72 - Bed Liner: Need Advice

[ducmons]

Howdy -

Long time since I came on line. Its been fun catching up on all the posts. Anyway.... I have a 72 GMC 2500, and love the thing, but eventually I had to give in and use it to haul stuff. I avoided it as long as I could, and now the flawless paint on the bed is all messed up and dinged up. I plan on refinishing the bed, but I'm needing advice on the best solution to protect the bed.

Its my only truck no matter how classic it is, it still have to serve me as a truck. I tow my jeep with it, and I need to be able to throw my bike on the back. I've thought about wood flooring, but the paint and metal would still get messed up. So...what should I do. Get a plastic bedliner or use Rhino Linning? Is rhino stuff removeable with bead blasting?

[Palf70Step]

I one see and feel the plastic bed liners do more paint damage than they help. Ultimately, the Rhino lined, or similar product, would be better, although many don't like how they look in our trucks. If it is just the floor of your bed getting messed up (mostly), then I would suggest a HD rubber mate for the floor. Put it down only when you need it that way moisture will not build up beneath it.

[Werewolf]

The plastic liner will shift in the bed; there's not a whole lot holding them in position. And you'll have to drill some holes to secure it in a few places. In short, your bed will get scratched up regardless, and you'll be adding new holes to it.

Rhino liner fades pretty badly after a few short years, turning from a nice glossy black into a rather nasty flat lighter grey color. And if you're *throwing* stuff into the bed, I don't know that it'd keep dings and dents out of the floor, rails, or bedsides. Maybe if it's put on thick enough.

And, the bed needs to be sanded down and prepped for the spray-on liner, too. It's meant to be permanent. I don't know how easy it would be to get out.

I did some research on spray-in liners a few years ago, as I was considering having some of that goop put on the bottom of my Silverado at the time to cover up some rock chips and prevent more from the big tires I had on it.

Supposedly the longest lasting one is called Line-X. http://www.line-x.com/ They've got a lifetime warranty on their liner. I don't know if that covers fading or not. I swear they used to say that their liner didn't fade like the others, but I don't see any info on that now. Probably means they started fading, too. In any event, they do offer colors. Maybe you can have a liner color-matched to the color of your truck?

A quick Google search turned up this page, too, which has a lot of information on the different liners out there: http://4wheeldrive.about.com/od/bedliners/

Hope this helps.

[Aarons72s]

What I plan to do on mine once i get the $ is spray on liner for ultimate rust protection then I plan to put one of those rubber matts in them. I have used the rubber mat for years and it protected the metal from most dents, except when I dropped a ford 351m in it. I took the rubber mat out of the green one because most of the paint was gone and the matt was holding water and trash under it causing more rust. But like I said to me the perfect situation is spray on liner with rubber mat. By the way 73-87 matts fit perfectly and are easy to come by.
Aaron

[see ten]

I have a Rhino in mine. It may have faded but I really don't care as long as it's uniform. I think a faded liner is going to look a lot better than my paint being skinned all to hell. I made this pic for a member a month or so back. The liner is about 2.5 years old. You can have it done in any color but it's hard to find a dealer willing to do it. One of my buds just put a plastic liner in his 71. He knows it can hold moisture but the inside of his bed looked pretty rough in places. His end goal is to do a wood floor conversion that he couldn't really afford at this point. So in his case a $150 bedliner was a great option.

[SOON2BLAZE]

line x it

[PanelDeland]

Two words solve your problem."Utility trailer!"

[Aarons72s]

See ten, I like your bedliner. That is what I hope my bed looks like eventually.
Aaron

[cheyenne10]

Line-x job. Turned out nice. Went with over the rail version. Dad runs a canopy on it part of the year.

[ducmons]

Originally Posted by see ten

I have a Rhino in mine. It may have faded but I really don't care as long as it's uniform. I think a faded liner is going to look a lot better than my paint being skinned all to hell. I made this pic for a member a month or so back. The liner is about 2.5 years old. You can have it done in any color but it's hard to find a dealer willing to do it. One of my buds just put a plastic liner in his 71. He knows it can hold moisture but the inside of his bed looked pretty rough in places. His end goal is to do a wood floor conversion that he couldn't really afford at this point. So in his case a $150 bedliner was a great option.

Thanks for the pic. I had my previos truck (Duramax) Line-x'd and I liked it. Its good to see how it looks on these older rigs.

Before I have it Line-x'd (i think i'm going for that one) I'll probably fab up some tie down hooks on the front and sides of the bed (inside) so I can tie down my bike when I go to the track or tie down a load without bending the bed out of shape. anyone does this and have suggestions?

[jpkerley]

what did that run you see 10 and has anyone used herculiner

[see ten]

Ahhhh... I don't remember off the top of my head. It seems like it was floating around $400 give or take $50. I had my windows tinted at the same time and paid with cash which knocked off a smidge. It seems like the Rhino and Line-x were very compareable in price.

[jpkerley]

what kind of shape was your floor in before, mine has a lot of pitting will the liner cover that up pretty good, I assume you painted the truck first then lined it??

[MrC1]

If you're worried about removing the liner at some point or about it fading, I wouldn't hesitate on the plastic drop in liner. Sure, they can cause rusting issues, but it just depends on what your truck will see (and where you're located).

Down here, rust really isn't an issue. I also plan on keeping the truck garaged, so sun fading probably won't be an issue so I'll probably be going with the better-looking spray in type.

[see ten]

I assume the liner would cover pitting, but I would suggest you speak with someone who applies them. My truck was actually painted about 9yrs ago (I think). I had the liner installed when I bought the truck about 2.5 years ago. I had to go over the rail with it to cover all the holes from the bed rails that had been mounted by the previous owner. I think there was like 9 holes per side, it made me sick because the rails looked like glass aside from the holes. Check em out!

[69CvyPickup4x]

Ive seen both line-x and rhino liner and I think the rhino liner is a bit more gritty, maybe tougher to clean dirt out of or something of the sort.

[matthufham]

i sandblasted my bed, and then put down rustoleum. i did a sloppy job because i thought i would be getting a spray in liner, but i'm pretty satisfied with the paint. when it gets scratched, i can spray or brush on more paint, no problem. i have too many dents to worry about quality, the rest of the truck is nice though. that red rim is no longer there, now i got a steel rally wheel with a big 275 tire on it.

[jpkerley]

damn those rails werent coming off were they, Im shocked no one on here has tried herculiner, you can get it a Oreillys or off line and can apply it yourself really cheap, I found out about it on a jeep forum and a lot of people use it in the tubs of their jeeps, dont know if it holds up as well as the more expensive stuff thought. Nice truck

[jpkerley]

what did you do just bondo the rail holes??

[MrC1]

The only problem with the rustoleum is it'll fade REALLY fast in the sun.

[see ten]

Originally Posted by jpkerley

what did you do just bondo the rail holes??

I hate to admit it, but I have no idea what they did to it. I asked if the liner would cover the holes and they said it would. I dropped off my truck that morning and picked it up that evening with no holes.

[Werewolf]

Herculiner goes on a lot thinner than sprayed in stuff. Yeah, it's way cheaper *and* you can do it yourself, but in the case of some things, you get what you pay for.

That being said I'm thinking about undercoating my entire truck with Herculiner.

[jpkerley]

Yeah Ive Heard To Put On A Couple Of Coats Of The Herc