Drop in bed liners?

[Squareforceone]

Do any of you guys have a drop in or plastic bed liner in your truck? I really want one but i have only found one website that sold them and am not sure where to buy all we have around here spray in which i DO NOT like

[Sillyoldman]

Originally Posted by Squareforceone

Do any of you guys have a drop in or plastic bed liner in your truck? I really want one but i have only found one website that sold them and am not sure where to buy all we have around here spray in which i DO NOT like

When the wood in my truck was in its latter stages of rot failure I bought one. Granted it was for my '71 it was also a Universal fit liner. IIRC it was made by Pendaliner. I bought mine locally no problem. I gave it away a long time ago to another board member after I replaced the wood.

http://www.penda.com/fitmytruck/pdfs...-%205-2010.pdf

[Dalaigh]

I'm not trying to change you mind, but drop in bed liners tend to be slippery and cause stuff in the back to move more then desired, plus they cause rust to form faster and spread quickly. When water gets behind it, it pools and the holes that drain the water at the front of the bed plug. My dad works at a body shop and when trucks come in to have beds fixed he says 3 out of 5 had bed liners in and they were the cause.
Just some food for thought.
Duraliner makes the best drop in, it's a three or four piece. It comes with a rubber floor so you can lift it out clean and put it back with ease.

[mr48chev]

I have to agree with everything said. Plus you can't give them away (well you can but it takes some effort) when you want to get rid of them. I can't remember the brand of that one but it was a week old when he pulled it out and the cost on it was well over 200 and I couldn't get 50.00 out of it and finally gave it away on Craigslist. His was covering up holes from the fifth wheel hitch that a previous owner had had in it.

Good for covering up a bed that is beat up in the inside though.

[2badgn]

I went from a Drop in Duraliner in 1984 to a hot spray-on Line-X in 2010.

The drop ins can cause rust to the bed, they retain water and debree under the liner, can cause static electricity, sliding of cargo, take up alot of bed space and get ugly fast.
When I had a drop in, everytime it would rain or I would wash the truck and back out of my driveway the next day ,lots of water would come out of the bed. This doesn't happen with spray ins.

The Line-X was expensive but it is warrantyed for life. if it rips or tears, any Line-X dealer will fix it for free. Theres more cargo room and it looks nicer. It is sprayed hot and dries almost immediately.

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[chevymotocross]

2badgn, your truck looks amazing for being in the North East! Looks like you daily drive it. What type of rust proofing did you do to the truck?

[terryj]

2badgn, Man! what an improvement, that really look much better than your drop in liner. Is that the same as Rino liner?????

[78 Big10 454]

Squareforceone, I agree 100% with Dalaigh, mr48chev and 2badgn. I couldn't get rid of my bedliner fast enough and go to Line-X.

[2badgn]

Originally Posted by terryj

2badgn, Man! what an improvement, that really look much better than your drop in liner. Is that the same as Rino liner?????

While they r both spray-on bedliners, Line-X and Rhinoliner are a litle different. LIne-X is sprayed hot and seems to have a smoother finish, Rhinoliner is sprayed cold and tends to have a more rugged finish.

I researched this alot last year before I finally decided to go with Line-X. It is also used in some government buildings. With Line-X, there is also the option of getting the bed the same color as your truck.

[James McClure]

Like 2 bad I live in the north east. I did a frame off restore about 2 years ago and went with a spray in liner but kept the drop in handy just in case I need or want a little more protection. I rarely put anything in the bed, I have a 16 X 8 trailer for that, but one never knows. I went one step further though. See as I had the whole truck torn appart I went ahead and sprayed the inside of the doors, cab underside, front inner fenders, bottom of the bed and the frame. Should have done the tanks but forgot. Expensive for sure, but I feel well worth it in the long run. Some pics in the long bed area. jim

[DetroitDan]

I had a brand new drop in plastic bedliner in my truck when I bought it. Took it out because I don't like them, particularly because it was an over the rail type and it wore the paint off the top of the bedsides in no time it all. I put stainless bed caps on to cover that up. I considered a liquid type bedliner, but never did it because I sometimes want to be able to slide things around. I have a roll off cargo unloader, ez-handler I think it's called. That requires a slippery surface to work. Also I carry sand salt mix in the bed in wintertime, and it makes it easier to shovel off, then when it's almost gone I can just drag the tarp out the back.
My bed was several years old already when I got it, it had holes from a gooseneck hitch and dented inner fenders from axles sliding around. Took a year or so to wear off the paint, then another year to wear off the primer, then the galvy, then I still had a few years worth of metal to wear and rust through. My goal wasn't to preserve the bed indefinitely, it was to use the bed as it was intended for it's entire useful life. I finally broke down and bought a good used replacement bed when the old one was 13 years old and still totally functional but looking a little rough. Before I could change it over a tree fell on the truck and wrecked the old bed. I bet my new replacement bed will last the life of the truck no matter how I take care of it. And my replacement bed cost less than a spray in liner. I was going to try the roll-on liner because I could do it myself and it's affordable, but I never got the time and had to put the sander in service this winter. Probably use it on the 82 instead, just to try it.

[DetroitDan]

As for toughness, the spray in stuff is tough enough for regular duty homeowner type stuff, but for hardcore commercial use it is easily destroyed. I worked for a place that had a bunch of Chevy trucks, before putting a new one in service they all got a new spray in bedliner and a backrack. Loading and unloading them with forklifts, carrying ever kind of tool and equipment and material imagineable, the bedliners looked terrible in a matter of months, and in a couple years they were all peeled up and split and cut. They could have been warranteed and repaired, but we couldnt afford to take a truck out of service to have it done. These trucks got up to some really high miles and were done in 5 years and over 300k. The beds were still working and not rotted out yet, but the truck was near the end of it's life. So was the bedliner worth it? The steel bedfloor would have lasted the 5 years either way. I jsut don't see the sense in having a well preserved bed on a worn out rusted junk truck on it's way to the scrapper.

