This is the first in what will become many posts of my truck's transformation. Planning on an Airaid Jr. intake, Borla SIDO exhaust, Edge tuner, Fox Racing shocks, Toyo Open Country A/T II's, Extang Solid Fold, Weather Tech digital fit floor mats and of course the Weather Tech Tech liner that I just installed.

 

Here's the pics...

 

Get the Raptor head/tail lights.

 

They look great on your truck, I'm not sure it would be worth it on my white truck.

 

So the problem I have already run into is with the fasteners that hold the tailgate piece down. It uses the stock bolt but you place a cheap plastic piece with a shoulder under it I presume to allow the mat to move as it expands and contracts. Here in Utah right now we're seeing 100+ degree tumps and I watched it expand on a hot day. The plastic washer is not up to the task, deforming and bending.

So what did I do? I bought a 5/16 washer and three #10 washers to go under each stock bolt. I stripped the washer off the stock bot with a pair of vise grips and my impact driver, it is not intended to come off but the driver has the power to do it. I did this to make sure I had good thread engagement and didn't have the bolt sticking up too far. Re installed the washers under the bolt and it appears to be working better. The mat appears to be bulging less between the bolts because is has room to breathe, and these fasteners are far less likely to fail because they are steel, unlike the plastic ones that heat makes soft or brittle.

Thus far that is my only complaint and here is the finished product.



And here are the plastic washers the mat came with and the stock washers I removed.

 

In my opinion the kit should come with a bold with a shoulder on it to keep pressure off the washer which should have a fairly large hole like the ones I bought to allow for expansion and contraction.

 

What is the advantage of using a mat such as this as compared to a more traditional spray in bedliner? I have not used one of these before, but I cant imagine there would be much of a cost savings. Can you give me some insight?

 

Was that liner rolled up when it was shipped in a box?

 

The only advantage I see to this is that I needed to protect the bed in a hurry and couldn't afford the spray in. The cheapest I can get a spray in is 400 bucks this was 240.

 

The bed portion was rolled up but it relaxed really easy in the 100 degree temps in which I installed it, the tailgate piece wasn't really rolled up more folded over twice in a box a third the width.