A guy I work with just told me about his truck bed rusting out "because" of his plastic bedliner keeping the moisture in underneath for several years. Has anyone else heard of this happening with any regularity? I have a Bodyguard plastic liner in my truck and wanted to check this out before I start ripping out! Thanks for any comments!

 

Actually...its like the number one complaint I hear about drop in bed liners. A drop in liner doesn't fit the bed exactly and so it allows the liner to bounce around in the bed cause it to chip away at the paint over time and allowing these no longer covered metal spots to rust. But with like a spray in bed liner or roll on liner, it sticks to the bed without bouncing around because its applied directly to your bed, not already formed before dropping in. Hope this helps. And goodluck with whatever you decide.

James

 

James is right. If you look at a truck that has had a plastic bed liner for a few years, the points where the liner was touching the bed is bare metal. It rubs the paint away, and traps in moisture. Bare metal and trapped moisture is a great way to get a nice rusty bed prematurely. My dad got the Herculiner, and it is AWESOME!!! I mean, it's not as thick as those Rhino linings, but it does look great, prevent rust, protect the bed, and provide a VERY aggressive surface. I suggest getting that. It's well worth it. Good luck! -Kevin

 

I really don't think a drop-in will trap moisture unless you allow leaves and stuff to build up under there. They do wear the paint away but I have had one in the 89 Ranger since new, pulled it twice to clean, and the bed is not rusted. I put one in the 2000 when I bought it. The spray on ones are nice but they don't protect against dents as well as the plastic ones.

 

I've had both types and never had any rust problems with the removable liner, but I do recommend removing it from time to time for a little preventative maintenance.
I'm now using the spray-on liner and will never go back to the removable. It looks great, requires almost no maintenance and is almost bulletproof.
Dono

 

Well I definately won't argue with Ken about this cause there are cases where rust doesn't occur. I guess to go with a fair all around arguement for both sides, where you live, use you have in mind, and things like that would come into play as to how good or bad it can be underneath the drop-in liner. Hmm...how about some pros and cons:

Pros to drop-in:
Cheap, plastic (sometimes rubber I guess), protects better against dents (like Ken said), hard to break, cut/tear resistant, when you buy a newer Ranger chances are the old bed liner will still fit.

Cons to drop-in:
Not a perfect fit to the bed so there is room for play, can scratch up your bed after time, scratches have the possibility to rust, throw away if they break, some don't hold items still as well as a rough spray bedline (actually have seen just bare beds hold better than some bedliners).

Well anyways thats a few for each. Good enough for now. Just got to thinking, I don't know if Ken's liner bolted down to the bed or not. I've actually seen them both ways so just curious. But if you're looking to get a bed liner I'd say first thing is think about what kind of reasons do you want it. Do you want it for protection of the bed, or just looks. If just looks, I personally would go with a Herculiner but thats me. If going to be dropping or throwing heavy sharp objects in your bed like logs, lumber, etc., I'd say go with the drop-in for protection. I don't have any kind of liner yet and I've got a little dent in the front of the bed (behind the cab) thanks to a 4x4 getting tossed in. Hope this helps a little more than before. Goodluck.

James

 

Well I'm going to stick with the drop-in liners, but everyone is going to have their opinion. If I didn't trade in the 89 Ranger today I would pull it out and take a pic for everyone to see, the new 2002 Ranger will get a drop-in just like the 89 had and the 2000 has.

 

Hehe, okay I know I'm getting a little off the subject here but Ken, I gotta ask buddy. How many Rangers do you have? Sounds like you had a '89 and now have a '00 and '02. I wish I could buy one of the new FX4s coming out or whatever its called. Think its going to be a cool Ranger and I guess limited supply of them too but a decent price.

James

 

Currently two, 00 & 02, the 89 was traded for the 02, the 89 still had a perfect body but 120k on it. Did you see the thunderbolt yet?

 

The Thunderbolt??? Thats a new one to me. So guess I haven't seen it. Any good? Any pics?

James

 

[updated:LAST EDITED ON 15-Apr-02 AT 09:34 PM (EST)]I'll try to get a few pics of the Thunderbolt scanned and post them for you, give me a few days. We have his and hers Rangers.

 

Sounds great. I'll look forward to seeing them when you have time to scan them. Until then, have fun and be safe.

James