For All You Truck People

It's the slow season at my day job and so we are doing maintenance and upkeep. I don't have a truck but we have two pick ups for deliveries etc. that have roof racks that are in need of a new coat of paint, so that's what I'm doing today. Last week when I took them off, I had to remove the bed liner to get at the mounting bolts for one of the trucks. Holy Crap was it a mess under there!

Just wanted to suggest anyone with a bed liner might want to pull it off once a year to clean out and inspect because along with all the sediment, water had gotten in and rust was developing around the holes for tie down bolts towards the front of the bed. Hope this helps someone.

Also something you might want to consider before buying a used truck.

Water trapped underneath is the number one reason why I prefer a spray on bed liner, preferably Rhinolining. That plus those bolt on types allow stuff in the bed to slide around more. Most spray on is a rubber type, keeping the items in the bed from sliding so much.

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Originally Posted by wayne1956

Water trapped underneath is the number one reason why I prefer a spray on bed liner, preferably Rhinolining. That plus those bolt on types allow stuff in the bed to slide around more. Most spray on is a rubber type, keeping the items in the bed from sliding so much.

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Ditto, learned that the hard way. And is was a ford they like to rust anyway. But I love my ford trucks!

Yep same, thats the main reason why the bed on my truck's all rusted out. That and the road salt.

I've also heard of spraying the undercoat stuff in the bed before installing the liner can work too.

Trust me- rust is bad. I pulled a 1997 E350 box van off the road. You could stick your finger through a couple of the crossmembers that supported the box.

After that, I never drove the truck again!

The undercoating is definitely worth it. As for using it with bed liner, that's an interesting idea. I'd also wonder what would happen if you put bed liner on the areas by the wheels. It's ugly, but I saw a Suburban entirely painted in bed liner. It looks as good now as it did five years ago.

Wasn't it Sledge or KZ who did their trailer fenders with bedliner? Maybe they can tell us how those are making out...

I suppose if a guy wants to do an older truck he has to address existing rust, like doing a sandblast job or something...?

Jon.

i make it a habit to remove all the stuff out of the bed and sweep them out every couple of months, especially during the snowy months. Plus i always find stuff I've been missing or forgot bout.

I used duplicolor kevlar impregnated bedliner on the underbody, insides of the wheel wells, inside fenders, and the bed.

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Originally Posted by sawmilleng

Wasn't it Sledge or KZ who did their trailer fenders with bedliner? Maybe they can tell us how those are making out...

I suppose if a guy wants to do an older truck he has to address existing rust, like doing a sandblast job or something...?

Jon.

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It was Sledge on the trailer.

I have used the Roll on Bed-liner though on wheel wells of trucks and also about 8 inches up from the bottom, down the whole length of the truck.

Welp looks like I'm pulling a bedliner off my truck this spring.

No bed liner but have a 3/4'' piece of plywood for the bottom of the bed. same deal though stuff gets trapped underneath and rots the bed. pull it out a couple times a year and see how much bigger the rust holes are...clean it..then put the plywood back on;)

not too many people junk these rangers have only seen one at the yard and it was totaled beyond salvage.:(

for anyone dealing with rust or rot, use por15 - it converts the rust into a printable primer. Patch what needs to be patched, and spray or roll over it with bedliner. Don't forget to seal or it'll peel.

I don't use a bed liner but have gotten into the habit lifting the bed right off the truck every spring. That way you can get at everything and give it a good cleaning,scraping,painting, etc. The first time was difficult because the bolts holding the bed to the frame were rusty. The years afterwards weren't too difficult.

You can't really stop the rust but you can slow it down if you keep at it on a regular basis.

Wadamean "you truck people".>:)

I want to add to the spray in bed liner conversation. I used to do this as part of a service business I did for several years. Like everything else its the prep work that makes it last. The prep is to lightly sand every bit of the bed that is going to have the bed liner applied. Then clean it and wipe it down with a solvent.

They do sell the do it yourself products you can by at the auto parts stores(the ones that cater to pro's) works well.

I did some work for the local county school bus maintenance shop. They have service trucks with the large tool boxes on either side and they wanted me to replace the spray on bed liner on top of the tool boxes. This is when I discovered the use of the roller. I also didn't have to put a plastic over the entire truck and over spray no longer a concern. The reason they needed the bedliner replaced is because the last guy didn't prep at all, no sanding.


The prep is to lightly sand every bit of the bed that is going to have the bed liner applied. Then clean it and wipe it down with a solvent.

In the end I used a roller with loops instead of the normal nap on paint rollers. If you go to Lowes, Home Depot you can find the roller I am talking about.

I also had a product that was called "BedRug". This stuff is really great if you want a good looking truck bed that is very resistant. They advertise that you can pore battery acid on it and it will not be affected.

The way its installed is you buy a "BedRug" made for your make and model. You install adhesive backed Velcro stripes on the inside of the truck bed and then the bed liner is held in place.