Spray-in Bed Liners: Your thoughts?

[ButtersTheTruck]

Hello all

As some here know, my 1967 C20 is a working truck. I got her mostly for farm work but I also intend to take her to some shows, just for fun (she's neat and in really good condition but I don't have the money to invest in her to make her a mint show piece). Mostly, she'll be on light farm duty getting hay for me.

Because she'll be used for hauling (hay and feed in her bed and eventually occasional horse trailering), I have been considering getting a spray-in bed liner to protect the bed. My dad has it in his 2007 Toyota Tacoma and it's really, really nice. Makes cleaning super easy and it's durable material so it doesn't scratch unless you really put some effort in.

I waffle because I am concerned doing such a thing would make my truck totally worthless and an embarrassment to show. At this point she is all original and has a little over 43k miles and is nearly rust-free. So she's a little bit of a rare bird as she is.

I do not intend to ever sell her, or if I do it'll be a long time down the road after I've used her for many years.

So what do you think? To spray, or not to spray?

Here's the truck, in case you're interested

[leddzepp]

Most people will vote no. It's a really nice original truck.

[Ironhorse]

If wanting to keep it original, my vote would be no bed liner. BUT, if you never plan on selling the truck and use it for light hauling I would do the spray in over a loose, rubber, throw over the metal bed, style mat. All they do is hold water and promote rust. That being said, I had my '71 long bed 4x4 sprayed by Line-ex and am VERY happy with it. Been in there about 7 years now with minimal fade and no damage apparent. I no longer haul engine blocks and transmissions in the bed but still use it as a truck, just treat it nicer than I used to before complete body and paint restore.

By the way, nice looking '67.

[ButtersTheTruck]

Thank you both for the input!

Mainly I was concerned about protecting it from rusting. I know when I haul hay in the bed (and I am currently looking for an affordable horse trailer for hauling stuff to keep the bed's use to a minimum), there's a good chance the hay will cause scuffing and/or scratches, which in turn can rust. And I am pretty concerned about that, as for the foreseeable future she will be sitting outside. But at the same time, shredding her value by using a spray in bedliner worries me too.

I don't want to use the throw-in-the-bed style rubber or plastic liner that's removable; sadly I've known several people that have had their beds rust catastrophically using those

Any ideas or product recommendations I could use to protect the bed that don't necessarily involve permanent liners?

[jocko]

personally, I'd avoid the spray-in at all costs. If you must spray, I think it's worth the extra $ to color match it to the body color. I'd also personally avoid Rhino and go with Line-X, better quality imo. The color-matched liner will still hurt value if you sell, but it might ease the blow for a buyer. One caution - it may fade at a different rate than the body. Rut Roh Scooby, then it looks goofy.

Personally, I'd throw the thick rubber mat in there when you need it, roll it up and remove it when you don't. Kind of a pain, and the good ones aren't light. But it will protect the floor. Not the sides though, and if hauling hay, well, it's gonna get scratched. So, for your particular situation - it's a touch call. I guess it boils down to this - do you ever plan to restore it? If yes, then don't spray.

[mmiddle]

That is a personal decision. Most companies only offer black and then in a few years it fades and looks like crap. I fortunately have a local company that color matches factory paint and have a fine texture that will never fade.
Check them out www.camoliner.com No, I do not work for them or receive anything from them. Try to find a local company to you that can do the same type of work.

[special-K]

HAY! That won't hurt it! Masonry products, metal objects, and such will. Does it sit out all the time or under a roof? Scratches inside a truck that gets used is cool. Rusting isn't. You can hit scratches with Permatex Rust Treatment (or whatever it's called) when scratches start to rust and it stops the rust, turns it black, and leaves a clear coating on it for about 6 months. I use my '72 GMC, even haul scrap aluminum, and it rarely gets a scratch through the paint. I use that stuff, live here in MD where it rains it's fair share, and it's an outside truck. Does it look as good as it did in 2001 when it came from Modesto? No, but I still haven't restored it and it's holding it's own. It sits all winter while salt is on the road. I use it "with care" and it's a happy truck

[leftybass209]

I've ran in to two types of people that have bed liners

The first are the occasional furniture, or toolbox hauler that swears it's the best thing they've ever seen.

The next is the true contractor who uses the bed daily and hauls a multitude of items; they usually don't have the kindest words for their chipped and beaten bed liners.

I'm not sold on them, but I don't scoff at anyone that has them. I think color-matched is more eye appealing than black. I've certainly had a change of heart with bed liners the more I've used them.

[ButtersTheTruck]

lol, ok, to answer a few questions...