[pig rig]

I found that drop in liners make great sleds in the snow

If you still have your heart set on a drop in liner, just keep your eyes open along side the road and you'll find on eventually

[2badgn]

Guess it all depends on your needs & what u will b using the truck for. I see how home use and commercial use r like day and nite.

But even if the life of the truck is only 5 years, an kind of liner- spray on or drop in will definitely protect the metal bed. I have seen some trucks with no liner and the beds r horrible, esp if u r hauling stones, blocks, bricks, etc. On a daily basis
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[DetroitDan]

Originally Posted by pig rig

If you still have your heart set on a drop in liner, just keep your eyes open along side the road and you'll find on eventually

Ha ha I saw one take flight at 70 mph on a freeway in Jacksonville Fla one time. It went way way up in the air, traffic was scattering like mad. Amazing there was no accident. It touched down in the high speed lane just before I reached it and slid over to the center median. Coulda killed somebody.

I still have my old one behind the garage, can't give it away and I've tried.

[russgt]

How hard is it to get the bed bolts out after the spray in is applied? To they make a cutter or something to break them free?

[Squareforceone]

Thank you for the info i am aware of most of this already i just wanted to know where to get a drop in not what liners the best. I DO NOT want any form of spray in like rhino lining at all. And for the person who said it up there about dual liner i checked there website one time and they only mad for trucks as far back as i think '99 or so other wise i would go that route

[pig rig]

Originally Posted by russgt

How hard is it to get the bed bolts out after the spray in is applied? To they make a cutter or something to break them free?

cut around the head with a razor knife and push the bolt out

[2badgn]

No matter which type of liner u have, I always place a piece of plywood on top of the liner as a protection for the bottom of the liner itself.
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[tucsonjwt]

If you go with a drop in liner you should use a Paint Saver Pad or similar protection under the liner. It is "microfoam" like the thin foam used in packaging (probably the same stuff), or similar product to prevent rubbing the paint off the bed. For an over the rail liner I would use some sort of thin rubber for paint protection.
I had a 76 with Rhino Liner spray in and did not care for it. The liner discolored quickly, got stained from some chemical cleaners that spilled, and did not allow you to slide items into the bed. I talked with the local Line X guy and you can get one here in Tucson for $430 and add another ~$200 for an additive to slow discoloration. A drop in liner can be had for about $110 + about $30 for the Paint Saver Pad - so that is the way I would go, along with bed rail/bulkhead rail caps.
I also had a Bed Rug bed liner in my 2000 Silverado which I liked because it provided cushioning for the load, still allowed you to slide items into/out of the bed, and covered the space between the tailgate and the end of the bed. I did not like the fact that it retains water when it rains, which collects in the corners (seems to cause condensation under the carpet), and if you carry plywood or particleboard/OSB small splinters of wood will get stuck in the carpet and you just about need tweezers to get them out. The cost is about the same as basic Line X or Rhino liner (~$450). You will need separate bed rail and bulkhead covers.

[DetroitDan]

if the drop in liner scrapes up the paint, traps water and dirt and allows corrosion, then it's not much better than leaving the bed bare. And spray in liners do limit your ability to slide things in and out. They do keep things from sliding around when you don't want them to, but if it's anything big enough to do damage it probably ought to be tied down. I'm thinking of a pallet of product.
I don't care for the look of it sprayed over the tops of the rails. I get that it is to protect the tops if you put things over the sides, I just think it's ugly. I prefer some nice stainless caps. Wish I had some on my 82, I just recently changed the bed for a better one, had one coat of paint on it and noticed last night that the big huge tree limb I found lying beside the truck actually hit the bed when it fell. At first I thought it was just a wood scrap, but in the tight light I can see the metal is dented a little. It hit just on the outer edge of the bedrail and wnet down, so idk if a cap would have broken it's fall and prevent the dent, but it might have.
Getting sick of trees falling on my truckbeds.

[terryj]

Originally Posted by James McClure

Like 2 bad I live in the north east. I did a frame off restore about 2 years ago and went with a spray in liner but kept the drop in handy just in case I need or want a little more protection. I rarely put anything in the bed, I have a 16 X 8 trailer for that, but one never knows. I went one step further though. See as I had the whole truck torn appart I went ahead and sprayed the inside of the doors, cab underside, front inner fenders, bottom of the bed and the frame. Should have done the tanks but forgot. Expensive for sure, but I feel well worth it in the long run. Some pics in the long bed area. jim

James, if I lived in the NE I would for sure spray the underside of my truck, the salt they use on your road can be brutal to your rig.

[2badgn]

Originally Posted by terryj

James, if I lived in the NE I would for sure spray the underside of my truck, the salt they use on your road can be brutal to your rig.

I will add that on my "To Do List" for the spring. I was going to paint the bottom of the bed with POR 15 but I guess i could also have it Line-Xed.

[staggerd86c-10]

Well unlike everyone else, I put on a under the rail drop in liner cause the po didnt protect the bed at all it looked like crap so a spray liner would of looked horrible on my truck unless I got a new bed floor. The one I got is made by a company called trail fx and I paid 120 bucks for it brand new. I agree that when you slam on the brakes things go everywhere but thats why I never leave anything back there so it kind of keeps me from keeping things back there.
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[2badgn]

Before u can spray a spray-on liner, they have to sand down the bed so that the spray on will properly adhere to the metal.