Pickup Truck Bed Liner Options
Truck Bed Liner Choices
Pickup truck bed liner choices offer options that best fiit different needs and different budgets. Here are the major types and designs of bed liners for your pickup.
Spray On Liners
Very popular partly due to the look, spray on liners custom fit every truck. That especially is important if you have an older truck or a less popular model. Older trucks and less common trucks may have no other premium liner options available. Spray liners are really high quality multi-part paint coatings that include lots of rubbery texture.
Though very durable, the coating can certainly be damaged. That damage is repairable though just by re spraying. Remember too that the liner is permanent. It can be repaired, but not removed, at least not easily.
Look out for the one really big disadvantage. It's the high price which makes this less attractive.
Plastic Liners
Thick plastic liners offer more impact protection than most other options. Plus the material virtually stops any chance of scratching the bed too. Most common are one piece drop in liner, though multi-piece models like the DualLiner are a strong choice.
Watch for fit on these. A poorly fitting liner may vibrate and wear away paint under the liner. That's a perfect place for corrosion to begin. Also poor fitting liners generate irritating wind noise too. Liners also often hide pooled water underneath. That happens when the be drain holes clog and can't be seen underneath a liner. That leads to corrosion too.
Carpet Rugs
Especially if you haul delicate cargo, a carpet bed liner makes good sense. These usually work best underneath a tonneau cover or bed cap. That's not because the carpets can't take weather. It's more a matter of keeping the liner material clean and dry.
Far less expensive than spray on liners. these offer luxury look and feel. Plus the padding of the lining protects bed and cargo well. Plus carpeting helps keep cargo from sliding too if that non-skid feature matters to you.
Rubber Mats
Easy to overlook, cheap rubber mats excel at protection. The rubber soaks up just about any hit and eliminates scratch potential underneath the mat.
The disadvantage is you only get protection on the bottom of the bed, not on the sides. With that said, this option certainly wins the price contest. Often these work well over another liner type. It's protection for the protection.
Do It Yourself
A roll on bed liner can result in a liner that looks almost just like a spray liner but at just a fraction of the professional model price. It's an especially attractive way to improve the look of an old truck for just a little cost.
The downside is the protection offered by these liners is much less than the professional spray coatings. That's because the paint used is not the same as a professional liner. Also the coating is much thinner too. The main secret to durability of spray liners is just the thickness of the coating.
Plus the do it yourself option is much more involved than just rolling on some paint. The preparation for painting including cleaning and sanding is no trivial task. It's a lot of work really.
Truck beds rust without care and protection. Often attempts at protecting the bed of a truck may result in more harm than good. Choose your pickup truck bed liner carefully to get the best results.
About the Author
Al Bullington writes about his pickup truck projects. Check out his newest website about the underrated option for protecting pickup beds, truck bed mats.
See what a Proteca Bed Mat does better.
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