Have you received the Line-X and Rhino samples for your tests? I'm planning to schedule a Line-X appointment pretty soon and am interested to see if you've found any pertenant information about each liner that would make one stand out from the other.

 

whoa, that was weird. are you psychic or just impatient?

right when i clicked to go to this forum my lab tech walked in with results for 2 brands. i talked to the president at Line-X yesterday because I haven't received the samples yet and he appologized because it seems that my sampels got sent to someone else. he sent me some more today, so i should get results this week or early next week. patience young grasshopper...

I do have results for Diamond Liner (their HQ is near my house and they gave me a huge sample without any hassle) and Rhino.

Here is the first round of results:

Rhino Liner

Hardness: 77 Shore A
Tensile Strength: 1162 psi
Elongation: 182%
Modulus at 50% Elongation: 541 psi
Modulus at 100% Elongation: 795 psi

Taber Abrasion Test Score: .6264 (mg loss/revolution)


Diamond Liner

Hardness: 87 Shore A
Tensile Strength: 2425 psi
Elongation: 223%
Modulus at 50% Elongation: 1030 psi
Modulus at 100% Elongation: 1357 psi

Taber Abrasion Test Score: .4895 (mg loss/revolution)

Explanation of Tests and Scores

The tension properties (tensile strength, elongation, and modulii) are attained by taking a strip of the sample (ASTM D412 in case anyone cares) and pulling it until it breaks using and Instron tensile tester.

Tensile strength is how strong the material is at break. Basically, how hard you have to pull on it to make it break. It is in psi so it doesn't matter how thick the sample is (within reason of course).

Elongation is how much (in %) a one-inch section of the strip stretches when pulled at a constant speed of 20 in./min. The higher the elongation, the more resistant the material is to breaking when stressed (like when you drop bricks on a bedliner).

Modulus at 50% or 100% means how strong the material is at a certain elongation, in this case either 50% or 100%. It is basically the tensile strength at those points of elongation. Since most materials are no good once they break (tensile strength reported above) we look at the modulus at certain points before it breaks. Again, the higher, the better for this kind of application.

Taber Abrasion Test Score is measured in milligrams of material lost (or abraded) per revolution. A 4 inch in diameter circle of each material is attached to a spinning wheel. two other coarse stone spinning wheels are placed perpendicular to the material and abrade the surface away as the test material spins. the wheels are like those very rough grey heads you can buy for a Dremel. i did 1000 revolutions because these types of materials are not too abrasion resistant compared to rubber. (I have compounds at my company that have scores of .0400 at 5000 revolutions, a much tougher test). all you need to know is the lower the number, the more resistant the material is to abrasion.

so, my opinion as a materials expert and a truck owner is that I would not buy a Rhino Liner, I would go with Diamond Liner. Diamond Liner is twice as strong as Rhino and has better abrasion resitance. but, Line-X and Armorthane have not weighed in on my tests, so I would not run out to get a Diamond Liner just yet.

I think this is also why Rhino sprays twice as thick a everyone else(.250"). in my opinion, I would say "big deal" the material is still not all that good, no matter how thick you spray it. not to mention that most spray in bedliners end up adding 50-70lbs of weight to your truck (hard to believe, but it's true), so I would not want it coated thicker with an inferior material. it would add more weight to get, perhaps, the same protection as the lighter liners. i will post back in this thread my next set of results as soon as the Line-X and Armorthane samples get here.

Cheers.

-The Brew

EDIT: I forgot to report the hardness, so I just put it in above. It is pretty self explanatory, the higher the number, the harder the material. Shore A is just the scale used. I report it since there are several hardness scales. Harder is better in this applicaiton.

 

Thanks, Brew !

So from the tests of these 2 liners, and if I'm reading it correctly, Diamond Liner is much better than Rhino, in every category... correct? Now I'm really curious about Line-X, as compared to Diamond.

According to Rhino's website, the technical specs are:
Property................ASTM Method...............Results
Hardness...............D-2240........................90 - 95 Shore A
Tensile Strength....D-412..........................2700 - 2900 psi
Elongation.............D-412..........................375 - 400%
Water Absorption..D570............................1.6%

So it looks like they're fibbing a bit on the Tensile Strength, Elongation & Hardness.... just about everything...???

edit: here's the Rhino link that displays their technical specs. I didn't find any for Line-X or Diamond.

