I know the topic of spray on liners has been beat to death several times, but I searched and didn't find any reference to the do it yourself spray kits. I'm not talking about the roll on type kits, but rather a kit by Dupli-Color that includes a spray nozzle that uses an air compressor.

I was wondering if anyone had any experience with these and, assuming proper prep work and application, how that would compare to a professional liner such as rhino or such.

I've always steered away from the roller kits figuring it would be difficult to sufficiently coat all areas especially corners. But to spray it in looks like it might be a decent money saver....

 

DupliColor is soft and probably won't last. I've never seen it age very well.

Sorry to say, the best thing is the professional way. Lasts longer, looks best. You get what you pay for.

 

I was looking into a Do it Yourself Bedliner. The more I looked into it, the more curious I got on products and application. I am thinking of now starting up shop to apply them. This set up at Spraymaxliners caught my eye, does anyone know anything good or bad about them?

http://Spraymaxliners.com
Thanks,
Rex

 

You can spray any of the DIY stuff like Herculiner, Duplicolor, or Durabak. Most people don't have a compressor or the right spray gun so they roll it on. These brands are all solvent based, also called one-part polyurethanes. One-part means that the polyurethane is suspended in a solvent. A catalyst is added which starts a chemical reaction that removes the solvent so that you have just polyurethane left. The catalyst can be a liquid chemical (as in the case of Speedliner and Superliner) or even just air (like Herculiner). The professional stuff like LINE-X and Rhino contain two-part polyurethanes. Two-part means that a resin (usually a polyol resin) is mixed with isocyanate (a hardener) which renders the polyurethane. Two-part polyurethanes are harder and much more durable than one-part polyurethanes.

The one gallon DIY kits, which they say is enough for a short bed truck, is about $90. I'm a LINE-X dealer, we spray about 4.5 gallons in a short bed truck. So, 4.5 gallons of a DIY kit would be $405.

 

Thanks for the info. This was one of the things I liked about Spraymaxliners, they do not use solvents. I looked at both LineX and Rhino which seem to be great but Spraymaxliners had no big start up fees. I was hoping to get this started with my son and then let him build his own business. Spraymaxliners offers both a Polyurea and Polyurethane. Could you tell me if either is better and why? Seems like quite an educational process.
Thanks,
Rex

 

TruckDaddy, thanks for the info. I wondered about 1 gallon being enough. But it was rated to do an 8' bed. Since I have the short bed I figured it might. Didn't realize that the pros used so much more material.

I think I'll give up on this idea for my truck, but I might have to think about it for a flooring material in the boat....

 

I just did some calculations based on information supplied by SprayMaxliners. I have been informed a 100% solids material will yield 16 Dry Mill Thickness per 100 Sq Foot per Gallon. They went on to explain to take the solids by volume, multiply this by .16 and that will give you the thickness per hundred sq ft per gallon after a solvent born product has the solvent evaporate. There seems to be a lot more to this Truck Bed liner application then meets the eye. Now I just have to figure out what words like Aliphatic and aromaic mean, whole new language

 

I've spent many hours researching the bedliner industry. I'm no Einstein, I've just put a lot into it.

All tires are made of rubber, therefore all tires are all about the same, right? No, not so. Tires can have very different physical propeties. Bedliners are the same way.

Like tires are made of rubber, bedliners can be of 3 different basic components:
1. 100% polyurethane
2. 100% polyurea
3. Blend of polyurethane and polyurea

Both polyurethane and polyurea give the bedliner desirable properties. For example, polyurethane has 2 to 3 times the abrasion resistance of polyurea. Polyurea, gives the liner a higher temperature tolerance and tear strength. The best liners contain a mix of both polyurethane and polyurea. Polyurethane is inexpensive, polyurea is more expensive.

I've already covered one-part vs. two-part polys.

Aliphatic vs. Aromatic: This has to do with the molecular structure of the hydrocarbons in the poly resin. Aliphatic poly is more UV resistant than aromatic poly, but aliphatic poly is not UV proof. There are a few bedliner brands that advertise no fading because they use aliphatic poly. However, they DO fade, I've seen some of them myself. I think the problem is that the other chemicals in the resin which are not UV resistant render the bedliner UV unstable, hence, they fade anyway.

You can buy Goodyear tires and be comfortable that the quality is good or you can spend less money and buy Brand X from a country you can't pronounce. Bedliners are the same way. There are hundreds of these little bedliner companies that buy their product from a third party that may be in that same country as Brand X. LINE-X, for example, uses BASF as their only source of raw materials. You can be comfortable that any bedliner brand that buys from BASF, Dow Chemical, etc., is providing the best there is.

Brand Examples:
Mix of polyurea and polyurethane (two-part): LINE-X, Vortex, Ameraguard.
100% polyurethane (two-part): Rhino, Toff.
100% polyurethane (one-part): Superliner, Speedliner, Herculiner, Durabak, Duplicolor.
100% polyurea: Xtreme Liner, Combat.

