This time around I opted for a hard tonneau cover form my new Ford. It's great. I figured I might order a bed rug for the bed only instead of a plastic insert at some point. I figured, it's out of the rain and the bed will take light duty stuff now that I'm older. Some home depot stuff but no dirt and rocks for this beauty.

Well, after a few sheets of plywood and a few other odd things the bed of the truck is fairly scratched. It seems like almost anything sliding along the bed without anything on it or sliding against the sides or tailgate will easily scratch it.

I'm contemplating putting in a bed insert, maybe a duraliner. I thought I could avoid it but I guess not. Anyone else notice this with their 2015?

 

I had a 54" lightbar that I was holding up over the windshield just to get an idea of how it would fit and one of the mounts barely touched the A pillar. It left a pretty sizable scratch so I had to go to the dealership and get touchup paint. I wonder if it's the paint or the aluminum or probably the combination!

 

I haven't really scraped any other painted surface on the truck but I figure it must be the same as truck bed right? I'm afraid to go down my camp road where a few branches might brush the side.

 

It's the right decision to buy a bed insert. Is the scratch deep?

 

I agree that the paint seems to scratch much more easily than on my previous trucks. I have a rubber bed mat in my truck. The only problem I'm having is that I carry a pair of kayaks very often in the warm weather, and the humps over the wheels have become scratched and scuffed like you describe. I'm going to try painting the humps with epoxy based paint this spring to see if that will hold up better. If that doesn't work I'll look at drop in liners.

 

LineX and the issue is solved

 

I had a 2015 Super Duty and that bed scratched easily as well, just the nature of the beast. Modern paints are softer in nature and significantly softer than automotive paint from years ago.

http://www.theultimatefinish.co.uk/c...tailing/paint/

 

Agreed!

 

My truck came with the spray in liner from Ford. It is holding up well with the right amount of texture. My previous truck had Line-X and it was great also.

I would not own a truck anymore without a spray in liner. It is worth the cost IMO.

 

I slid an empty cooler across the bare paint in my bed shortly after buying it.

I was amazed at the number of scratches that cooler left and it wasn't even really dirty on the bottom. I didn't let it bother me too much because I'm getting a spray in bedliner anyways. But yes, I feel this paint scratches easier than the paint on the old steel panels did

 

I've called a local linex installer and obtained a price for a 6.5 foot bed. $549. That sound about right.

Thanks for the responses and recommendations. I traded a 2003 silverado that was a nightmare of problems. I managed 84,000 miles out of it before I decided I had paid for it twice and it was time not to put any more money into it. One thing I can say about it beyond the frame rotting out completely was that the body integrity, including paint was pretty good.

 

That probably is about right. I paid $400 something for my 5.5 bed on my other truck and that was back in 2005.

 

I'm a firm proponent of Line-X. I had it in my old truck and have it in my new one. I'm convinced it's the best bed protection you can have.

- Jack

 

If you're broke right now, go buy a Home Depot 5x7 rug or a 6x8 section of low-cost carpet, and slap it in there. It'll help for now. If you're careful and patient, you can trim it to fit perfectly in there.

Then, once you've sprayed it or got a Bedrug or whatever you choose, keep the carpet. Two reasons:

1 - You can use those velcro-bottomed trunk organizers to stick down and secure knick-knack stuff like floor jacks and tool boxes and folding lawn chairs and camping gear. I usually kept all my cargo to the passenger side, and if I needed to load 2x4's or plywood, it went in angled. Also made it easy to ratchet-strap plywood with one corner up in the air.

2 - If you have a large item, like furniture or appliances, you can flip the carpet over, slide it out a bit, load your large cargo, then it'll slide back into the bed easier, all the way to the bulkhead. Once you're ready to unload, you just pull the carpet out til the cargo is on the tailgate.

This is also a great technique with a side of a refrigerator's cardboard box. Saves kneecaps, and it's expendable. Cardboard slides on Rhinoliner, carpet, Bedrug, plastic insert liners, paint, anything.

 

Bed rug is perfectly capable of handling weather, and rocks for that matter

Plus it's considerably cheaper than a spray in liner