Hi all. Been a while since I've posted on these forums (mostly on the Ranger section), but I guess I need a few opinions before I set out to waste money.

I pulled the plastic drop-in bed liner out of my '96 F-150. The truck has had the liner since it was bought (sometime in 2000, by my stepdad), so there was a lot of abrasion and some rust towards the back of the bed.

Anyway, I was planning to put in a roll-in bedliner such as Herculiner. My question was not whether or not this was a good choice, or if I should change brands, my question was one of adhesion.

The instructions for applying Herculiner say to scuff-sand the paint in the bed and clean with something like acetone before application. Problem is, of course, the surface of my bed right now is part paint, part primer, part bare metal, part rust.

So, what I was going to do about it was:
1.) Sand all paint off to reach bare metal, and then go over with fine grit.
2.) Put on a coat of automotive primer (xylene and toluene based, and not lacquered which Herculiner apparently HATES). Dry, sand, recoat.
3.) Wait 24 hours for primer to cure.
4.) Scuff-sand, clean, and apply Herculiner.

Do you think this will adhere with the same strength as the conventional method of application?

Thanks,
Mark

 

I helped a buddy Hurculine his truck about 2 1/2 years ago. The truck is his work truck and it's hauling something 8 hours a day 5 days a week. The Hurculiner has held up great.

We used rotary sanders and sanded the bed to bare metal. Then we cleaned the metal with acetone, and we applied the Hurculiner right over the bare metal.

Personally I'd sand the hell out of the rusted areas, if the rust is real bad then maybe throw some rust stopping primer over top. Otherwise I don't think theres really any need to primer the bed, just seems like extra work. Use some pretty aggressive sand paper and knock out as much of the paint/primer/rust as possible, then apply the Hurculiner over top, it should adhere just fine.

 

Just finished applying the last coat. So far, it looks good. I sanded out the rust and then applied the liner with the manufacturers instructions (scruff sanded the paint/primer/metal, then followed directions from there).

I think it'll turn out good for what I do. It just needs to hold up to loading a four-wheeler (ATV for you yankees) repeatedly and hauling junk like washers and road signs.

Thanks for the advice, jimbo.

 

i really like my roll in bed liner but jus make sure you cover it good i took mine over the bed cap and it looks really good jus tape it off