Let me know if you have any questions.

 

I would def recomend having a shop do it, be it RHino or whoever
they all offer a life-time warranty vs the DIY stuff, I am not a fan of, used it myself on a Toyota tacoma bed, turned out terrible.

 

It is basic common sense, if the DYI materials worked as well as the profesional application, using the profesional Equipment and harder to apply materials, the shops would do it the easier way. Ithink it is Nissan who starts there commercials now with a Spray Bedliner standard with every truck, I assure you they are not using a DIY. I know of many Large Automobile Dealers that send the trucks out for a Profesional application, if DIY was 1st class, they would use it in house and save time and money. I will be getting my Spraymaxliners equipment and material next week and look forward to my first truck, my own.

Rex

 

TruckDaddy,

Thanks for the Encyclopedia of Information.. you do a very good job of cutting through the crap. I have one question.

You mentioned that you have seen some of the liners that have begun to fade. How old do you think some of those liners were? Or to put it another way, What do you think the reasonable life expectenancy (sp?) is on these products?

I ask because I have a 97 with a badly abused bed. (read previous owner ran a steel shop) I am not interested in spending a fortune, I really just want something that will clean up the look from 10 or 15 feet away, and will last 2-3 years (which is how long I figure I will keep the truck).

If this was a New truck, that I would keep for 10+yrs. I would happily got to a Pro and pay to have the top quality stuff installed properly and take the benefit of the warranties etc...

Thanks,
MK

 

Thanks for all the good info guys. I know that I can always count on someone around here smacking me over the head a time or two before I do something stupid.

Calling some dealers next week to get info on getting it done by an expert.

 

Let's address the two issues: 1. Fading and 2. Restoring a nasty liner.

1. Fading: All brands of bedliners fade at least some unless you take certain steps (see below). The bedliner brands that fade the fastest will start to fade after about 6 months in the sun. Here's a pic of flares and rockers sprayed in a color match that has faded. This particular company states that their liners don't lose color.



As far as LINE-X, you have 4 options to keep the liner always looking brand new:
1. Apply Just Once (www.justonce.com) on the liner a several times a year. Just Once is a UV protectorant (like Armorall) that is not oil or silicone based so it's not slippery. You can use Just Once on any brand of bedliner.
2. Have your LINE-X dealer apply Ultra Shield. Ultra Shield is a one-time applied UV topcoat. It will give the liner a satin finish. With Ultra Shield, the liner will not "sparkle" as much as a new LINE-X liner with nothing on it. Ultra Shield works very well. However, it may occasionally show scratches. Not that the liner or topcoat is damaged, but it just shows scratches. You can eliminate the scratches with Just Once or a like product. It's worth the price.
3. Have your LINE-X dealer apply (black) Dupont Nason paint. Nason is an automotive paint (with a urethane base) and is what most LINE-X dealers use when color matching a liner. It is very durable and works extremely well when applied right after the bedliner is sprayed in. It will give the liner a glossy finish. Typically, the liner will be a darker black than the Ultra Shield. The cost of applying Nason should be about the same as applying Ultra Shield.
4. Have your LINE-X dealer apply LINE-X Xtra. Xtra is a brand new product and not all dealers are spraying it yet. Line-X-Xtra is the first product offering resulting from a partnership between Line-X and DuPont Performance Coatings. The spray-on high performance bedliner is a “new benchmark” in exclusive composite coatings, as it combines the world renown strengths of DuPont™ Urethane Technology and DuPont™ KEVLAR®. Line-X-Xtra features include improved appearance, improved resistance to ultraviolet light and excellent adhesion to the bedliner. In addition, Line-X-Xtra is specially formulated with DuPont™ KEVLAR® micro pulp fiber.

2. Restoring a nasty liner:
If the liner in generally in good shape but has lost a little color, scrub the liner with water and a stiff brush, let it dry, and then apply Just Once.

If the liner is generally in good shape but has faded really bad, clean it as indicated above and find a LINE-X dealer that will spray Nason on it. I had a customer that came in with a used white truck that he just purchased. This white truck had a green bedliner in it and he hated it. He really didn't want to pay big bucks to have it stripped out and resprayed. I painted it with Nason and charged him $100. He was so thrilled, he paid me $125. It looked brand new. Now, the Nason/bedliner combo works best as far as durability when Nason is sprayed right after the bedliner is sprayed in, but its still durable and this situation was just right for the customer.

If the bedliner is torn up as well as faded, then I don't really have a good solution for you. If you take it to a dealer to have it topcoated with more bedliner product, it may or may not stick. It's a risky situation and you may be throwing away your $.

L o n g post...let me know if you have any questions.

 

I would love to be able to have the entire underbody of my new truck sprayed with Line X.

 

LINE-X has an underbody product called Astroline.