 

scrap the prvious message that was here, i thougt that data was for Line-X. yeah, Rhino is lying out of their buttholes, IMHO. they may, perhaps, use thinner samples than what they sent me to test, and that may help them slightly. but no way in hell they have a 90-95 hardness and no way in hell will a thinner or thicker sample double your properties. they may have more than one type of bedliner, i don't know, but what they sent me was a .250" grey slab. i stand by my data because I tested it blind and i know i got good data. their samples may vary, but that was not in my control.

 

Brewmaster, thanks for conducting this test. This is one of the most interesting things that I have found on here yet. Can't wait to find out how Line-X does, so keep up the good work, it is very much appreciatied.

 

glad to hear that people are makign use of it. it is just as informative for me, too. i need to know the best liner for my truck when it arrives. i never thought my love for chemistry and materials science would come in so handy for me and others. i'll let y'all know IN THIS THREAD when i get more results.

 

You mentioned to me earlier that the president of line-x was Mark. I contacted him but from what he told me he is just the regional manager of the west coast. Do you have the name or contact info of the actual president. I've been trying to contact Line-x about the discrepencies in the price paid by the insurance of my stolen truck. You can email it to me if you would like to avoid posting it on the forum at righty22@hotmail.com Thanks for you help

 

You're not the only one that didn't get your samples Brewmaster. I called MONTHS ago asking for a sample, and had called back weeks after that and STILL have not received any mail from Line-x. The lying girl on the phone told me yesterday that she DID send it out twice. *cough* BULL****!! *cough*. Line-x is REALLY pissing me off because I DON'T want a Rhino liner yet they sent me the sample a LONG time ago. I REALLY hope that girl sends me the sample or else they will lose me as a customer.

 

I wouldn't jump the Line-X ship just yet. Granted, it's crappy that you haven't received the sample yet, but I'm sure there's a dealer nearby where you could go look at and touch a completed truck. Also, based on Brew's test results and depending on how Line-X compares to Diamond, they may have the best liner (or one of) out there... I know FOR CERTAIN that a Rhino is not going in MY truck.

 

Maybe not although the answer may mean larger problems. The answer could be poor batch control. If that were the case then the samples they tested could give their published results whereas your answers would also be right.

Either way, it looks like stay away from Rhino.

Brewmaster, thanks for running these tests. I've been thinking long and hard about Line-X and was trying to justify the 50 mile trip. Especially when the Rhinoliner dealer is on my way to work. I look forward to your other tests in that they may give me more options. Again Thanks.

Jim

 

Hey Big Jim just go down to the dealer in Yuba City. That is where I got my sample of Line-X. They are located just on the far left corner of Hwys. 99 and 20. Just after the mall.

 

Now this is an informative post. I'll be watching to see how the others shake out. Manufacturers might learn to fear these kind of forums (if their products fall short of their claims).

I've already seen one Ford dealer fall quiet after I told him that I've been following the '04 F150 practically since it's inception, and have real-world reports on quality of fit, mechanical soundness, etc....AND most importantly, prices out-the-door nation wide (plus Canada).

Knowledge is power.

 

if this was a matter of batch control, they got serious problems. I mean, we do strict batch control at our plant because we mix our own rubber compounds in house. The usual acceptable tolerance is ±20% on tensile properties and ±5 points on hardness. Even if we were to give them the benefit of the doubt and say it was batch control, I agree with you, either way stay away from Rhino.

also, I told them specifically that I was going to test physical properties so I would have thought they would have sent me the best possible sample to ensure that they look good. oh well. not my problem.

side note: for those who do have a Rhino Liner, I am not calling your choice stupid or your liner a POS. for most uses it may work fine, so I wouldn't run out and have it stripped to put another brand in. Rhino has a good name for a reason. but for someone who is making the choice now or in the future, I hope ths info is useful. I know F150online doesn't like to rip on manufacturers, so I think we should all refrain from doing that. my opinion comes from my empirical data. ok, i'm done for now.

 

Brewmaster,

When I grow up can I be like you?




many kudos to you. Thanks for the thorough check!

 

LOL. wow. we got some comedians here. it ain't that hard. let me give you the skinny on being like me:

-love chemistry
-love trucks (and all the fixins)
-love good beer (not **** yellow beer or Bud, sorry)
-love the outdoors

and most of all

-love a cute blonde from Fresno (she'd kill me if i didn't mention that)