Need A Bedliner... Whats The Best Way To Go?

Thanks!

 

a spray on bed-liner is the best so far, the conventional bedliner (plastic lay in liners) in my opinion suck, yes they protect the bed for the most part, but they hide the damage that they do to the bed, as the truck runs, it vibrates as the bed vibrates against the lay in liner it wears the paint off in spots leaving exposed raw metal, also moister collects under it and rust out your bed and you never see it. this never happens with the spray bc its apllied to the serfice of the bed, drawbacks to the spray in are mainly cost, and it doesnt protect fully against dents.

 

Line-X all the way!

 

I'll second that.
Dono

 

Go with line-x if it chips of breaks off, they will redo your entire bed for free.

 

Luckily the Line-X place is about 2 doors down from the Ford dealership and they had it done before I took delivery of my Ranger. Line-X/Rhino is the way to go if you use your truck for "truck stuff".

 

I have a 99 Ranger that went straight to the Line-X dealer after I took delivery.

It's been on there 6 years now, no problems, still looks good.

I've used it, but not abused it, climbing in & out to launch my Tracker Bass boat, (so I had a "over the rail" application done) haul dirt, water barrels, garden & lawn equipment, dirt, furniture (moved the Daughter twice)

It's still bonded tight, no cracks, splits, bubbles, delmination or fading.

If you choose aspray-in, just make sure your installer takes the time to properly prepair the surface before he spray's the coating on.

I'd also look at several jobs he's done & see how fine the details are done, straight lines, proper masking, over spray protection, uniformaty, ect, & talk to the owners to see how detailed they will be & to some customers, to see how they were dealt with. My Line-X dealer was #1!!!!

Spray-in also isn't as slippery when wet, (important to me when launching & retrieving my boat & loose loads pretty much stay put & don't slide around as easily, as it has a textured/sand like finish.

Spray-in won't warp over time either, so it'll still look good years later.

Spray-in, doesn't take up any width or length from the bed, like a drop in will.

Yup it's more than a drop in, mybe x2 more, but IMHO if your going to keep your truck, it's worth the extra cost over time.

They don't have to drill holes in the bed to install/secure a spray in & as has been said it won't wear the paint off & rust the bed undeneath, from abrasion of the paint from the dropin moving around & grinding of the grit & moisture trapped underneath.

Spray-in is quieter too, won't rattle around like a drop-in.

Drop-in's have been used for years though & are less expensive in the short run & are said by some who own them, that they protect better from bed dents, from heavy things thrown into the bed.

Just some of the things I came accross in making my judgment on what to do & how my spray-in has performed for me over the past 6 years.

 

Thanks for the info.. called LineX they will do it for 375...

sounds like a plan...

 

Sounds like a good price to me, I paid $359 tax included in 99, in SW Va, for my over the rail, spray in Line-X.

Under the rail was $319 tax included.

Be sure to stop by and talk with them beforehand, look at some of their work & also talk to some of their customers if you can, to make sure you'll likely be satisfied with their workmanship, cause unlike a drop-in, you can't just unscrew & take this stuff out if you don't like it, it's in there for the duration!!! LOL

Proper surface prep is of prime importance & if done right, it should work real good & last a long time.

Let us know how it turns out.

 

it was 425 but thru the month it's 50 bucks off... I asked for some references of any recent customers... all were excellent...

went and looked .. looks great... gotta love teh lifetime warranty!

 

yeah i think linex will even mix you a color into it for a lil exrat if you want something a lil costom.

 

One other thing I forgot to mention, that will be imporant to any future maint. that might be needed, make sure, BEFORE spraying, they remove any fasteners you'll need to remove to get to things, like the bed bolts, tailgate access panel screws, corner tie-down screws, otherwise they'll be a bear to get loose, as the overspray is tough stuff.
They can mask the threads & spray the bed bolt heads separately, then reinstall them, so everything will match.

My installer removed everything BUT the bed bolts, so if I have to raise the bed to get to the fuel tank, or to change the fuel pump, I'm gonna have to remove some overspray to get the bed bolts loose.
Not a real big deal, but just another fine installation datail to look too & future aggravation that could have been avoided, with a little more fore thought!!!!

I think most installers remove the bed bolts now, but be sure to ask anyway.

 

Great point about the bed bolts, they removed everything on mine BUT those - I hope my fuel pump never goes out!

 

My local Line-X removed the bed bolts before spraying. Of course my over the rail job was almost 500 with the "discount" ($485 including tax). Oh well, it's still worth it.

 

The dealership that I worked at when I bought my Ranger did a spray in called "Reflex". Maybe not as good as a Line-X but gotta be close. I've seen Rhino liners and I don't like how hard they set up, they get very slick. My Reflex liner has a nice rubber texture to it that keeps things from sliding around. It also has a lifetime warranty with it and I did get my bed bolts removed before the spray. I happened to be friends with the applicator so I got it on plenty thick and I had it done under the rails but over the tailgate because I didn't like the look of the over the rail. Best thing is that I got it at cost at $170.00