In loving memory of Kenis D. Keathley 6/4/81 - 3/27/22 Loving father, husband, brother, friend and firewood hoarder Rest in peace, Dexterday

Bed liner benefit

Discussion in 'The Wood Pile' started by Yawner, Aug 25, 2019.

  1. Yawner

    Yawner

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    I see a lot of trucks with a bed liner and I've never had one! What good does it do? I mean, for firewood scroungers. I could understand someone like my nephew, who has a new truck every 3 years and has never seen anything other than asphalt, so, I guess he could say it helps trade-in. But a firewood truck is going to get dirty and take a beating. Do they help, is a bed likely to get dented such that it matters? Honestly curious about this.
     
  2. Locust Post

    Locust Post

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    I like having a bed liner. I think the rounds slide in and out better.
     
  3. amateur cutter

    amateur cutter

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    Imho, if you use your truck like a truck & don't live in rust country they're not necessary. The spray in liners really help avoid rust & paint damage. The plastic ones are slippery & loads slide all over. So do your boots. Not sure if that helps any.
     
  4. buZZsaw BRAD

    buZZsaw BRAD

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    Does help with sliding in and out. I've always had one in my PU's. They do get dented and holed. If you put one in use undercoating first to help with any moisture that gets underneath, which will.
    Any stuff in back does slide a lot easier. Had a full unit of paver bricks slide forward when I hit the brakes too hard.
    I have a Harbor Freight hand crank "conveyor" for unloading. Slides better over the plastic. If I ever get another truck in the future I would go with a spray on liner, IMO.
     
  5. Chaz

    Chaz

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    Current truck has a bedliner, but it was in when we bought it.

    See no reason to remove it, but never saw any reason to purchase/install one.

    As you said, a work truck will get dented and scratched, it's what you got a truck for.

    $.02
     
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  6. CDF_USAF

    CDF_USAF

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    A good plastic one helps avoid most of the dings and dents, but they're slippery, and sand/dust can get underthem and sands the paint off in areas. You can also screw a board to them to keep stuff from sliding if it doesn't have the divider pockets that never work for me

    A typical hard spray liner with scratches and traction but no so much with dents, it's nice that stuff doesn't slide around but sometimes that sliding is helpful when unloading. If not repaired when they start to fail, they can trap moisture under and really get some stuff started. Rhino liner is really nice and kinda does both but pretty pricey.

    My 98 f150 doesn't have a liner, if I was to get one it would be a drop in plastic liner. Cheaper, quicker and when it fails it is remove and replace. My 92, had a factory plastic liner it's whole life and it was an abused work truck. We pulled it once for some reason, and it only had the paint scuffing, and this was a truck that was loaded daily for construction.

    So it really depends on what you're trying to protect from. And what you want to spend. I however like the drop ins.
     
  7. justdraftn

    justdraftn

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    I have had both. Slide in liner is worthless.
    Slippery to walk on and loads slid around.
    Traps moisture and aids in rusting the bed.

    Have had two done w/spray in. Much better.
    No way you can scratch that stuff. Really helps to
    prevent dents when loading stuff. I like that when it
    is wet, it's not slippery. I like I can load lumber w/the tail
    gate down and stuff will not slid out.
     
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  8. In the Pines

    In the Pines

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    Bedliners hold moisture, rust out the bed, create static electricity.
    Rounds do slide easy into the bed.
     
  9. TurboDiesel

    TurboDiesel

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    The ribbed design of the plastic bed liners will help to spread out the impact of heavy objects and help make things slide in and out easier(or too easy), but other than that, the spray-in liners are much better IMHO
     
  10. Eric VW

    Eric VW Moderator

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    Drop in on our Chevy.
    99% of the time, no issue with slipping, but then again I don’t get up in the P/U bed when it’s raining or wet.
    Straps and/or bungees to stop loads from sliding, but like others said rounds and splits do slide easier.
    Since the drop in has heavy ribs(creating room for air to move), moisture trapping hasn’t been a concern- there’s plenty of airflow under ours.
    I still check every other year or so... looks good under it.
    :yes:
     
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  11. RabbleRouser

    RabbleRouser

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    Had a Duraliner on my old truck that shrugged off a lot of abuse, like throwing firewood rounds into the bed from several feet away & tossing construction debris into without taking the time to be careful with every item. It absorbs impact and prevents dents very well. The bed would have been beat to hell without it.
    Yes, requires you to do something to secure your load against movement but also makes it very easy to load/unload, sliding heavy stuff forward & back instead of trying to lift it & they make load stops that fit into the grooves of the liner to prevent shifting. When I bought my next truck new in 07, I got the same liner for it right away. Didn't like how soft the spray in liner was and how it's impossible to slide heavy stuff in the bed. The new liner is a bit more textured with a little softness in the surface so it really isn't what I'd call "slippery" at all. Also has been made anti-static as opposed to the old ones.
    I've taken the liner out a few times to do various work or just check and the new one has had most of the paint rubbed off the bed but the rust also can't take hold with that constant polishing action. I've thought of putting down the spray in liner and then the hard liner over it but the entire rest of my $40K investment in GM products is rotting to high heaven already so not worthwhile.
    I personally would go with another hard liner in the future but would spray it first since the paint just doesn't hold up under it. The metal on the new trucks is way too thin and soft to take any impacts without protection.
     