1. Right now she is outside all the time. We hope to build a house in the next year, and once that happens she will be garaged.

2. While we would mostly use the truck to haul hay, there are times when we will be hauling fencing (rolls of woven no-climb/field fence, t-posts, etc), and home improvement items like tile, saws, appliances, etc. There's also landscaping supplies and wood for the barn and fencing that will sometimes be in the bed.

3. While the bed is in good shape it's not pristine, and there are already scuffs from when the former owners had a camper in the back. Some of the scuffs have removed the paint.

I did find a good little trailer I can get for about $450 tonight, a brand new flatbed which should resolve the hauling issue for at the very least the hay. But that does leave me wondering what I might do about the scuffing that's already in her bed. There is not any rust in the bed. Any suggestions on a sealant or protectant that might safeguard her until we get our garage?

Thanks so much for the wealth of info that's already been shared!

[mike16]

I say no for three reasons.

thats a nice truck, to nice for a bed liner

bed liner spray in material is only permenent when you regret spraying it in and want to remove it later

I've seen sray in bed liner that did not adhere to a bed that has silicone wax job done to it. once silicone is waxed onto a paint job nothing els will stick to it untill you strip below the paint affected. ask any body shop. then confirm it with anybody who applies a bedliner with any kindof warrenty. then ,then think long and hard. because the bed liner flakes off in huge patches and must be removed completely before being reaplied. silicone is not just in car wax but in lots of detergents and othe car products as well.

so I say NO! its a nice truck

[leftybass209]

If you're hauling hay the bail wire would be rough on any finish. You could always lay a mat in the back, that way you'd potentially have a best of both worlds approach.

[redstevens]

I am the owners father and I have been working on Butters for 2 weeks since she acquired it. I am also opposed to a spray in liner and like the idea of a mat that can be removed when not needed. I think my daughter under played the condition of the bed a lot. This truck is about as solid as can be found unrestored. It was used as a camper by the original owner and saw very few miles. When the original owner passed it went to his son who sold it the 3rd owner who put 2000 miles on it in 13 year he had it. My daughter then purchased it from him. I have been doing lots of work that it needs due to being used so little over the last 13 years. Changing all fluids, tune up, carb rebuild, installing power brake booster(it to all the power my daughter could muster to stop it before I added and original power brake booster and not its easy for her) and general cleaning. I tried posting photos so you can see what its like but received a message that my attachment failed due to a missing security token. I am a recent new member to this forum and this may be the reason I cannot post photos. Hopefully this can be resolved so I can post the photos.

[sboris]

Originally Posted by redstevens

I am the owners father and I have been working on Butters for 2 weeks since she acquired it. I am also opposed to a spray in liner and like the idea of a mat that can be removed when not needed. I think my daughter under played the condition of the bed a lot. This truck is about as solid as can be found unrestored. It was used as a camper by the original owner and saw very few miles. When the original owner passed it went to his son who sold it the 3rd owner who put 2000 miles on it in 13 year he had it. My daughter then purchased it from him. I have been doing lots of work that it needs due to being used so little over the last 13 years. Changing all fluids, tune up, carb rebuild, installing power brake booster(it to all the power my daughter could muster to stop it before I added and original power brake booster and not its easy for her) and general cleaning. I tried posting photos so you can see what its like but received a message that my attachment failed due to a missing security token. I am a recent new member to this forum and this may be the reason I cannot post photos. Hopefully this can be resolved so I can post the photos.

Hey WELCOME!! Really nice truck. Glad to see you involved with your daughter. Awesome you have similar tastes.
As far as the liner, even though i have it, i agree with majority. Throw a bed mat in it.
I did mine because that is the look i was after. And light use, so bonus. As far as colored liner, its a preference like anything else. I like black.

[trapdoor2]

Beware the color-matched liner.

I went down to Line-X to see about their color-matched liners, 'cause Miz Diane was thinking about getting one sprayed in.

According to the guy at our local Line-X, unless your color is one of their base colors, they'll have to paint over the 'nearly matched' liner with the matching color. You can see that in their sample swatch, it has a thin layer of paint over the base coating.

Not what I expected and not what we wanted at all. The paint layer is actually shiny (which they said, 'helps make it easier to clean'). Nope, no thanks!

I have had many rubber-mat and plastic-shell liners over the years and hated almost every one. When she started talking about protecting the bed, spray-in was the 1st choice. Miz Diane's '69 is never going to be a 'real' working truck. Most it will ever see is bags of mulch or potting soil, etc. Not a show truck, it will never be seen by a judge...but now that I've done a bit of research, it ain't getting a spray-in either.

