Yes, the plastic drop-ins begin rubbing the paint off immediately in every area that they touch. No, underlayment or a Paint Saver will not create rust. The composition of flooring underlayment and a Paint Saver is similar. The advantage of underlayment is in the fit. The Paint Saver only covers the floor and a few inches up the side walls. The underlayment can be used throughout the bed and over the top of the front wall under the lip of the liner. I've installed underlayment in numerous trucks and I highly recommend it. There are thicker products that should be avoided. These will keep the liner from fitting properly and/or cause buckling.

 

Max - thanks for the reply, good to know. I haven't gotten around to it but will do it soon.

What have you used to get the underlayment to stay in place?

 

Good info Max. Each liner has it's good points, and there is no right one for everybody.

I have to say that a drop-in liner is the right liner for me. During the winter, I sometimes put my snowmobile in the bed. It has carbide runners on the skis and carbide tipped studs in the track. Yes, they leave marks in the liner, but they do the same to spray-ins. I know because I've seen it. The tailgate takes most of the beating, but I can get replace the tailgate cover pretty simply if I want to. Repairing the deep scrapes in a spray-in would be a pain, even if they do it for free under warranty, and I had a Line-X place tell me that the carbide studs would be considered abuse of the liner and not warranteed.

The ridges in a drop-in (and slippery nature) are perfect for sliding the sleds in there. A rubber mat wouldn't accomplish what I need. And I always tie my stuff down or bungee it in place, so the slippery surface is no big deal. It also makes sweeping the bed easy, too, after hauling a load of sand/dirt/whatever in the Summer.

For $165 from the dealer when I bought my truck, I couldn't go wrong.

I will say this though, if I didn't put my sled in the truck, I would have gotten a Line-X.

Just my 1.5 cents,
-CJ

 

Eastrick- Thanks. That sounds like a good application and an excellent price.

Jdew1920- You're welcome. After I installed several with underlayment, I learned a few ways to simplify the process. I found it easiest to make rough patterns of the walls and floors first. Then, hold the wall pieces in place with masking tape over the top edges of the bed, to be removed later. You can use duct tape or box tape to secure the pieces to each other, as you size them down. Try to minimize taping the underlayment to the painted areas. Age and heat will cause the tape to degrade. For tape removal on paint, a can of 3M Adhesive Remover works well ($5 at Wal-Mart). Once you get the bedliner in, you can remove the exterior masking tape, snapping it right out from under the bedliner. Once you get the bedliner in, you don't have to worry about the underlayment moving. You can also put underlayment under the tailgate piece. Again, using masking tape over the side edges of the tailgate to be snapped off after installation. Good luck.

 

How about getting some spray adhesive and glueing the underlayment to the bed liner beore putting it in. Then it would be there and you would be able to take the liner out if need be with out worry of the underlayment going anywhere

 

I have an 05 F150 XL that so far I have not put anything in. Been thinking about a drop-in but was afraid of the rust and rattling issue.

I don't think I want another spray-in though. Mainly because I have an 01 Ranger (son's driving that now) that I had a Lytruks Spray-in liner (similar to Rhino, Line-X, etc.) installed shorty after I bought the truck (new). It looked great for about 4 months.

It's nearly impossible to keep clean. The grooves in the material, that keep things from sliding, trap every bit of dirt possible. I've never been able to simply hose the dirt off. I hit it with my 2450psi pressure washer and it still looked like crap. The only way I've found to get it looking good again was to scrub the entire surface with hot soapy water. I'm talking serious elbow grease here. Then lay down a good coat of protectant, like Armor All. But that only last a little while.

I think if I had a bed cover then a spray-in would be great. But without something keeping the dirt out you're asking for a constant chore. It's not just the company I used either. I've seen plenty of trucks the line-x and rhino that looked like crap.

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