  12. metalcuttr

    metalcuttr

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    I have Line-x factory applied liner in my Tundra. I have had it in a Dodge Diesel and half ton as well. Never a complaint. On all of them I have put a mat down of heavy rubberized material resembling tire sidewall material or horse stall mat. You can buy them precut and fit for your truck or buy horse mat and cut your own. Mine is precut. Stops any sliding and cushions impacts. Of course your bed side walls are not covered. If you have a relatively new truck and want to keep the bed nice then by all means either spray in a liner or use the drop in type. If you plan to heave heavy rounds or splits, then the drop in may be the best bet but even those can split or break. I would not be treating my truck that way unless it was a dedicated older wood hauler. Even then it makes no sense to abuse equipment that you depend on!
     
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  13. jrider

    jrider

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    Never understood a bed liner. It’s a truck for Pete’s sake. I show off my dented and scratched bed with pride.
     
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  14. brenndatomu

    brenndatomu

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    That would be the ultimate in bed protection.
    FYI, when shopping around for spray in liners, do your homework, they are not all created equal...and many shops skimp on the prep work...and just as with a paint job, its all about the prep work.
    I had a spray in liner business when they first started to get popular, decided to shut 'er down when the competition started undercutting my price by skimping on the prep work. It was a part time gig anyways, and after it was all said and done I could make more money by working a few hours of overtime at my day job than I could in spending 8 hrs applying a liner. Was already working 60 hrs per week (plus 2 hrs per day drive time) so didn't really need more work at home!
     
  15. Locust Post

    Locust Post

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    My 99 F150 I bought out of North Carolina last year had the bed all scratched up. I sanded it, primed it, sprayed it with rustoleum, then had a drop in liner installed. Then when I got home I lifted it and sprayed under it with corrosion x
     
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  16. Horkn

    Horkn

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    A spray in liner adds a ton of protection to a bed. The drop in ones are nice to protect the bed, but as mentioned they are slippery and can cause rust after they wear paint off.

    I've got the factory spray in on my f150. I love that it's super grippy.
     
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  17. hovlandhomestead

    hovlandhomestead

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    The last Tundra I bought new in 2002 came with the Toyota factory drop-in liner. I replaced it immediately with a Line-X spray-in liner. After 16 years it had started to form a few rust bubbles in areas where there were dents, nicks and wear spots

    I sold that truck in early 2018 to pick up a new to me 2006 Tundra double cab that still had its original factor liner. After more than a year now, I have to say I really like it, especially after inspecting and noting no rust underneath it after 13 years of use.

    It is defiantly more slippery which aids in sliding things in and out. But it is not so slippery that objects move around with the slightest acceleration or deceleration. Maybe some drop-in liners are better than others in this regard, but when wet I haven't had any issues with it getting that much more slippery than when dry.

    With regard to firewood, it is nice being able to throw even heavy logs into the bed from a few feet away without worrying about denting the bed and damaging the liner over time.

    The only thing I like better about my old spay-in liner is that it was easier to sweep out after hauling a load of dirt or compost, since the material can get packed into the grooves which takes a little more time to get out.
     
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  18. J1m

    J1m

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    Bed liners are good for getting moose outta the woods! That’s the benefit I see!
     

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  19. Jon_E

    Jon_E

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    I bought my 2016 F250 last December and it had a plastic drop-in liner. I yanked it immediately and had Line-X done. I had a Combat bedliner in my old Dodge and that was the only thing on the truck that wasn't destroyed when I scrapped the truck. The spray-in liner is tough and nothing slides around on it (which can be a negative as well).
     
  20. blacktail

    blacktail

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    Another downside to the plastic liners is that they're painful on the knees. I was reminded of that yesterday when I retrieved a cooler out of the front of my dad's truck bed.
    My first truck had a plastic liner. Stuff slides. That truck was missing a lot of paint under the liner.
    My current truck has a spray-in. It didn't stop the bed from getting all dented up.
    For the 2 other trucks I owned, I put a bed mat in them. Keeps stuff from sliding around, protects the bottom of the bed as good or better than a spray-in, is cheaper than other options, and can be taken out in 10 seconds for cleaning.