[made2drag]

I say no. It would ruin the look and feel of the originality. I think I'd just use a rubber mat and occassionally check to make sure water isnt puddling up near the front panel of the bed. It its holding water after rain, drill a hole at each corner and dab some seam sealer on edges of the hole to prevent rust at the holes.

[made2drag]

Or throw a mover's blanket in the bed right before you go get hay. You could shake the blanket out and stuff it behind your seat.

[Coley]

I would vote no on the spray-in bedliner on that truck. They are reasonably useful products but they are not easily 'reverseable'.....sort of like cutting in a sunroof...lol.
I would buy a couple sheets of 3/4' plywood and construct/paint a nice more 'period style' full box floor cover....that could be possibly removed a couple of times of year for a good clean.
As for the box rusting....be careful here. These boxes often rust from the bottom/back underside area....not the top.
If you lay under the back of your truck and look upward you will see the line across the back of the truck box floor (underside) where it sits on and mounts to the back frame. The box sheet metal is stamped in such a way that there is a pattern of very small little recesses every couple of inches (same shape as from above). These are catch areas and over time will collect dirt, mud, etc thrown back and up from the wheels and plug up and rust from below given the fact that they do not dry out very well once damp. It is well worth while to clean them out, wash them and rust proof them from below. I haven't seen too many that were not plugged up and working towards a rust line. If you see a rusty box on these trucks...that is one of the first places you see when you first look in....right inside the tailgate line, across the truck.
My two bits.....oh, and a really nice truck you have there!
Coley

[cooperhw]

On that particular truck that has been protected from birth with little use and a camper I would vote no on the bed liner. Just use the truck as a truck. It doesn't sound like you are planning on hauling tons of block in it. These trucks sat outside from day one. Anything you install in there to "protect" the bed could retain moisture up in that part of the country. If you decide to start hauling engine blocks and such then worry about it.

[72kool]

if its in good shape now i wouldnt line it. for the work you plan on having it do, it was built for it. there are some good new tips and tricks to protect it from the rust as mentioned above. anything you put it through, will be easier to fix without it. ive done alot of fencing and feeding hay, i would just suggest to be careful with the tailgate more than worry about the bed .they see the worst of that work and are not the easiest to fix or find replacements on the bed.

with that being said, i had considered spraying my bed also but a few things said here really put the thought away

[cooperhw]

Originally Posted by 72kool

if its in good shape now i wouldnt line it. for the work you plan on having it do, it was built for it. there are some good new tips and tricks to protect it from the rust as mentioned above. anything you put it through, will be easier to fix without it. ive done alot of fencing and feeding hay, i would just suggest to be careful with the tailgate more than worry about the bed .they see the worst of that work and are not the easiest to fix or find replacements on the bed.

with that being said, i had considered spraying my bed also but a few things said here really put the thought away

I know what you mean 72kool. On my Homer I am planning to spray in a Line-X bed liner. But that's a cut up Frankenstein bed. Not a cherry pie like the one we were talking about. I think it all depends on the particular truck and intended use.

[BruthaMan]

I did Gator Guard liner in my '72 a few years ago. It was barely a year before it started cracking and peeling. Granted, it was parked outside in the hot Texas sun.

Getting the remnants off, without sandblasting, was not fun! I just finished up a mild restoration on the truck, painted the bed. Will be using a rubber mat.

One other consideration: I liked to sit in the back of my truck. Like on the 4th of July, the grandkids would get in the back, but that stuff was so hard and rough, it was not fun to sit in the back of the truck for events or lazy fishing days.

[jackyl9999]

I have one in my truck. Which I would consider a show truck. I did it for a couple of reasons.

1. Did not want to worry about scratching the bed, pristine paint, wood etc.

2. My bed floor was dented and body work to fix it was going to be a job.


I have put my truck in several shows and I always get compliments on it. But show judges do not like them at all.

But since then I have realized that I do not particularly enjoy the car show scene, so that is not very important to me.

If you plan on restoring or keeping the truck original, I wouldn't do it. There is no going back. If you want to use the truck with no worries, I would get it done, but if your truck is a lighter color I would go color match.

[Joesjunk]

Please do not ruin that nice original truck with a spray in liner. That's a beautiful truck. It needs to be preserved. Just my opinion.

[Daaaanz67]

Don't waste your money on the UV protection mine failed after 4 year. The surface actually feels like a piece of sand paper now it's a line x truck outside all the time. I do like the protection just not sprayed on old trucks

[1972RedNeck]

If the liner ever gets nicked, water and dirt gets trapped and it starts to rust. Been there, done that.