I have a new 04 f150 heritage that I already have working. My toolboxes and junk are already in the truck, and I haven't the time off work or $ to spray in a liner. Has anyone used the Ford bed mats with any luck?

 

I have a prefitted Dee-Zee mat I got for $59 at a local mom and pop trailer stuff shop. The ford one is about $25 more expensive and has a nice 'Ford' logo in the middle. My mat works great for what I wanted it for (makes crawling around in back easier on the knees, keeps stuff from moving around, and I can take it out if I want).

The whole spray-in thing is approaching a holy war here. That said, I looked really hard at getting Line-X for my truck, but I decided not to because:

1. Line-X's nonskid texture makes it hard to slide things like vinyl bay windows into the bed, and it can damage the finish on heavy stuff while you wrestle it in. A plastic liner slides easily and doesnt tend to do damage.

2. I often do a siding tear off and toss the old stuff straight into the bed to haul to the dump. The plastic liner seems to do a pretty good job of absorbing the impact. I also like that if I crack the drop-in liner, I can just toss it at the dump and get a new one. It would take me longer to go back to the shop to get a repair done on a spray in.

3. When I got the truck my racks weren't going to arrive for like a week, and the Line-X guys said I would need to have them on to make sure the liner didn't prevent me from installing them. This has more to do with me not wanting to deal with another scheduling issue that didn't make me any money, not so much a failing of Line-X.

Line-X is really neat stuff, and it's a great choice if your normal work doesn't have you doing these kinds of things, but I think the combo of plastic drop-in liner and bed mat is the way to go you're going to be beating on the bed (cheaper too).

Predictive

 

No problems w/rubber mat wanting to lift at freeway speeds if not under cargo? Mostly a moot point, as I usually have something in there.

I understand the scheduling angle, as that's why I didn't go spray in.

As for the jihad on liners, most folks don't look at their trucks the way a work truck owner does. My '04 heritage is the first brand new vehicle I've ever bought and I wish it would get a scratch or ding already so I can quit treating it like a show car.

 

I've never had just the mat in by itself, but I doubt it would move; the mats are pretty beefy (mine weighs a good 15 pounds).

Heh, I hear you. I've had my truck about two weeks and it's already got stains on the interior and dents in the back, but it's still the nicest truck I've ever had.

 

Had a rubber bed mat in my '87 Chevy S-10 for 10 years. It never moved an inch, even with the tailgate down.

Tony

 

I have one in my flareside, ( see gallery ) works great. Ran with it for awhile with nothing in the bed at highway speeds and it never moved. Now though i have a toneau.