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I picked up a 2011 Screw in December that I absolutely love. The only real issue with it is the paint.
I looked past the peeling in the bed, as I knew I was going to put a bedliner in it eventually anyways, but now I’m not sure which direction to go in. I can get a drop in for around $150, which would do the job of hiding the ugly and protecting the bed, but may lead to rust and corrosion. OR I would buy and install Monstaliner (probably tinted white to match) for around $200. The peeling paint worries me, as I think I’d have to sand everything down to bare metal to ensure a good bond, and I simply don’t have the time to devote to such a big project right now.
I’m leaning towards the drop in for cost and convenience reasons, but I’m open to suggestions!
In the first pic here, you can see where paint is peeling under the bed cap on the passenger side. I was just gonna fill this in with a touch up pen until I can repaint the entire panel properly, but I’m open to ideas there as well!
I'd recommend Line-x. Rhino lining is just as good IMO but Line-x has more dealers across the nation so provides the most convenience in exercising your lifetime warranty. That's why I ended up going with Line-x.
Another vote for Line-X. If you wanted to save money you could do what my brother-in-law did. He already had the insert liner so he just pulled it out, sanded the bad spots and then did a Duplicolor or some other spray in bed liner and put the liner right back in over the top a couple weeks later. It wasn't nearly as good as a professional job, but it kept the bed protected under the shifting bed liner.
Yar. Drop-in liners blow because of the corrosion issues associated with trapped moisture. My biggest gripe with them though is that everything slides around in the bed so easily. I keep a 20" chain with hooks in the bed year-round; I would lose my mind listening to the banging and clanging every time I accelerated or decelerated. With my spray-in, it adds a layer of security to any type of cargo. I strap everything, like when transporting my gas welder, but even if I lost a strap, it's not going anywhere.
The only damage I've incurred thus far is a small ~1/4" x 2" scratch through the liner near the tailgate. That was from unloading a 900lb box blade from the bed though; one of the corners drug just as it was nearly clear of the truck. Can't really expect any liner to put up with that. They'll repair it with the warranty, but I haven't cared enough to do anything about it yet.
I'm a huge fan of Line-X, this is my 3rd truck with it. But it sounds like the OP is cost-conscience right now. I can relate even if others can't. What I've done in the past is sand, prime and paint. Nothing fancy, rattle can stuff as mentioned above, just trying to halt the spread more than anything else. Wait a few weeks inspect, touch-up, then clean and wax, by hand, several coats. Then a drop-in bed liner. Once per yr, usually late spring, I'd pull the liner and repeat the inspection, cleaning and hand waxing. After a year or two the progression of deterioration is halted and prevented for yrs to come.
Unfortunately my frugality is most often associated with manual labor on my part
Up here in the salty north country some people use Fluid-Film on their vehicles to keep the underside from rusting. I have it applied myself every fall before winter. I have heard of people spraying the inside of their truck bed with fluid film each year. Just remove the liner, spray fluid film and put the liner back in. It's not a one time and done. It ends up being an annual maintenance, but its cheap and there's no prep except sweeping the bed out after removing the liner.
I'm a huge fan of Line-X, this is my 3rd truck with it. But it sounds like the OP is cost-conscience right now. I can relate even if others can't. What I've done in the past is sand, prime and paint. Nothing fancy, rattle can stuff as mentioned above, just trying to halt the spread more than anything else. Wait a few weeks inspect, touch-up, then clean and wax, by hand, several coats. Then a drop-in bed liner. Once per yr, usually late spring, I'd pull the liner and repeat the inspection, cleaning and hand waxing. After a year or two the progression of deterioration is halted and prevented for yrs to come.
Unfortunately my frugality is most often associated with manual labor on my part
Yes, I am definitely cost conscious right now. Kid #2 is on the way and there’s more pressing needs demanding our hard-earned money before dropping several hundred on a professional spray in job. If money wasn’t an issue, I’d Line-X it in a heartbeat! For now, I just want to cover the ugly!
I've read about pulling the liner once or twice a year, to sweep it out and clean it up, and I think adding wax is a great idea. That should help mitigate the potential rust issue. Also, the truck is garaged, and we don’t get much moisture out here in my corner of Kansas.
However, I am still tempted to devote a weekend to prepping and applying some Monstaliner (Monstaliner do-it-yourself roll-on truck bed liner outperforms Herculiner Bed Liner, Duplicolor and Rustoleum Road Warrior). I could tint it white to match, and it would only cost 50ish more than the drop in I’m looking at. My worries here would be that unless I go down to bare metal in the entire bed, the remaining paint below the liner could peel, which could compromise the liner and put me back at square one.
However, I am still tempted to devote a weekend to prepping and applying some Monstaliner (Monstaliner do-it-yourself roll-on truck bed liner outperforms Herculiner Bed Liner, Duplicolor and Rustoleum Road Warrior). I could tint it white to match, and it would only cost 50ish more than the drop in I’m looking at. My worries here would be that unless I go down to bare metal in the entire bed, the remaining paint below the liner could peel, which could compromise the liner and put me back at square one.
I DIY herculined my old '97 F-350 bed. It was a landscapers truck prior and they had a cheep-o drop in which rusted underneeth. Think I spent half a day with the belt and palm sander going to town getting all the rust knocked down, then herculined. Seemed to work well for the price. If cost is concern, couldn't hurt to go that route (or similar with the Monstaliner).
