Bedside and floor sealant?

[sick472]

I'm a big fan of rope caulk, but I should say that my truck only sees a couple thousand miles a year and the occasional rain. I put enough rope caulk along the joint to guarantee that is squishes out both sides and then take a plastic pick/scrapper tool to remove the excess where accessible. It does not set up and cleans up very easily by just rolling it up like a booger and picking it off...lol. I have seen it used from the factory on other vehicles of our era between fenders and wheel wells and it was still sealed and pliable. Rope caulk should only be used between firm joints where it does not show and can't be touched since it does not set up. Dust will stick to it and turn it ugly and painting it is futile.

A urethane sealant would be the best you could use as that stuff is a rock star, but the application and cleanup at the bed-to-side joints would not be fun and not warrant the results in my opinion. Using it up and around the wheel wells and at the inside of the rear stake pockets would work well in lieu of seam sealer as it can be smoothed out with a finger and some mineral spirits given you can lay a decent bead to begin with. I'm not sure about how well it takes paint, however. It may tend to release the paint after a while. So, if the urethan can not be closely color matched to the truck color...I would use seam sealer in these areas (as little as possible to avoid it curing further and cracking after paint), let it cure really well, & then paint. There are two types of seam sealer, one for interior and one for exterior...use as advertised as the exterior type is more gassy, but is a better compound for the weather.