:
Since my 'Tour died, I have inherited an older truck. It's in pretty good shape, but needs a bedliner.

Originally posted by CoupeofG6:
Scratches the [censored] out of the bed if you ever choose to remove it.. they scrape (the plastic) pretty bad, too. They are Flimsy, they rattle, and never stay 100% secure, either.

If it's an older truck, it no doubt has scatches in the bed already. If that's the case, how many more scatches can a drop-in bedliner cause? I don't know what kind of bedliner CoupeofG6 is talking about, but I never lost one out the back because it wasn't secure. And rattle.......it's a truck, not a BMW.

ANy truck I've ever been in, loaded crap in, etc that had a bedliner, it wa snever really SECURE. Not that it would fall out or something, but if you pushed down on one corner at teh top of the bed, the other side would raise up, crap l;ike that. As well as the tailgate piece is notorious for coming loose, although it usually sees the gist of most abuse. I dunno, drop in bedliners have thier positives, I agree, but in my experience with them, they haven't been "The Best". Im sure it matters, but all bedliners I've dealt with or worked with were manufacturer/ dealer installed (ex. Mopar, GM, and a few pendaliner drop ins)

As far as a truck should rattle, etc, etc, etc.. depends on the truck, really. Hell, I'll drop the cheapest thing I can find in a piece of junk pick up, but if I want a bed liner in my NEW truck that doesn't rattle... I'll reach for the spray on.

AS far as scratching the bed, go look at an 03-04 pickup truck with a delaer installed bed liner and pull it out (well.. don't, but.. ) TONS of small enough agragate get's under neat teh liner and does a number on the bed. I'll have to take pics of my uncles 05 Ram with a dealer installed liner. He pulle dit out a few weeks ago to get a cap installed and it's scraped to [censored] and had a TON of small rocks, salt, etc, etc. I see a drop in bedliner just as helpful/ hindering as a front hood mask or bra.

Just my opinion ofcoarse.

CoupeofG6 you mention Pendaliners. Not a fan of them. I prefer Duraliners. Seem to be made better. Never had a problem with the liner in my '92. It was an underrail type that "snapped" in place, the tailgate clipped under the gate and had an aluminum rail that went across the top of the gate. My new Duraliner in my '06 is fastened with the factory screws for the tie downs and the tailgate. It's not going anywhere. I guess it's a matter of preference and I'm a drop-in kinda guy.

My 2cents is what exactly are you planning on putting in the bed of the truck? I drive 3 to 4 different pickups in the run of a day. 2 have the drop in bed liner, 1 has the rhino lining and one has nothing. the 2 with the drop in liners the box is starting to go to shizzle (i.e bed is rusting or the liner is becoming warp and no longer fitting into the bed of the truck). the one with the rhino lining is starting to peel off the bed. Of course i'm working bridge construction and putting in and pulling out alot of different heavy equipment all day long. It all comes down to what you are planning on doing. My money would go into a spray on bedliner, over all a better quality and fit(for obivious reasons).

Originally posted by Coolkuehl3:
CoupeofG6 you mention Pendaliners. Not a fan of them. I prefer Duraliners. Seem to be made better. Never had a problem with the liner in my '92. It was an underrail type that "snapped" in place, the tailgate clipped under the gate and had an aluminum rail that went across the top of the gate. My new Duraliner in my '06 is fastened with the factory screws for the tie downs and the tailgate. It's not going anywhere. I guess it's a matter of preference and I'm a drop-in kinda guy.

My poor experience with drop in's probably has to do with all the one's I've used/ seen were cheap, lol.

Originally posted by Coolkuehl3:
I've been driving pickups for over 25 years and have seen everything that can happen in the bed of a truck.

Everything????

Anyone have any experience with the Plastikote paint on liner product? link

I liked the sound of it because it has rubber pieces in it...

I know this topic hasn't been brought up in a while but i saw a commercial for Herculiner and thought of this thread. It doesn't look to bad and it will cost about 100 dollars a gallon. Just keeping you informed!

Check out this link for more info.
herculiner pros and cons and info

My dad's Dakota got a Rhinolining the first week we got it, in '99 (it's a 2000) to this day, even after hauling huge rocks, piles of wood, bikes, furniture, and a lot of other things (42 inch LCD tv, all the building materials for my basement, EVERYTHING) there is only ONE scratch in the entire bed, near the tailgate. Go with the Rhinolining, it's just the smart way to go.