I prefer drop in liner for durability. It is more slippery, which often is an advantage loading and unloading. Easier to clean too.

On this truck with 5th wheel hitch, I felt like I had to go spray in.

Not tying stuff down bites us in the butt. I've done my share of second guessing mess ups.

 

I like my rubber bed mat. Dualiner makes a nice liner that protects the entire bed.

OEM spray liners can peel up. Plenty of info online about that. A properly applied aftermarket liner is the way to go if wanting a spray liner.

 

I would do what Lamoon in post 2 said and put a wheel well liner so you cant see if from the outside. Its a truck.

As far as the aluminum vs steel. Pretty good hit there, on a steel bed you would have probably broke the body seam. So try to remember to strap stuff down anyway.

As mentioned above I use plywood in my work truck.

 

It looks like a pretty good hit because it punched a hole in a 3/4 ton truck bed. I know all you can see is the picture, but it wasn't has hard as you might think. It would've left a dimple and scratched paint on a steel wheel well bed. I've had 1988 3500 Chevy, 2001 Dodge 3500 and a 1992 Jeep Comanche. All those beds are way way tougher than this one. Steel vs Aluminum. It is what it is.

Bed lining the truck was the plan at some point. I didn't want to bed line a brand new bed, I wanted to enjoy the newness of everything. Guess that is over now. Everyone is going to see that hole and be like "damn that sucks, can't believe how weak it was".

 

This isn't an aluminum truck problem as much as a new tin can truck problem. My friend had his dirt bike fall over in his 2009 super duty and the end of the handlebar punched a hole in the steel bed.

 

My 7 year old.f150 has holes so big from rust you can throw a pop bottle through them, the tie downs are unusable and the bottom supports are gone. I will take the aluminum thank you. Cj

 

Tape over it with aluminum HVAC tape, then bedline over that.

 

Working on a rock buggy, or just haulin' axle housings around?

 

aluminum is a dam fine material. much better choice than steel in many aplications. im not familiar with aluminum body panels so i cant comment on that but heres a good article on boats.

Aluminum Strength vs Steel Strength

 

That was my solution to a problem that hadn't happened yet. Punctures should never become a problem for me. Found a brand new Ford branded liner for $100 and then threw a BedRug bed mat on top of that to prevent stuff from sliding.

 

I've seen a few comments about drop in bedliners.....here's why I hate them: Many years ago while I was still racing, a guy I knew was killed by one. He was a very talented and successful driver who was driving his street car on the highway. A bedliner blew out of the truck in front of him and got wedged under his front tires, causing him to lose all steering and front braking input. He went off the road and hit a bridge abutment and died on the spot. Obviously a rare event and he was just in the wrong place at the wrong time, but if someone with the skills he possessed couldn't save it, what does that say for us mere mortals? Not looking to start a fight with anyone who loves these things, just wanted to share my story.

 

It was a factory 1986 Jeep CJ rear end.

I'll read that over, sure there is good info in there. I have personally chosen and used aluminum over steel in some applications for underbody skid plates to save weight and they have actually held up well. But we are talking 3/16" minimum thickness, not thin sheet aluminum. I like my truck a lot, sometimes there are valid criticisms to be had, I feel this is one of them. Sure the owner can strengthen it with procedures and products, but in my mind a heavy duty, super duty truck that is used for hauling having such a weak and vulnerable material for the truck bed interior is a mistake and failure by Ford. I failed too, I didn't strap the axle, which in all my other trucks I didn't strap- a bunch of stuff either...just never poked a hole in one of those beds. So my frustration here can be understood I would think. Atleast I am not the only one to have experienced this, they say misery loves company. Reading some of the other stories makes me feel bad for those people, but softens the blow for me somewhat.

That is crazy and sad story. Wow.

I have had one plastic bed liner in my life and I loved it. In my application it was very hard to remove it from the truck bed, I can't think of a circumstance it would've blown out. I might consider a plastic liner for my F250, but it has gooseneck capability with the pucks and bed lights. Think that would present a problem. Right now I just have a bed mat of sorts. I will spray line it at some point...those have their pros and cons as with everything else. Such is life.

 

Yeah its probably bad luck then. I had some heavy pallets slide past rubbing my wheel wells and I could have sworn they tore the metal but just dented it.

And yeah I dont plan to bedline until I sell or quit using it for work.

 

On the bright side, it looks like your truck is blue jeans blue....my dream truck haha.

I used to daily an 03 white v6 single cab long bed 2wd f150. Had a bench seat that was torn to hell and rubber floor, and crank windows. I bought it for 4200, drove it 5 years and sold it for 3. I used to hate that truck towards the end, mainly the torn seat - and upholstery shops wanted too much to repair it. Needed foam and the vinyl. I sold it to fund my next truck. Now I miss it because it was the perfect work truck for around town. Truly. Couldn't tow for anything, and it had maybe a 2k lb payload. Maybe. Still loved it.

Whew! Rambling. Well, one day I helped my father in law move his tool boxes. He shoved it in, and the corner of the tool box hit the wheel-well just right and punctured a hole in it. Small hole but I was like what the hell!? Never got around to fixing it although it could've been easily fixed. That truck had no liner of any kind. Bought it used already all scratched up.

My following truck was a 16 f150 long bed coyote 4wd. Killer truck. Loved it. Had the spray in liner from the factory. Got a pallet of stone one day. Forklift loads it in, pushes it forward and scratched that spray in liner all to hell. I figured man these are supposed to be beat on but now that area stood out like a sore thumb.

My boss has a ram with a plastic bedliner that he beats on. I like it because A it's replaceable and B who cares what you spill in there. Paint, oil, etc.

My current ram has a spray in liner from the factory that this truck just happened to have. But it's a "family truck" and we take it to the drive in movies, put an inflatable mattress back there and hang out.
You almost need one you can beat on and not care. My boss gives me hell because I'm careful with this thing and don't treat it like a typical truck. Its too nice and cost too much.

OP I'd have that hole welded up at a body shop and put in a liner, plastic or spray in.

 

Drop in bed liner here.
Solves all issues.