I removed the bed liner from my F250 to transfer it to the F350 yesterday. The bed of the F250 was somewhat shocking to see... lots of white spots, where the paint had rubbed away from the friction of the bedliner.

Is there anything I can do to protect the bed of the new truck from this type of damage?

 

Get a spray in bed liner. The plastic drop ins are known for wearing though the paint in the bed.

 

I've been warned by several people that the spray in liners don't last... they peel, crack, etc. So I gave up on that idea.

 

I have not seen that as much with LineX on friends vehicles a little bit with older Rhino Lining however that is part of what they are designed to do be a sacrificial layer so that you don't get rust etc. starting when you start tossing heavy blunt objects in your bed. Just my opinion I would get a spray in liner.

 

11 years having my old Inyati sprayed in liner (not even sure they're still around?) on my 2000 and it never peeled or cracked when I was living in AZ. I beat the heck out of it too, spilled oil, gas, etc out of my old atv's, loading/unloading generators, firewood, never had an issue. It started fading from the AZ sun but they had a spray that brought the color back. I have full faith in sprayed in liners, plastic liners are more durable but you get the scratching/rubbing on the factory paint, which over time will turn to rust since you'll get water/moisture trapped under it as well.

 

Thanks. My fear is the rust, and after seeing yesterday's damage, it became a priority.

 

Another option (although I agree spray in is the way to go) is to use fluid film or some other type of protective coating (like spray undercoating) prior to putting the plastic liner in. A friend had the underside of his plastic liner sprayed with foam undercoating. He hasn't had rusting issues that I know of. Just be careful to not plug up the drains - trapped water would be baaaad

 

Drop in liners cause too much damage to the bed of the truck, to the point of rusting if you don't check it soon enough.

Best thing to do is get a spray in liner like Line-X or Rhino. Though I prefer the Line-X more as the Rhino is too soft and very easy to cut and lift if you use the bed as an actual work truck, i.e. shovel comes in play. If the proper preparation work is done to the bed, the spray in liner can usually last the life of the vehicle.

 

The spray in liner is the way to go. I have had 2 trucks with the lineX in them and they are great. Both of them were full time work trucks and hauled any thing from lumber to landscape rock for ten years with no appreciable wear. They also help tremendously with impact damage preventing dents. The bends were the only thing that were still intact when they were traded.

 

I don't know how you deal with a plastic one, those things are like missle launchers, stuff slides so freaking fast on them I'm surprised my tailgate stayed attached a few times.

Buy a quality brand spray (I stump for Line-X personally) and it'll be heads and shoulders above a drop in. Since spray in liners depend largely on prep work, a good shop that specializes in them is usually a better choice than a general auto accessory store that deals in them part time. You want them to clean then surface really good, and for the installer to take his time taping everything, spraying evenly, etc. When we really gouge one of our Line-Xs (it's rare it's all the way through), we use black winshield adhesive to pack the crack. A line-x dealer in West Texas reccommended it to us actually.

 

Put one of the rubber bed mats under it. REALLY clean the bed then wax it. Put a rubber bed mat down then put plastic liner on top of it. Remove it nce a year and re wax.


Personally I would get LineX sprayed in the truck you will never have to worry about it again. I got my bed sprayed when I bought my truck simply becasue I have seen the damage drop in plastic bed liners cause.

I still bought a very heavy rubber mat and put in my truck after it was sprayed and when I haul gravel, dirt, mulch anything that needs shoveled out I throw a piece of 4x8 1/4 particle board in the back.

 

Are the new factory spray in liners as good as the LineX.

 

Everything that I've read points to it not being as good as LineX.

I have no complaints with it so far, but I'm not beating the heck out of it either...

 

Get a BegRug!!! Best thing you can put in your bed!!! Really! The only people that speak negatively of it are those who don't know what it is, think they know what it is, and have never used one.

I've put them in the last 4 trucks I've owned and will never go back to any other type of bed liner!

It is almost impossible to damage or destroy. The closest I got to damaging it was when I loaded a 2200lb part from a Cell Phone tower that had 4 resting points where all the pressure was. Those points were 1/4" x 10" metal beams that rested all the weight on the bed. All that did was put some indentions in the Bedrug. It didn't tear, cut, or even damage the liner and no damage to the bed at all! That weight distributed how it was would have broken a Plastic bed liner and dented the bed if I had a LineX liner. I've seen the damage to pickups that weren't protected like mine.

EVERY truck I'ved used a Bedrug in has never had any damage done to the bed of the truck. I actually remove the Bedrug and sell it on Craigslist when I trade in my trucks. When I remove them the bed literally looks BRAND NEW still.

I've used a Bedrug in the following vehicles:
2004 F150 KR
2007 Tundra CrewMax limited
2009 Ford F250 SRW CC KR
and on my 2011 F250 Lariat Ultimate CC


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BedRug Features and Benefits - YouTube
BedRug Reviews - YouTube

 

When I bought my SD in January it had a Bed Rug in it, I silently thought "that'll be the first thing to go". Well, it's still there and I absolutely love it. It cleans easily, doesn't let things slide around. All in all, I would buy another one.