Spray in here.
TJ

 

I have had both Drop-in and Spray-in liners. As others have said Drop-in’s are nice if you are doing a lot of dragging things in and out, etc. Down side is getting to hooks etc. I don’t think anyone has come out with a Drop-in that works with BOXLINK without modification.

I just took delivery of my ‘21 F-150 Super Crew 4x4 and am going to have a LINE-X spray liner done. If you want some additional padding on the bottom a horse stall rubber pad works great and can be obtained from most Farm stores or Tractor Supply.

 

I know guys who have both, and both do the jobs. I know with spray ins, Line-X is grippier than Ford's OEM spray in. Plus to me spray in looks nicer. None of 'em are nice on your knees though! Also, when we had our company trucks sprayed(the dealer does Ford's liner IIRC), they did NOT spray the tailgate if you have the tailgate workbench thing on the 21s. I believe they DO spray it if it's done at the factory through. I don't know about Line-X, however. Which, isn't a *huge* deal, at least to me, cause the workbench covers like, 95% of the tailgate.
Dualliner actually has one I believe. It comes in pieces(You install each side, and then the bottom), but there are mounting holes in it for the BoxLink bracket, it seems.

 

A lot of the high volume truck dealers have a deal with a local "off brand" installer to do theirs right at the dealership. Mine did a "bullet liner" and while I have no doubt it's not as great as the LineX, it was cheaper and the dealership warranties it for me.

 

Thanks for the clarification. I was just told the dealer was doing it, so kinda figured it was gonna be OEM.

 

If it's being done AT the dealer, it's not the ford liner. As far as I've heard, the "real" ford liner can ONLY be done at the factory. For a while in fact it would cause order delays if you selected that box. The way to know for sure is the window sticker, if it's not on there, it's not the ford liner.
That being said, I think the ford liner is not as good as the "premium" ones like LineX, and probably about as good as the no-name aftermarket ones like my dealer did. For most of us, it's never going to matter. Heck, most of us don't even need that liner at all. I probably don't, so I didn't worry much about it.

 

Yeah, they probably did one of those no-name ones. And agree about it not being as good. My buddy has LineX and it's definitely a lot grippier than the one in our work trucks. We ended up getting rubber mats cause our tools and boxes kept sliding around.

Granted, we don't keep anything *fragile* in the beds, but it's not stuff you necessarily want being thrown around while you drive.

 

Thought I would post a picture of my Line-X spray bed liner now that it is in.

 

@Ozark-Will -- Can I ask who makes those molle panels for the bed? And do you mind sharing the cost for the LineX? Thanks in advance!

 

Spray in over the drop in all day long. I have had Rhino and/or Line-X on all of my trucks and I like Line-X the best if you are going with a non-factory spray in. On the F150 we just bought my wife, it had a factory spray in and it is really nice as well and reminds me a lot of Line-X in terms of the texture and feel. Also, the factory spray in liner is pretty much the same price as what you are going to pay to have one sprayed in after the fact.

I had a drop in years ago in one truck and never again. Main reason was because it was very slick and I about busted my backside a number of times in it. When wet or during the winter, it was like a skating rink back there and nothing in the back end would stay in place, it slid around in the bed.

 

Like everyone has pointed out, each has their pros & cons. Depends on your preferences.
However, the drop in with its tendency to scratch paint will expose bare metal to elements in areas that you can't/won't see.
Just a thought.

 

I can tell you that if the spray in liner was done at the factory, it will have the Ford emblem embossed on the front wall of the bed. If it does not have that, it was not done at the factory.

 

The drop in bed liners -

Pros - cheaper, install it yourself, remove it if you decide you don't like it
Cons - will wear the paint off the bed and promote rusting under it due to paint removal and moisture trapped, I've seen more than a couple lying along the interstate or in the median strip and did actually see one go flying out of the back of a truck one day (no idea if it was made for that truck or just dropped in by someone who thought it ought to work) and very slick.

Spray in bed liners -

Pros - a good one is guaranteed, unless badly damaged by negligence the original installer will repair it, not as slick as the drop in bed liners, can't trap moisture under it or wear off the paint on the bed so no rust issues between it and the bed
Cons - more expensive, can't remove it (easily) if you decide later you don't want it.

My 1990 F150 had a drop in bed liner. I pulled the liner out and had actual holes rusted through the bed and lots of paint and deep pits in many places. I gave it away, steel brushed the hell out of the bed, sprayed rust converter on it and sprayed in some cheap bed liner spray from a can(s), several of them. No more rust, did have some flaking/peeling issues up one side and had to re-prep and re-spray a basketball sized area. It was still in the bed when I traded the truck off Funny thing was, even with the several coated it took to build up/fill in the rust holes those holes didn't break out later.

My 05 Silverado had a drop in bed liner. I've never pulled the liner out for fear of seeing a repeat of the rust in the Ford bed.

My 2021 F250 has a LineX spray in bed liner. My youngest son had Line-X sprayed in his 1997 Chevy 2500 and it sits out in the sun every day and is maybe a little faded but still solid and protecting the bed of that old truck 10 years later.

 

Ummmmm, the Ford bed is aluminum so there won’t be any rust when or if the paint wears thru via a drop in bed liner.

 

My '07 Flareside had a new Line-X spray in when I bought it, but hard to move stuff in it. It had a bed cover, I changed it to a hardcover "Undercover". A buddy had a 6.5 foot Chevy he removed a drop in liner from, and he offered it to me, I took it and trimmed the sides just keeping the front wall, the part of the sides beside the fender wells, and slid it in on top of the Line-X. It's easier to slide around in but it's ridges are harder on knees but that Line-X is hard to scoot around on under a raised bed cover. I keep a couple flat rubber welcome mats in it to slide my knees on.

My '77 has a drop in over top of a steel plate floor that has some rust, it's a under the rail lip type. I'll haul gravel, mulch, block, etc in it, no harm to the liner which has been in it well over 30 years. My plan, if I ever fefurbished the old girl ... was to replate the floor, brush in a gallon or two of HF liner, then put the drop in bed liner right back in the bed.

Back in maybe early '80s, I looked at buying a fairly recent Ford F-250 that looked pretty good, it had a drop in over the lip, the car lot was owned by a fellow known as "Honest John" ... I was looking closely at it underneath, the bed floor was so dented the cross members were bent. I opened the tailgate, took a look under the bed liner, looked like somebody dropped a wrecking ball in it. Asked HJ who traded it in, he just walked away after saying it was out of West Virginia. I looked under the seat for any clues, was owned by a mining company.