Oh NO! Lesson Learned.
 

Brought my 72 Fleet LB back to Long Island from Texas 11 years ago and it was pretty clean. It obviously had been a parted together truck but it has a Big Block and lots of options. To keep it nice I bought a Bed Liner and put it in. Today I removed the liner and what was underneath was Heart Breaking! Rust threw all over the place. I had intended to do a Spray in Liner but now I'm thinking Polished Aluminum Diamond Plate.

Re: Oh NO! Lesson Learned.
 

Ouch!! Sorry to hear that. I found the same thing in my 68 SWB

Re: Oh NO! Lesson Learned.
 

Not good news... now I'm almost afraid to check mine. :(

Re: Oh NO! Lesson Learned.
 

yup - they trap moisture under them and it rusts the bed right out - I have a mat I use for only when I need to haul something - then it comes right back out...

Re: Oh NO! Lesson Learned.
 

i know a guy that he has a plastic liner and he removes it once an year and puts a big cost of paste wax on it and then puts the liner back in ( he doesn;t clean the wax off jsut leaves it) he truck was an 83 and inside of e the bed still looks new. but spray in is the way to go now

Re: Oh NO! Lesson Learned.
 

I would have preferred spray-in, but my bed and fenderwells have suffered too many years of firewood abuse....

Re: Oh NO! Lesson Learned.
 

DIY spray in to save money... raptor liner, als liner etc...

I have a plastic liner in my DD, I better pull it out this spring

Re: Oh NO! Lesson Learned.
 

My '70 has been lined with a spray in liner, and I run a rubber mat - I haven't had any rust issues (going on 5 years) and it's a little quieter, I think. But that's also Central California weather, which I'm sure is part of it.

Re: Oh NO! Lesson Learned.
 

I prefer the plastic liners myself, the under rail versions. I had one in my old 71 K10 for years. Before I installed it I brushed on a liberal coat of hammerite paint all over inside the bed. Dennis (oldiron) didnt want it when I sold him the truck so he pulled it out for me (Ellen is borrowing for now) and the bed looks fine underneath, no worse for the wear.

Re: Oh NO! Lesson Learned.
 

The spray liner really is the way to go if you plan on using your truck as a truck. I never did like those plastic liners.
As you found out they can cause more damage than good, and more work than needed. Sorry to hear about what you found.

Re: Oh NO! Lesson Learned.
 

How bad is the rust... really?
Pictures?

Because if the rust isn't TOO bad, you could always clean the rust out, and still do the spray in liner, and just make sure it looks right when done. It'll stop the rust, and will still be strong because that bedliner is pretty strong itself.

Re: Oh NO! Lesson Learned.
 

i lived in riverhead for 50years down by the indianisland golf course//it was duck farms when i was a kid

Re: Oh NO! Lesson Learned.
 

Thanks for all the replys! Hopefully I helped someone. Al W. Pictures will be coming later this week.